Bridal Veil Falls 
View of waterfall at night, backlit using the headlights of my truck. Nikon D700, Nikon 17-35mm lens at 35mm, f/16, 14 seconds, ISO 320.
View waterfall on Google Earth. Link is for a Google Earth file. Click file after download and Google Earth will open and fly to the waterfall. Don't have Google Earth on your computer?
Driving Directions
From NC 106 in Highlands, drive 2.3 miles west on US 64. You can’t miss it.
Overview
You’ve heard of walking behind a waterfall, right? Well, how would you like to drive behind one? At Bridal Veil Falls, you can do just that. The road that goes behind the falls—the original route of US 64—was engineered to take advantage of the unique opportunity. What the highway engineers didn’t account for was the freezing of the falls each winter. Ice on the road and icicles hitting cars created a nightmare for travelers and road crews, so in 1959, some 30 years after the road opened, the state built a bypass around the falls.
Bridal Veil Falls is not a scenic waterfall and has a low flow that can dry to a trickle in summer. The novelty of driving behind it makes it appealing. However, in winter, it can be exciting. After a week or so of below-freezing temperatures, large icicles hang from the bluff and a volcano of ice begins to form at the base. If the weather remains cold long enough, the ice volcano reaches the bluff and totally conceals the waterfall inside. I’ve seen it like this on a couple of occasions.
Icicles and star trails at Bridal Veil Falls. Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24mm lens at 19mm. This is a stack of about 35 exposures at f/4, 4 minutes, ISO 200. Light on the icicles is from passing cars.
Icicles and the night sky at Bridal Veil Falls. Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24mm lens at 19mm, f/3.5, 25 seconds, ISO 2000. Light painted the icicles with a flashlight covered in a blue gel filter.
Icicles and the night sky at Bridal Veil Falls. Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24mm lens at 19mm, f/2.8, 15 seconds, ISO 3200. Light painted the icicles with a flashlight covered in a blue gel filter.
Frozen base of Bridal Veil Falls at night. Nikon D700, Nikon 24-70mm lens at 70mm, f/16, 8 seconds, ISO 200. Side lighting is from my truck headlights. Front lighting is from a flashlight covered in a blue gel filter.