Looking Glass Falls is one of those waterfalls that doesn't ask anything of you. The 60-foot cascade is right next to Highway 276 in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, North Carolina, visible from the road, requiring maybe a five-minute walk to reach the base. No difficult approach, no permit, no fee. Just a waterfall dropping straight off a ledge into a wide pool below.
The pool is what makes it. In summer when the water is low enough, you can wade in to the base of the falls and stand in the spray. The rock bowl it falls into is natural and deep, and the falls hit it with enough force to push a constant mist outward. In spring, when snowmelt is running off the Pisgah Ridge above, the volume increases substantially.
Transylvania County in western North Carolina has a legitimate claim to the title "Land of Waterfalls" — there are 250 documented cascades in the county. Looking Glass Falls is the most photographed, but DuPont State Recreational Forest just southeast has four more major falls on the Little River within a short hiking loop.
I came in April when the hardwoods above were just leafing out. The light through the new canopy was green and soft. The falls were running hard. It was everything the drive from the Asheville area earns.