This Transylvania County waterfall is widely known as Daniel Ridge Falls (and occasionally referred to as Jackson Falls), but from what I've read in Kevin Adam's book North Carolina Waterfalls (and from Internet sources), that name is incorrect. Daniel Ridge is located well to the northwest of this waterfall - and this waterfall is not located on Daniel Ridge Creek. 
The correct name is Toms Spring Falls. But regardless of its name, everyone can agree that this is an awesome waterfall. It might not necessarily show in my photos, but at 100 feet tall this is a 'wow' waterfall. And it's another one in the Brevard, NC area that is easy to get to. Secluded in the woods, it's difficult to photograph, but well worth the effort to see in person.
From the looks of things, Slick Rock Falls is aptly named. When we arrived, we were startled to find a dead deer at the base of the falls. I suppose it died when it fell from cliff above. Sorry for the disturbing photo, I tried to obscure the deer as much as possible -- I actually had planned on removing the deer via Photoshop, but then I realized that it pretty much tells the story of a place named Slick Rock Falls. To add insult to injury, this was a large buck and some idiot crudely removed the antlers from the animal. Even without the dead deer to work around, it was still a difficult waterfall to capture, the bright afternoon sun doing nothing to help the situation! Click here to see some beautiful, much less disturbing photos taken of the falls under better conditions.
Above: Jesse and Buddha admire Moore Cove Falls.
With some 250 waterfalls, Transylvania County, NC (which is south of Asheville) is known as "The Land of Waterfalls" -- if you love waterfall hunting, this is the place to go. There are a number of helpful websites to help plan your journey: an interactive map, photo galleries of various falls, and ncwaterfalls.com contains photos and detailed directions. But by far the best guide to the area is Kevin Adam's book, North Carolina Waterfalls.
The waterfall above is creatively referred to as "Second Falls". It's located in the popular Graveyard Fields area off of the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile marker 419. A short walk from the parking area (0.3 miles) will take you to a nice overlook of this 60 foot waterfall. Another waterfall, Yellowstone Falls is further downstream. A third waterfall, known as "Upper Falls," is upstream -- a 1.6 mile hike from the parking area. The Sherpa Guide lists the beautiful Graveyard Fields area as one of the most popular hiking areas in all of western North Carolina. In case you're wondering, there aren't graves at Graveyard Fields. The name originated with a tremendous windstorm centuries ago that toppled trees in the area, creating mounds of dirt that looked like graves. These mounds were destroyed in a "catastrophic" forest fire in 1925.
Looking Glass Rock is an easily identifiable landmark along the Blue Ridge Parkway south of Asheville, NC. The three-mile-long granite rock is a popular destination for hikers (see trail descriptions here and here) and professional climbers alike (see here). I found it interesting that portions of the rock are off limits to climbers from January 15 to August 15 each year in an effort to protect the peregrine falcon habitat. If you are in the Asheville, NC area, consider adding a 30 mile drive to Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway to your itinerary (see related post here). The parkway follows a ridge allowing stunning mountain views to both the east and west. There are 26 tunnels on the 469 mile parkway -- ten of which are found within this 30 mile section.
