20 Most Dangerous Places in Appalachia (A Ranger's List)

Twenty places in Appalachia. Every one has a document behind it, and a point where the document quits. Ranked not by how many died but by how far the paper falls short of the ground. They do not all fail the same way. NEVER ASKED TO COUNT 20. DEERFIELD RIVER, MA. A 1996 rafting regulation names the Fife Brook and Monroe sections and requires no accident reporting. Thirty years, nothing. 17. UPPER WHITEWATER FALLS, NC and SC. 411 feet, highest east of the Rockies, and no death count on its page. The only public number, at least 13 since 1993, is a 2017 newspaper's. 11. THE HOLLOWS ABOVE FAIRVIEW, NC. Thirteen killed, September 2024. Over 2,200 landslides mapped across nine counties, none by field investigation. NC defunded that mapping in 2011. 9. TROUBLESOME CREEK, KY. 38.9 percent of that flood's dead were within 100 meters of one stream, which one line in the methods says is not gaged. COUNTED, THEN STOPPED 14. KAATERSKILL FALLS, NY. 39 incidents since 1998, five deaths, in a 2015 plan amendment. 500 feet of fencing in 2014. Eleven years, no update. 13. GLEN ONOKO FALLS, PA. Closed 1 May 2019 on fourteen emergencies, eighteen people, seven dead since 2008. Still until further notice. 12. SMUGGLERS NOTCH, VT. 3,664 rock cuts surveyed in 2007, Route 108 second worst, resurvey promised. Nineteen years, same document. The 2020 rockfall volume is still undetermined. 10. DIMPLE ROCK, OHIOPYLE, PA. Nine drownings at one undercut boulder, and three published counts: nine since 1976, nine through 2000, eight for 1983 to 2003. No two agree. 3. KATAHDIN AND THE KNIFE EDGE, ME. Baxter's own 2017 analysis: 754 incidents, 19 deaths, 80 percent of rescues on the descent, over 75 percent of fatal ones off trail. It stops at 2014. COLLECTED, NEVER PUBLISHED 19. TALLULAH GORGE FLOOR, GA. One hundred permits a day, a briefing, a written rule against flip flops. Where the 100 came from is not public. 18. ELK RIVER FALLS, NC. Its Forest Service page states deaths and very serious injuries including paralysis have occurred. Plural both times, no number either time. 16. SECRET FALLS, NC. A 2022 drowning, ankle abrasions consistent with entrapment in moving water. The release naming it names a second waterfall, totalling neither. 15. RAINBOW AND TURTLEBACK FALLS, NC. Three deaths between 8 June and 4 July 2018. A ranger then said the agency had identified twelve dangerous waterfalls. No list is public. 8. RED RIVER GORGE, KY. A 2015 order bans climbing within 300 feet of four overlooks, no expiry. Eleven years, no figures before or after it. 7. CENTRALIA, PA. Burning since 1962. As of January 2012: about 400 surface acres, boreholes to 1,350 Fahrenheit, 41.6 million dollars in relocations. Monitored yearly, unpublished. 4. THE ADIRONDACK HIGH PEAKS, NY. A January 2021 advisory report: ranger presence sporadic and limited, managers lack empirical data on what actions would be functional. Plan from 1999. PUBLISHED IN ONE PLACE ONLY 6. DELAWARE WATER GAP, PA and NJ. Counted since 1971. A spokeswoman gave a reporter the total, 105, two a year. The park's safety page carries none. 2. MOUNT WASHINGTON AND HUNTINGTON RAVINE, NH. 161 known deaths since 1849, kept as a framed poster inside the summit building. Its 17 avalanche deaths, five in Huntington, come from a private group. TWO AGENCIES, ONE PIECE OF GROUND 5. LEHIGH GAP AND BLUE MOUNTAIN, PA. EPA's fifth five year review, September 2017: a protectiveness determination cannot be made at this time for the groundwater. Hundreds of pages, and never the words Appalachian Trail. 1. DOLLY SODS, WV. 50,000 troops on 50,000 acres with real ammunition, 1943 and 1944. Clearance dug over 23,000 holes, recovering 22 unexploded mortar rounds and over 1,100 pounds of scrap. The Army Corps wrote that the risk cannot be mitigated entirely. The Forest Service alert page covers campfires. A warning without a number is not a warning. It is a signature on a form. Every case on this channel starts with a record somebody kept when there was no reason to keep it. 00:00 Hook: four places, one problem 01:44 20. Deerfield River, Massachusetts 03:04 19. Tallulah Gorge floor, Georgia 04:27 18. Elk River Falls, North Carolina 05:28 17. Upper Whitewater Falls, NC and SC 06:33 16. Secret Falls, North Carolina 07:55 15. Rainbow and Turtleback Falls, North Carolina 09:11 14. Kaaterskill Falls, New York 10:35 13. Glen Onoko Falls, Pennsylvania 11:31 12. Smugglers Notch, Vermont 12:40 11. The hollows above Fairview, North Carolina 13:59 10. Dimple Rock, Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania 15:22 9. Troublesome Creek, Kentucky 16:22 8. Red River Gorge, Kentucky 17:35 7. Centralia, Pennsylvania 18:50 6. Delaware Water Gap, PA and NJ 20:39 5. Lehigh Gap and Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania 21:55 4. The Adirondack High Peaks, New York 23:06 3. Katahdin and the Knife Edge, Maine 24:32 2. Mount Washington and Huntington Ravine, New Hampshire 26:13 1. Dolly Sods, West Virginia 27:43 Where each of these stops