Since the land has never since been submerged beneath either oceans or glaciers, the land, forests, and rivers there have been evolving continuously for the 300 million years since.
The four rivers in the "four rivers embayment," the Whitewater, Thompson, Horsepasture, and Toxaway, have been carving gorges and waterfalls in the relatively short distance between what is now the Blue Ridge Parkway and what is now Lake Jocassee - two man-made boundaries to the watershed.
Because of the collision of the flow of the weather from the Gulf of Mexico with the Appalachian Mountains, the area receives around 80 inches of rainfall a year, the highest average rainfall in the U.S. east of the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, there is an upland plateau between the peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the major drop off of the Blue Ridge Escarpment in Transylvania County, roughly at the North Carolina-South Carolina border. This permits the accumulation of water into the rivers that drain this basin.
There are two consequences of this combination of climate and geography:
The major waterfalls of the area can be found along two ridges, one at about 3000 feet, the next at about 2000 feet.
Along the ridge at 3000 feet, one can find Upper Whitewater Falls, known as Charashilactay to the original natives of the area, Rainbow Falls on the Horsepasture River, High Falls on the Thompson River (formerly the Jocassee River), Bearwallow Falls, also known as Neil Falls or Kathy Falls on Bearwallow Creek, and Toxaway Falls.
Along the lower ridge can be found Lower Whitewater Falls, in South Carolina, Big Falls on the Thompson, known as Seyantooga by the Cherokees, Windy Falls on the Horsepasture, Lower Bearwallow on Bearwallow Creek, and Wintergreen Falls on the Toxaway (photo by Bill Thomas, from his Trailguide, reproduced by permission).
The Nantahala National Forest already encompasses a huge portion of western Transylvania County, including the Horsepasture River corridor around Rainbow Falls, and the Whitewater River. The Thompson River gorge (I hope including White Owl Falls) will likely be added to the Forest Service land, while the Horsepasture River below Stairstep Falls, including Sidepocket Falls (photo by Bill Thomas, from his Trailguide, reproduced by permission), will be in North Carolina gamelands. The Toxaway River below Toxaway Falls, and most of Bearwallow Creek, would be in the proposed state park.
It is interesting to note that in 1984, California-based Carrasan Power Company received permits form the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to divert the Horsepasture River through huge turbines in order to generate electricity. Led by Bill Thomas, the Friends of the Horsepasture had the river declared a State Natural and Scenic River, in 1985, and a National Wild and Scenic River the following year, thereby saving one of the most beautiful streams in the country. [As a sort of footnote, I'm told that Bob Hoxit was also instrumental in the preservation of the Horsepasture, which makes for an interesting turn of events given the adversarial roles Hoxit and Thomas play in the current battle over the area.]
