A few years ago, Bill and I spent some time in Vermont for my sister’s wedding. While we were there, we took a little time to some photography. Along side of the Route 100 in Granville we photographed Moss Glen Falls. This is a very easy waterfall to photograph – my tripod was on the shoulder of the road for this photo.

Moss Glen Falls (c) 2005 Patty Hankins

We started displaying the Moss Glen Falls photo at shows, and people kept asking us if it was Crabtree Falls. We said no – it’s Moss Glen. We asked someone where Crabtree Falls was – and were told it was along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

With a little searching, we found Crabtree Falls in Nelson County, Virginia – about 6 miles away from the Blue Ridge Parkway on State Route 56. After a short hike on a paved path, we got to the base of falls and took some photos. Absolutely gorgeous waterfall – we just a little confused as to why people thought it looked so much like Moss Glen Falls.

Crabtree Falls, Virginia (c) 2006 Patty Hankins

You can imagine our surprise when we started showing our Crabtree Falls, Virginia photograph when people said this wasn’t Crabtree Falls. One person said – they wanted a photograph of the one in North Carolina. That’s when we discovered that there are two Crabtree Falls off the Blue Ridge Parkway – one in Virginia and the other in North Carolina.

So the next spring, we took a trip down the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and photographed Crabtree Falls in North Carolina. The trail to the falls starts at the Crabtree Meadows Recreation Area on the Blue Ridge Parkway – about 8 miles south of the NC 226 and the Parkway. The hike to the falls is down a mile long trail – that feels like its 3 or 4 miles long on the way back up!

Crabtree Falls, North Carolina (c) 2007 William Lawrence

We finally understood why people thought Moss Glen Falls and Crabtree Falls look similar!