BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A young man is in the hospital with multiple injuries after falling approximately 60 feet off of High Shoals Falls in South Mountain State Park on Saturday.
According to Jonathan Griffith, a superintendent of South Mountain State Park, the 18-year-old victim is being treated at a nearby trauma center.
Griffith said that park officials have not been able to interview the group of people who were with the victim who fell but to reach the top of the falls, the victim would have had to have passed multiple warning signs, stay on the trail signs and even a physical barricade.
High water levels and ice still around the Shady Falls area made the rescue harder and more dangerous, according to Griffith.
Griffith said South Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, Enola Volunteer Fire Department, Burke County EMS, park staff and a good Samaritan assisted with the rescue.
Griffith told Channel 9 that these types of falls are very rare and staying safe around a waterfall is very simple.
Here are some ways to stay safe near waterfalls and while hiking.
- Read and Obey warning signs
- Stay on the marked trail
- Never cross a barricade
- Never attempt to stand at the edge of a waterfall
- Never get in the water directly above or below a waterfall; standing below is a falling debris hazard and standing above is a falling hazard
For more information about North Carolina State Parks, please click here.
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