Crabtree Falls

Crabtree Falls is one of the tallest sets of waterfalls in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is located in the George Washington National Forest in Nelson County, Virginia, off of Virginia State Route 56. The name of the falls is thought to have come from William Crabtree, who settled in this part of Virginia in 1777. L.A. Snead, former US Assistant Fuel Administrator (WWI), environmentalist and Nelsonian, spearheaded negotiations to secure land surrounding Crabtree Falls after plans to develop the falls into a resort area began in the late 1960s. Using personal and Congressional funds, the land deals were completed and the deeds transferred by LA Snead on June 3, 1968, to the National Forest System. thumb|left|Aerial view Fed by the Crabtree Creek upstream and draining into the Tye River downstream, the set of waterfalls which encompass the whole of Crabtree Falls are often credited with being high, but topographic maps show the total drop to be closer to . Crabtree Falls is a series of cascading waterfalls, with five major cascades, the tallest of which drops about , and several smaller cascades, all over a total distance of approximately horizontally. The cascade with a drop also gives Crabtree Falls the title of tallest vertical drop in a waterfall east of the Mississippi River. However, the title of tallest free-fall vertical drop goes to Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee's Fall Creek Falls State Park.