This summer, breathtaking views will once again draw people to Big Bradley Falls in Polk County.
The nearly 100-foot falls aren’t easily accessible. The waterfall is on a remote tract of land managed by North Carolina Wildlife Resources. For decades, agency staff has grappled with hikers who take deadly risks to get a peak from a lookout that was just a ledge. Since 2000, eight people have died there.
“Absolutely, something needed to be done,” said Gary Gardner, an N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission engineer overseeing the safety improvements at Big Bradley. “We’ll probably end up spending just under $100,000.”
The safety changes were a long time coming. They include a new lookout area that will have a 3-foot-tall perimeter barrier wall. Stone steps will go down to the site.
“That will eliminate a lot of the hazards that were there before, with tripping hazards and that type of thing,” Gardner said.
Before the steps were added, hikers traversed rough terrain to get to a ledge that overlooked the falls, Gardner said. That's where hikers lost their balance and fell, and it’s where the new platform is going in.
Gardner planned to brief Polk County commissioners Monday night about the progress at the falls and show them photos of work underway.
“We’re really, really happy to see the steps being made to make that a safer place for people to go,” Polk County Emergency Management Director Bobby Arledge said.
The falls have never been and never will be an official state tourist public site. But state wildlife officials knew people were going but could do nothing to stop them.
"Closing is the easy option,” Gardner said. “But it wasn’t really viable because a lot of people want to see this.”
While eight people have died over two decades, it wasn’t until a man fell to his death in 2019 that Polk County leaders and emergency officials began speaking publicly and demanding N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission take action.
Gardner could not explain why the commission didn’t install a safer lookout years ago but said conversations began in earnest with local officials in 2019.
“We’re learning as we go with this type of amenity on our property,” Gardner said. “We manage boat ramps and game lands and fishing piers and shooting ranges but not hiking trails and not waterfall viewing destinations. We’re glad to have this open next month and have a safe viewing area for folks.”
Gardner said the project was contracted out and included a consulting firm that had expertise in building safety barrier areas at sites like waterfalls to protect the public. The waterfall viewing area will be open by June 30.