Man plummets off cliff into boulder-filled river, North Carolina rescuers say

A man was left trapped in the wilderness after he fell off a cliff and landed in the boulder-filled water below, according to rescuers in western North Carolina.

He was discovered Friday, May 29, and rescuers did not reveal how long the man may have waited for help.

“Agencies in the area of the Watauga River on the west side of Beech Mountain responded to assist a local man that had fallen off a cliff into the river,” the Lineville-Central Rescue Squad reported in a May 30 Facebook post.

“The individual had taken some serious injuries when he fell.”

Beech Mountain police officers reached the man from the far side of the Watauga River, and stabilized his condition, officials said.

Additional first responders then crafted a high line to pull the man to the east side of the river, where Avery EMS took the man to a nearby fire station. He was then flown out by helicopter to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, the rescue squad reports.

The man’s identity and details of his injuries have not been released.

Photos shared on Facebook show the rescue scene was heavily forested, and rescuers worked in knee-deep water to save the man.

Beech Mountain is near the Tennessee state line, about a 125-mile drive northwest from Charlotte.

This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 5:55 AM with the headline "Man plummets off cliff into boulder-filled river, North Carolina rescuers say."