Reynolda House – Waterfall - The Sociable Adventurer

The Reynolda House Waterfall is one of Winston-Salem’s most quietly wonderful outdoor features — a man-made stone waterfall cascading over the historic Lake Katharine Dam at the edge of the Reynolda estate in Winston-Salem, NC. The waterfall sits along the 0.25-mile Reynolda Walking Trail that connects Reynolda Village to the Wake Forest University campus — and is spanned by the historic stone Lake Katharine Bridge, which offers one of the more photogenic views on the entire Reynolda property.

The waterfall’s water source has a substantial story of its own. It flows from the Lake Katharine Wetlands — the modern name for the once 16-acre lake that Katharine Reynolds excavated in the Silas Creek bed as one of her first Reynolda estate projects. Once the most prominent feature of the 1917 Reynolda landscape, the lake has reverted to wetlands over the decades and now supports a healthy population of owls, turtles, beavers, and foxes. The waterfall preserves a working glimpse of what the original Lake Katharine looked like when the Reynolds family moved into the estate in December 1917.

Be sure to check out the YouTube video and pictures below to get a feel for the Reynolda House Waterfall before you go — or to relive the visit after. For deeper context on the Reynolda estate as a whole, see our page on Reynolda House Museum of American Art, plus our Reynolda trails guide.

Lake Katharine, the Dam, and the Waterfall

Lake Katharine was one of the most substantial features of the original 1917 Reynolda estate — a 16-acre man-made lake that Katharine Reynolds excavated from the bed of Silas Creek as one of her earliest estate projects. The lake served multiple purposes for the Reynolds family: recreational fishing and boating, water for irrigation of the lawns, flower beds, and formal gardens, and an aesthetic focal point that anchored the view from the bungalow. The lake also held historical moments — from R.J. Reynolds’s 1916 Fourth of July picnic for his tobacco sales associates to a 1921 Reynolda School production of Hiawatha performed by children from the Gray, Hanes, and Reynolds families.

The lake was first dredged in 1924, just eleven years after its creation. In the 1950s, however, runoff from the construction of Wake Forest University’s new Winston-Salem campus (built on the 300 acres that Mary and Charlie Babcock had donated to Wake Forest in 1946) filled the lake again — and the lake gradually reverted to a wetlands landscape rather than an open-water feature. Today the Lake Katharine Wetlands serve as habitat for owls, turtles, beavers, and foxes, and function as a research site for Wake Forest University science faculty and students.

The historic stone Lake Katharine Dam — the structure that originally held the 16-acre lake in place — is still there, still doing its job, and still creating the waterfall that flows over its face. Fieldstones unearthed during the original lake excavation project were used across the estate for building foundations at the bungalow and village, as well as for the dam itself and for chimneys throughout the property. That kind of substantive material continuity — Silas Creek stones used for both the dam and the buildings — is one of the more understated architectural details of the Reynolda estate.

Above the waterfall, the historic stone Lake Katharine Bridge spans the dam, offering a photogenic viewing angle down onto the falls. The bridge also serves as the entry point to the 0.25-mile Reynolda Walking Trail that connects Reynolda Village to the Wake Forest University campus — a paved, stroller-friendly, dog-friendly path that crosses onto the Wake Forest campus land Mary and Charlie Babcock donated in 1946.

Visiting the Waterfall

The Reynolda House Waterfall is one of the more accessible features on the Reynolda estate. It’s along the paved Reynolda Walking Trail connecting Reynolda Village to Wake Forest University — a level, short, dog-friendly, stroller-accessible route that most visitors can walk from the Reynolda Village parking lot in about 5-10 minutes.

Parking: Use the lower parking lot behind Silo in Reynolda Village for the most direct access to the waterfall trail.

Dog-friendliness: Leashed dogs are welcome on the grounds of Reynolda everywhere except the Formal Gardens — making the waterfall an ideal stop on a dog walk.

Best times to visit: The waterfall is at its most photogenic in spring (when the yellow daffodils fill the knolls surrounding the falls) and after periods of substantial rainfall (when the flow across the dam is at its strongest). Winter and early spring visits also open up longer sight lines through the wetlands beyond the falls.

Good to Know

Location: Along the paved Reynolda Walking Trail between Reynolda Village and the Wake Forest University campus, Winston-Salem, NC
Parking: Lower parking lot behind Silo in Reynolda Village
Admission: FREE (like all Reynolda outdoor spaces)
Hours: Open daily sunrise to sunset (year-round)
The waterfall: Man-made; flows over the historic stone Lake Katharine Dam; spanned by the historic Lake Katharine Bridge
The water source: The Lake Katharine Wetlands — the former 16-acre Lake Katharine that Katharine Reynolds excavated from Silas Creek as one of her earliest 1917 estate projects; now reverted to wetlands with owls, turtles, beavers, and foxes
Access: Along the 0.25-mile paved Reynolda Walking Trail connecting Reynolda Village to the Wake Forest University campus; paved, stroller-friendly, level walk
Dogs: Leashed dogs welcome everywhere on the Reynolda grounds except the Formal Gardens
Best for: Reynolda estate walkers, families with strollers, dog owners, waterfall photographers, and wildlife spotters (owls, turtles, beavers, foxes in the wetlands)
Pair with: Reynolda House Museum of American Art (the parent estate); Reynolda Gardens for the Formal Gardens + Brown Family Conservatory; Reynolda Village Shops & Restaurants for shopping and lunch; and our full Reynolda trails guide for additional walking routes across the estate

A Winston-Salem Highlight

The Reynolda House Waterfall is a stop worth building into any Historic Reynolda visit — and it works whether you have five minutes or an hour. The stone Lake Katharine Bridge frames the falls beautifully from above, the paved trail approach makes the waterfall accessible for strollers and less-mobile visitors, and the surrounding wetlands add a small wildlife-watching dimension to a spot most Winston-Salem visitors overlook.

The waterfall’s real editorial value, though, is what it represents. Katharine Reynolds excavated Silas Creek to create the original 16-acre lake as one of her earliest Reynolda projects — and while the lake itself has long since reverted to wetlands, the dam still stands and the waterfall still flows over the same historic stones Katharine’s crews unearthed and set in 1913. For a small outdoor feature that most visitors walk past in ten minutes, the Reynolda House Waterfall carries more than a century of Reynolds family history in every foot of falling water.