Great Falls is a long stretch of rapids on the Catawba River in South Carolina, where the river crosses the Piedmont Plateau between Lancaster and Chester counties. Before hydroelectric development transformed the river, it extended about 4 miles and dropped 121 feet, making it one of the Catawba’s major landmarks. Long before modern dams, its loud rapids and nearby pre-Columbian trading path made it both a natural barrier and an important point of orientation. Later dams dried the upper part of the historic falls and submerged the lower section, prompting restoration efforts that led to a new licensing agreement in 2007.