Tucked just a mile outside the heart of Andrews, North Carolina, a 30-foot veil of water tumbles down a mossy cliff into the trout-rich waters of Britton Creek. Cover Falls isn’t marked on roadside signs or mapped in glossy guidebooks, but it’s a place locals know about — and it’s worth venturing off the beaten path to find. 

Here, where the spray of the falls keeps the rocks damp year-round, rare wildflowers flourish. Wildlife moves freely between this property and the 30,000 acres of adjoining U.S. Forest Service land in the Snowbird Mountains. Beneath the surface, the cold, clean waters of Britton Creek shelter native brook trout and the endemic Valley River Crayfish, a species found nowhere else in the world. 

But the natural beauty of Cover Falls is only part of its story. The creek and the falls are named for Lillian Brittain Cover, an Andrews native and political pioneer who, just four years after women gained the right to vote, became a delegate to the 1924 Democratic Convention. She later broke barriers as the first woman to serve on North Carolina’s State Stream Commission, championing clean water and conservation decades before it was commonplace. The property also borders more than 2,200 feet of Tatham Gap Road, a segment of the Trail of Tears. 

Despite its many cultural and ecological values, this remarkable place recently came close to being lost. The previous owner had purchased the tract with plans for residential development, and with its proximity to downtown Andrews and other residences nearby, the threat of construction loomed large. Negotiations to protect the land came down to the wire, then intensified when another buyer made a higher offer. Although the owner preferred to conserve the land, they made it clear that if Mainspring’s deal fell through, the property would be developed. 

Happily, however, through support from some generous anonymous donors and other partners, the land is now permanently protected from private development under Mainspring’s ownership, to eventually be protected in perpetuity by a North Carolina Land and Water Fund conservation easement.  

The Cover Falls property will ultimately become Mainspring’s newest public preserve, complete with safe, well-marked trails, educational signage and an access area that honors both the area’s ecology and history. Visitors will soon be able to follow a loop trail dedicated to Lillian Brittain Cover, learn her story and experience the same natural wonders she once knew and fought to protect. 

“This project reflects one of Mainspring’s core commitments — conserving special places in ways that connect people to the land,” says Graham Garrett, Mainspring land conservation associate. “While there is sometimes a perception that land trusts ‘lock away’ land, Cover Falls is a great example of how conservation can create lasting public benefits. When my boys and I play at the base of the falls and feel the spray on our faces, I take pleasure in knowing that one day they may do the very same thing with their children.”