The Jocassee Gorges include a multitude of waterfalls and cascades, because the gorges are on the Blue Ridge Escarpment, where elevation changes drastically and the land falls 2,000 feet in just four miles. The Toxaway, Horsepasture, Thompson, and Whitewater rivers have cut scenic valleys. Settlement down in these valleys near the North and South Carolina state line never really was heavy. It is steep and rough, home to many black bears, wild turkeys, all three species of trout, whitetail deer, ruffed grouse, bobcats and many other types of wildlife. Prior to damming of the Savannah River Basin, eels would migrate all the way up to the Jocassee Gorges and were frequently seined or caught on hooks and eaten as table fare by the mountain people.