Accessibility – Hard
Height – 50′
′Distance – 7.2 miles (out and back)
Beauty – 6
Photo rating – 4
Solitude – 8
GPS Info: LAT 35.15329 LONG -82.28778
Last Updated – 03-30-2025
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Upper Cave Falls is just upstream of Cave Falls, but it requires a roundabout route to reach it due to the cliff that forms Cave Falls. The waterfall is approximately 50 feet high, featuring a main drop into a pothole at the top, with a long, sloped rock formation below. Due to the shape of the falls, it lacks the impressiveness of Cave Falls.
To reach Upper Cave Falls, Brenda Falls, and Upper Brenda Falls, refer to the Cave Falls hike, which will get you as far as Cave Falls and the cave that gives the waterfall it’s name.
From the cave, start heading downstream on the trail. Not too far into the return hike, you will have to crawl under a downed tree. After passing under the tree, look on your left for an obvious route others have taken. You should also be able to see a thick rope that someone attached to a tree higher up the grade. It is useful in navigating the slope as far as a rocky outcrop that prevents you from continuing straight up. The route sidehills along the outcrop across a narrow ledge near the top of Cave Falls, and once across the ledge, it resumes climbing toward the top of the falls.
The manway comes out near the base of the sloped rock, but to get to the main drop, the easiest thing to do is cross the creek. On our visit, the water was low, and there was a lot of dry rock to walk on to reach the other side. In higher water, I’m not sure I’d want to try it since you are at the brink of Cave Falls, even though there is a large tree lying across the top of the falls that would maybe stop you if you went for a slide. The first picture is taken from the middle of the sloped rock against a fallen tree. The second is at the top of the sloped rock.
To continue upstream, we stayed on river right since we had crossed to take pictures, and the hillside is pretty open, making it easy to get around the waterfall. We never got too far from the creek, and it isn’t far past the top of the waterfall that you can see Brenda Falls, which is comprised of three parts. The lower section drops around an enormous boulder, the main section falls into a pothole, and there is a long slide above. I’m sure if you add it all up, the total drop is maybe 60 feet, but unless you’re using a drone, I don’t know how you’d be able to photograph all of it. The pothole feature was my favorite part, and the pool at its base is surprisingly deep. You can go here to see a picture of Brenda Falls.
The route had taken us back to river left at the base of the pothole drop, and since we were already on that side, we continued upstream without crossing back. The woods were mostly open, and scaling the bank wasn’t difficult, but this might not be the case in the summer. The waterfalls had been pretty close together until this point, but it was a slightly longer walk to Upper Brenda Falls. We spotted it not too far from the top of Brenda Falls, and it wasn’t hard to reach since the woods were open. The entire trek was on river left, but the two pictures I took were from river left and standing in the middle of the creek. This link will take you to a cellphone shot of Upper Brenda Falls.
We picked up an old road near the homestead site and followed that part of the way back to Upper Cave Falls, bypassing the creek crossings. Taking this route brought us to the top of the rocky outcrop and a somewhat sketchy climb down the angled rock. You would have to decide how you wanted to approach the rock, or if you wanted to use the narrow ledge.
