Accessibility – Hard
Height – 28′
Distance – 3.4 miles (out and back)
Beauty – 7
Photo rating – 6
Solitude – 8
GPS Info: LAT 35.57777 LONG -81.74019
Last Visit – 02-19-2026
Last Updated – 02-23-2026
Home Alphabetical Listing Numerical Listing Location Listing SoMo
Where to park: Parking is either roadside on the Old CCC Road just past the trailhead on the right or at the gate without blocking it. The GPS location is: 35.51679, -81.73334.
The hike: The hike starts by heading past the gate on an uphill trajectory, which will get steep at times. About 0.3 miles from the gate, the road bends to the left, while a less obvious trail goes to the right. If you miss the path, the road does switchback, but it is longer. The woods are mostly open, and by heading higher, it will intersect with the logging road in less than 0.1 of a mile. Once the hike is back on the road, it will ascend up the ridge to a hard right switchback. At the outside of the switchback, the ridge spine drops to the left, Head down the spine for a short distance and look for a place where you’re comfortable heading down the steep grade.
The descent is about 0.3 miles, and increasingly steep, so it’s important to pick the best line. If you follow the ridge as it narrows, it will lead you to a crossing of a small tributary. It’s very thick by the tributary, and we found it easier to cross upstream of the confluence. As long as you don’t go too far upstream, once you climb the bank, you will end up on an overgrown road. Make a left, and follow the grade as it swings into the Sally Queen drainage. The road has some stuff to climb over and through, and once you reach it, you will see that the other side of the creek isn’t an option. The river-right hillside got flattened by Helene, covering the old road that used to lead to the falls.
When the road on river left gets too hard to follow, look for a place to get down to the creek. We hadn’t planned on it being a creek walk, but the final 0.2 miles were in the creek or on the side of the creek bed. There were still half a dozen blowdowns to climb over and around, even in the creek. The waterfall was spared most of the damage, but a large tree was lying across the cascade below the falls, and partially across the pool.
