Accessibility – Easy

Height – 70′

Distance – 1.5 miles (out and back)

Beauty – 4

Photo rating – 3

Solitude – 3

GPS Info: LAT 35.10288 LONG -82.58816

Last Updated – 01-06-2018

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Oil Camp Falls is 70+ foot high waterfall on an unnamed tributary of Oil Camp Creek in the Jones Gap area. The falls is very close to the trail and the scramble to get to the side of Oil Camp Creek is easy but even so there isn’t a clear angle to shoot the falls and I was there in January.

From North Carolina pick your best approach to reach the intersection of US276 and Highway 11 on the SC side of Caesars Head. From the intersection drive 4.5 miles, passing Wildcat Wayside along the way and make a left onto River Falls Road at the F-Mart. Take River Falls Road for 2.9 miles and make a left onto Oil Camp Road. In 1.7 miles this road the pavement ends and the last tenth of a mile is on a rough dirt road. I managed it in my Xterra but with two other vehicles parked at the trailhead I had to back out along the road since there was no room to turn around. If you have a low clearance vehicle you might not want to drive along this road. The right side of the road is really tore up.

The hike follows the continuation of the road beyond the gate. Other than a few fallen trees there isn’t anything to contend with. Half a mile into the hike the road will cross Oil Camp Creek on a bridge. Maybe a tenth of a mile later is will cross back over the creek again on a bridge. Just before the bridge there is a gate. A white blazed trail comes in on the right along this next stretch and not far past the trail junction there is a small waterfall dropping into Oil Camp Creek. The GPS of this unnamed waterfall is 35.10308, -82.58677. If you want to see it you can check it out HERE.

After passing this small waterfall the road crosses a third bridge. The road will ascend moderately after the bridge before flattening out. Oil Camp Falls is not far past the bridge on the right hand side. It was pretty obvious in the winter but if the trees are grown in and you’re not paying attention you could miss it! Already tough to capture in a picture, the sun was positioned about awful so the pictures are lacking. Until I can get back on a cloudy day, these will have to do.