Accessibility – Moderate

Height – 20′

Distance – 1.0 (loop)

Beauty – 5

Photo rating – 6

Solitude – 4

GPS Info: LAT 36.22297 LONG -81.90730

Last Updated – 03-10-2019

Home     Alphabetical Listing     Numerical Listing     Location Listing    Boone

Buckeye Falls is an easily accessed waterfall on a scenic loop trail that starts at the Buckeye Recreation Center on Beech Mountain. For more information you can use the previous link. I took a twisting route to get there so my advice is to use a maps program to get yourself to the trailhead. The address for the Buckeye Recreation Center is 1330 Pine Ridge Rd, Beech Mountain, NC 28604.

The trailhead is next to the playground at the upper end of the parking lot. It passes under a small wooden frame and begins heading down the hill. The upper par is a bit on the steep side but it quickly moderates and follows a gently sloping path down. On the way down the trail will do several long switchbacks before coming out at a creek crossing with a wooden foot bridge. The waterfall is just upstream of the bridge. In case you’re uncertain the waterfall is directly behind the official Facebook photo spot sign. SMH.

You can shoot the falls from below the bridge or on the bridge. I suppose you could take a selfie in front of the sign as well. Once you’re done, cross the bridge and follow the trail back to the recreation center. You could double back the way you came in but if you follow the trail in a loop you get to walk next to a very scenic creek most of the way. The trail ends just below the Buckeye Lake Dam, where it leaves the woods and heads into an open area. This final stretch is not so scenic as you walk along a barbed-wide strung chain link fence to the back of the rec center. Pass through the parking lot for the dam and follow the road back into the parking lot. The total hike is just over a mile and with a lengthy photo stop we completed it in less than an hour.