Accessibility – Hard+
Height – 35′
Distance – 14.2 (out and back)
Beauty – 8
Photo rating – 8
Solitude – 10
GPS Info: LAT 35.04635 LONG -82.94608
Last Updated – 01-07-2023
Last Visited – 09-18-2021
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If you have a 4X4 you can shorten this hike quite a bit, but the drive to Hilliard Falls is unnerving. I have never done it but the last time I made this hike, everyone else drove to Hiliard and I hiked. The reviews of the drive were unflattering. If you can drive most of the way, my description will help some.
My hike began on Musterground Road, which is accessed from Bad Creek in South Carolina. The Foothills Trail can be picked up 1.2 miles down Musterground Road. It is on the opposite side of the road as the spur trail to Lower Whitewater Falls. A mile into the hike you will enter North Carolina. At 3.3 miles you will come to Coley Creek Falls, which is trailside.Just over a mile past Coley Creek Falls (4.4 miles from Musterground Road) you will reach the spur to Hilliard Falls. It is 0.2 of a mile to reach the base of Hilliard Falls. Head back to the foot hill trail and make a left (continuing in the direct you’ve been going. This is where it gets hard to describe. At around 7.0 miles, which includes the detour to Hilliard Falls, its time to leave the trail. There is no landmark, other than if you’re quiet you can hear the falls. Pick the place that is the least steep, and carefully head down. It is a steep 0.1 to 0.2 bushwhack with lots of small cliffs to content with. Try and keep the falls to your right so you end up downstream. If you come out above the falls, getting to the base is no fun. If you do this correctly, you will come out downstream of a traingular tunnel the creek passes through, The falls is just upstream. Been three times, and when you catch it in the right conditions, wow.
Alternate Route – 2.5 Miles Round Trip
Where to park: There is a wide area by the gate on Mill Creek Road where you can park. This is close to hunt camp #2. To get to this point, you need a 4×4 with good ground clearance. Mill Creek Road connects to Musterground Road, which is gated most of the year. The gates are open from 9/15 to 1/15 and for about 6 weeks in the spring during hunting season. The parking GPS coordinates are: 35.03925, -82.95295.
The hike: The hike passes the gate on Mill Creek Road, heading down the grade. The road is in good shape, but there are a few fallen trees to contend with, most of which I cut an opening through. Half a mile from the start, an old road intersects from both sides. Make a left, and go around the erosion control gate. This road is easy to follow, but it is overgrown in places. I cut a path through the downfall and the rhodo on my visit, and overall, the route is obvious until you reach Bearcamp Creek. At 0.4 miles from Mill Creek Road, there is an unnamed waterfall that drops right next to the road, but a huge tree fell on it, so don’t expect much.
When the road nears Bearcamp Creek, it heads down toward the creek and continues on the other side. On my way up the creek, I was mostly on river right, which was thick and steep. River left was much better on the way out. It’s 0.1 miles from the falls to the end of the old road, but there is a large rocky outcrop you have to go up and around. If you’re hiking to Splash Dam Falls using this route, getting from the creek crossing to the falls shouldn’t be an issue. There is a nice drop a short distance downstream of Splash Dam Falls.
Note: The smaller trees in the middle of my first picture are no longer there. The giant log remains.
