Accessibility – Moderate

Height – 25′

Distance – 2.5 (out and back)

Beauty – 5

Photo rating – 5

Solitude – 6

GPS Info: LAT 35.99521 LONG -82.71746

Last Updated – 01-13-2023

Last Visited – 05-04-2019

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West Prong Hickey Fork Falls is very hit or miss. It is on a low flow creek so it can be a dribble. If you catch it after a lot of rain, it doesn’t look too bad. My first visit was in the middle of the thunderstorm that was shaking the forest. It looked nice. The other two times I’ve been, it was dribble city.

Trailhead parking is on HIckey Fork Road FR465. Here is where I parked 35.99441, -82.70445.

The hike: Walk along Hickey Fork Road in the direction you had been driving. There is a gate just past the parking area that may of may not be open. Just a reference point. The trail drops off the left side of the road and heads across a pretty impressive footbridge. You are on the HIckey Fork Trail, and this will lead the way to the falls. After the bridge it will head into a hard left switchback. Next it will head into a small drainage and make another hard left switchback. This will put it on course for West Prong Hickey Fork. Whe you get there it will make a right hand switchback before crossing the creek. At 1.25 miles from the parking area, look for a worn path descending to the right. This will take you down to the base. Reverse the route to return to your car, or you can stay on the Hickey Fork Trail, which gets obnoxiously steep and follow it up to the AT and check out the Camp Creek Bald Fire Tower. The hike up is brutal.

I’ve included a pic of my favorite foot bridge