Accessibility – Hard*
Height: 90-100′
Distance – 2.0 (out and back)
Beauty – 9
Photo rating – 7
Solitude – 9
GPS Info: LAT 35.33882 LONG -82.89149
Last updated – 12-26-2024
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*Once the hike leaves the trail above the lower waterfall and the trip turns into a creek walk with lots of bouldering, there are several tricky spot to navigate that there is no way I can accurately describe. It’s the kind of area where I can’t point you in one direction or another since my approach, what looks good to my eye, might not look good to yours. The best I can do is get you to the creek once you’re above the lower falls. If the water is up, you don’t want to do this one since you cross the lower waterfall at the brink and getting higher up requires going up an angled rock.
Parking: The parking is the same as it is for Lower Sam Branch Falls and Wash Hollow. The parking is 4.0 miles north of the Blue Ridge Parkway on NC 215. There is parking on the right shoulder right after you pass the trailhead. The GPS for the spot is 35.33954, -82.90131. You can also Google Sunburst Falls and it will get you close to this spot.
The hike: At the outside of the bend in the road by the upper end of the parking area, a steep scramble path leads up the embankment. It is heavily eroded and there were a couple of trees on it the last time I was there. Once you get up the slope, a trail heads to the left. Once you’re at the top, it’s a great walk in the woods for the next 0.4 of a mile as you follow an old logging grade along a more or less flat path. The trail ends at the top drop of the lower falls, and the way to get above this drop is on the other side of the creek. If the water is up, I don’t recommend crossing. Once across, you’ll see a sloped rock heading up the mountain. That’s the way I went all three times. At the top of the rock, there is a path leading upstream. This trail is used by rocks climbers to get to the cliffs high up on river right.
Just over 0.1 after climbing the sloped rock. the trail you’ve been following will turn away from the creek toward the cliffs. The spot is close to 35.33999, -82.89623. At this point, it’s time to get into the creek. The waterfall is half a mile further. Parts of the creek are easy to navigate and others aren’t. You will gain about 500 feet over the half mile from where the trail ends and the base of the falls. Below is a picture of Sam Branch Falls. Underneath that is a gallery of some of the amazing sights along the creek.
There is a lot to see on the creekwalk up to Sam Branch Falls, and I could have spent another hour if I had stopped to photograph all of it. Here are some of the highlights from my first trip to the falls.
