Accessibility – Moderate+
Height – 45′
Distance – 2.0 (out and back)
Beauty – 9
Photo rating – 8
Solitude – 8
GPS Info: LAT 35.26405 LONG -82.96969
Last Updated – 12-27-2024
Home Alphabetical Listing Numerical Listing Location Listing Charley Creek Rd
This hike is going to cover the four waterfalls downstream of the Wolf Creek Lake Dam. Balsam Falls, Lower Balsam Falls, Patricia Falls and Lauren Falls. There are several ways to approach this grouping of waterfalls, and not all of them remain on public land. I’m going to give directions for the way I went, which was an out and back that remained primarily on river left. The other thing I can say about this hike is I don’t much care for it, and I never have. I’ve done it three times in different conditions, and I don’t know that I need to do it again.
Where to park: There is a large parking area at the upper end of Wolf Creek Lake, which is on Charley’s Creek Road between NC215 and NC281. The parking lot GPS is 35.27319, -82.96936.
Did you happen to notice: When you look at the numerical listing, Balsam Falls is 669, Lower Balsam is 670, Patricia is 671, and Lauren is 693! What happened there? Well, the first time I came to do this hike, we we’re making our way down to Patricia Falls, and not everyone was comfortable with the route, so we ended up bagging it. Some other stuff came up, and at the time, it wasn’t a concern. I figured I would get to it one day, and when my friend DJ from TN asked if I wanted to go, I got my chance to finish the hike. How do you say no to a guy who wrote the book on Tennessee waterfalls?
The hike: From the parking lot, a maintained trail heads along the edge of the lake that is furthest from the road. There’s not much to the trail, but that will change soon enough, once it reaches the end of the lake in 0.4 of a mile and starts to head down. The trail is eroded in places and very steep in others. It has been a few years since my last visit, so some of this has likely changed. Whether is still is today, the trail was pretty obvious, and getting from the end of the lake to the base of Balsam Falls requires a hike that spans just over a tenth of a mile. Balsam Falls is the smallest of the four waterfalls on this hike.
From Balsam Falls, the trail continues on river left, pulling up away from the creek for a time only to come back closer once it gets past the brink of Lower Balsam Falls. The lower falls is bigger than the upper one, but it’s not as scenic. On this visit, we went down to the base of the falls, but you can get a decent view of it from across the collection pool. That vantage is higher up, and allows you to see the cascades at the top, that are partially obscured from down below. Once you leave Lower Balsam Falls, the hike is going to get much more difficult, and it becomes harder to describe with any detail.
From the overlook, we went higher to get around some downfall, only to come down and cross the creek. On the other side, we picked up a trail that ran us down toward the top of Patricia Falls. We crossed above the falls and picked up a trail on river left that climbed up and away from the falls, taking it far enough to get around the cliff. There are other ways, but this was the one I was most comfortable with, while the other person I did the hike with went a different route, staying closer to the cliff. My way was definitely more time consuming, but it got me to the base of the falls safely, landing me in the open area across the pool from Patricia Falls. It was definitely a ‘wow’ moment when I saw the falls for the first time. For about twenty minutes, I didn’t think it could get any better, but then I completed the hike to Lauren Falls.
The same way I approached getting to the base of Patricia Falls, I employed to get to the base of Lauren Falls. I swung wide away from the top on river left and came down the embankment a spot below the falls where the descent wasn’t vertical. The vegetation is thick, and getting down wasn’t that easy, but it’s never easy when it’s thick bushwhack on a steep incline. I just don’t know how else to tell you what to do, and honestly, it’s one of those things you need to look at for yourself and judge the best way to make it happen. So much of this off-trail stuff comes down to what you’re comfortable doing and what looks safe to you. My way is not always going to be the quickest. Now that you’re way down here, the only thing to do is reverse course. You may be temped to cross the creek and hike out through the camp, and it is much easier, but it is trespassing. There’s a reason why I know it’s easier, but the camp was closed and the caretaker said it was okay when we told him what we were doing.
This is my favorite of the four. It’s this amazing contrast between the power of the vertical drop and the gentle cascade that trickles over the rock. There’s a lot of detail that the images don’t pick up, but there is so much to enjoy at this waterfall. If I were to come back, it would be to enjoy this spot.
