Accessibility – Moderate+
Height: 25′
Distance – 3.9 (loop)
Beauty – 8
Photo rating – 7
Solitude – 8
GPS Info: LAT 34.63825 LONG -83.39669
Last Updated – 12-26-2024
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What’s included: Lovely Ledge Falls, Sharp Rock Falls, Filmy Fern Falls, Grand Shoals, and Homestead Falls
There are five waterfalls on this hike, and while you could come out and do one or two of them, I did them as a group and I’m going to recount the route we took to complete all of them. The entire loop came in at under four miles, and part of it was along a road, making the going easy. This was one of the first long days in the woods for my dog Axel, who was five months old when we did this hike. It’s been a few years since I did this one and I don’t remember anything about it being overly challenging.
Where to park: The parking for this hike is at the end of pumping station road at a wide area just past the split with Davidson Cove Ln. The GPS of the parking location is: 34.64069, -83.38981. The land all around the parking area is private until you get past the gate onto Pumping Station Road.
| Name | Height | Elevation | GPS |
| Lovely Ledge Falls | 22′ | 1280 ft | 34.64575, -83.39309 |
| Sharp Rock Falls | 14′ | 1180 ft | 34.64714, -83.39716 |
| Filmy Fern Falls | 20′ | 1090 ft | 34.64651, -83.39958 |
| Grand Shoals | 35′ | 1148 ft | 34.64426, -83.40008 |
| Homestead Falls | 25′ | 1214 ft | 34.63825, -83.39669 |
The hike: Start out passing the gate on Pumping Station Road and heading down the slight grade. The road will bend around to the left, and at half a mile from the gate, you will pass the top of Lovely Ledge Falls, which is below the level of roadbed on the left. To get down to the base of the falls, walk a little further down the road and look for the scramble path on the left. Other then being below the road, the waterfall is very nice, and since the road is gated, it isn’t like there’s any traffic buzzing past.
Climb back to the road and continue heading further downstream. The next waterfall is also down below the roadbed on the left. The scramble path to Sharp Rock Falls is around 0.4 of a mile from Lovely Ledge Falls and the access getting down to it is very similar. The waterfall isn’t as high, but it is a nice drop. Here is a shot of Axel at Sharp Rock Falls. Climb back to the road after your visit and resume hiking down the road.
Once your back on the road, it will bend around to the left as it mirrors the creek, and around a tenth of a mile later it bends to the right. Don’t follow the bend in the road, but continue straight off the side of the road and down the bank. You will cross the creek the first two waterfalls were on, and start up a different creek where the third waterfall is located. Filmy Fern Shoals is about 20 feet high, and it by far the nicest of the three waterfall along the road. From the base of this waterfall. climb up and around it on river right and follow the creek upstream from the right bank. The woods are open enough that getting to the next waterfall isn’t too hard.
Once you get above this waterfall, the hike is going to head uphill for around a tenth of a mile before topping out and heading down toward Grand Shoals. When you head up and over the ridge, it takes you away from the creek, but when you come down the other side, you will end up near the base of the fourth waterfall. Grand Shoals is the biggest of the group, and pretty impressive from the base. If you were to skip Homestead Falls, you could follow an old road as it curves around and heads back toward Pumping Station Road, but since Homestead Falls is the best of the bunch, we’ll get to that old road after visiting the last of the falls.
The old road that leads back to Pumping Station Road also heads up toward Homestead Falls, making it pretty easy to reach the last of the falls. It stays pretty close to the creek on river right, but before we got to the falls, the road vanished and we were left walking through the open woods. There wasn’t much elevation on his hike, and getting from Grand Shoals to Homestead Falls wasn’t very hard.
From the base of Homestead Falls, make your way back to the old road, and when it curves away from Grand Shoals heading to the right, follow it. The road will gain some elevation and creep close to the private property as it goes up and over a knob before descending to a crossing of the creek the first waterfalls were on. After the crossing, it is an easy climb up to Pumping Station Road. Following this route, it is 0.3 of a mile to get back to the gate on Pumping Station Road.