Accessibility – Hard+
Height – 45′
Distance – 5.0 (out and back)
Beauty – 10
Photo rating – 8
Solitude – 10
GPS Info: LAT 35.475525 LONG -83.113372
Last Updated – 01-10-2023
Last Visited – 04-23-2022
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Campbell Creek Falls is the reason I endured this hike, and while the ones abvoe made for a nice preamble, nothing prepared me for Campbell Creek. It’s one of the few waterfalls I score a 10. The box canyon and the setting are unique, and the degree of difficulty in getting to it only add to the overall feeling. This one can justify the effort required to reach it. I still marvel at finding a way down. We debated it a long time before making our try on river left. Most will say river right is the way. If there was a way down on river right I couldn’t see it. Both sides are steep as hell and thick with rhodo.
I can provide a starting point and the locations of the five waterfalls on this hike, but otherside I can’t really give any other details. The hike started here on the Blue Ridge Parkway: 35.46196, -83.1247. It left the parkway a tenth of a mile later. There is no reference point. From the parkway, the goal is to reach the trail that connects Mt Lyn Lowry and Waterrock Knob. You will cross the MST on the way, so the first trail you reach is not the one you want. Before you get too far into this, you need to be going UP at this point. It’s about half a mile to reach the trail. Make a right. In about a tenth of a mile, the adventure begins. We just found the place that looked the least steep and overgrown. In time we reached East Fork Campbell Creek and followed that to the various waterfalls. That’s really all I have on this one becasue, on my visit, we managed to thread the needle between the cliffs around Campbell Creek Falls. There is no way I can tell you the exact route, and a few feet in either direction and it’s cliff city.
My advice would be to find someone who has been there and go with them. There is just so much that can go wrong on this hike, and this is a long way from cell service.
I haven’t been back yet, but I will visit it again, but I have a differernt route planned. This one gets four pictures.
HIKINGWNC 