The hike covers eight waterfalls and a lot of rugged terrain. It was technical in places and sketchy in others. Overall, I would rate it as extremely difficult.
There isn’t much I can offer as far as tackling this hike. I don’t know that it’s the hardest one I’ve done, but it ranks right up there. What struck me the most about exploring the lower section of the Thompson River as it flows through South Carolina was how drastically different it was from the Toxaway and Whitewater Rivers. The Toxaway features a lot of exposed bedrock to keep you moving, and trails line the Whitewater, providing plenty of opportunities to make progress. The lower section of the Thompson isn’t even a river walk, but a bushwhack and rock scramble with plenty of sketchy spots along the way. Faint trails used by kayakers to bypass some areas are some help, but they don’t always help because they end at deep pools, which is fine when you have a kayak.
We began on Musterground Road, which is unlocked from September 15 through January 1, and for a month in late April and May. We dropped in close to our first target, Side Cave Falls, which features a huge slab of rock that fell from the cliff that you can walk behind to reach the back of the curtain. The waterfall is about 30-35 feet tall, mostly free-falling over a high ledge. It had decent flow, but we haven’t had much rain lately. Higher water would make this one really impressive. Side Cave Falls is on a tributary of the Thompson, and it dumps into the river at the base of a large waterfall on the Thompson.
We came out at the top of the waterfall and made our way down the sloped rock, which was slick in places, to another fallen rock, creating a passage behind it. Like many of the places we explored early in the hike, there was a piece of twisted metal wrapped around the boulder. The corrugated metal was all over the place. Getting to the base was a bushwhack on river right, and from the middle of the river on a large flat rock, you get a great view of the falls and the way it splits at the bottom. There are images of the boulder as seen from above and below.
Getting downstream is a test and slow going. It is also hard to describe, but I’ll highlight some of the key points, although they may not be particularly helpful. There is a long slide that is similar to the Energizer on the Toxaway. It resembled a snake, and it was approximately 40 feet high and at least 60 feet long. It might not be the safest way, but we went down the sloped rock to the left of the main channel. It was slick, and there was some flow on that side. If the water were any higher, this approach wouldn’t work. The sloped rock reminded me a lot of the one at Big Falls, although not as long or high. There is a small waterfall below the snake, followed by a gently flowing waterfall with a nice pool. However, all the waterfalls have huge pools, which prevent walking in the river. The small one is about ten feet with more above and out of sight. The gently flowing one is maybe 18 feet high.
There was one particularly sketchy section closer to the end of the trek. A steep bushwhack on river left led to a decision. There was a way to climb up between two angled rocks, but there was also a way to crawl through a passage in the rocks to get to the top of two enormous boulders. Just below the sketchy rocks, there is a rope on river left leading up a steep incline toward the top of another massive boulder. The rope leads to an obvious path at the top and a super-steep descent on the other side to the river at the side of a deep pool that requires a kayak or swimming. We doubled back and crossed the river, heading toward another obvious path, which led to a very cool section of trail under an overhanging cliff. The cool section ended at a highly sketchy descent down a sloped rock. It’s doubtful an uncontrolled slide would kill you, but this isn’t the kind of place where you want to break an ankle if you don’t stick the landing.
The last two waterfalls are close together; the upper one is super-scenic and is fronted by a huge pool. The lower one is chaotic and hard to photograph, as there isn’t a good vantage point other than a rock out in the middle of the river, which would require a wade. Below the last waterfall, there is an obvious trail on river right that leads around the final ridge to where the river ends at Lake Jocassee, maybe a hundred feet below the base of the last drop. We went straight up the ridge near the edge of the lake and picked up an old road near the top of the ridge that led back to Musterground Road, leaving about a three-quarters of a mile of uphill walking to get back to where we parked.
The total miles were around two, but it took about eight and a half hours. We spent a lot of time at each waterfall since getting to them was quite a bit of work. A lot of time was also spent figuring out the best way forward and making a path as needed.
Side Cave Falls was the first stop of the day, and the easiest to reach. Not too far below the base of Side Cave Falls we spotted a piece of history partially buried in the sediment. Once we reached the Thompson, we went to the top of the first waterfall and headed down the sloped rock to get a closer look at the passage behind the boulder and the hunk of corrugated metal wrapped around the rock.
The main waterfall is impressive, and the way it splits at the base is neat. The pool is huge, and a large flat rock in the middle of the river provides the perfect vantage and a good place to have lunch. A smaller slide is the next drop, and getting to it took some time.
The snake was my favorite drop, and the pool below it was huge, but every waterfall on the river had a huge pool below it, making it very different from the Toxaway and Whitewater. The small drop has more above it, but there wasn’t a way to photograph it.
Getting to the base of the gently sloping waterfall had a sketchy spot, and reaching the final two had some white-knuckle spots as well. The middle one was so nice, and the pool was one of the best. The final stop was at the other end of the pool, and fell in a lot of different directions that my picture does not do justice.
Ending the arduous trek with a view of Lake Jocassee was nice, and after climbing straight up the ridge spine to Musterground road, and hiking about three-quarters of a mile, there was an even better sight! Three went in and three came out.