DuPont State Forest Waterfalls

Sunday morning, we woke up later than expected due to the start of Daylight Saving Time. We broke camp and headed towards DuPont State Forest, stopping on the way at Connestee Falls. Unfortunately, due to development, it's not possible to get a good view of the falls. Although there is a "park" at the real estate office with a boardwalk, the only view is from the top of the falls, which makes it difficult to see. The boardwalk ends at the top of Connestee Falls with a view across to Batson Creek Falls. The two flow together and make a nice double waterfall, but to get a good view, one would need to live in or know someone who lives in the Connestee Falls development. After a few minutes, we continued on to DuPont and parked in the High Falls Access area. Heading down Buck Forest Road, we turned left on High Falls Trail and stopped for a minute at the overlook to see the falls.

High Falls (on Little River - there are several High Falls in the area) is a very impressive waterfall, especially when the water flow is good. The covered bridge on Buck Forest Road goes over the falls and you would think it would make for a nice scene. But its kind of crooked from the perspective of the High Falls overlook, so it seems kind of awkward up there. After a few photos, we continued down the trail to where it meets up with Triple Falls Trail and stopped at the overlook where we had a good view of the three distinct falls.

Actually, to get the best view, we had to climb up some rocks just behind the overlook. This was especially good for shots with people in it, since you can still see the falls behind them. Then we headed down the nearby stairs and climbed out onto the rocks and stopped for a short lunch break and to take some photos.

This spot is just above the lowest section of Triple Falls with a good view of the upper two falls.

After our lunch break, we headed back on the trail and went for a different view of High Falls. We followed an old trail down to the base of the falls to get a close up view of the power of the falls.

It was a little slippery, but I could get a shot looking up at the falls without the bridge visible. Then, we headed back up and took the Covered Bridge Trail for yet another view of High Falls from the top.

There were some people riding horses here - the horses stopped for a drink and then headed over the bridge continuing on Buck Forest Road.

Across the bridge, we hiked down Conservation Road, crossing the Lake Julia Spillway before turning on Bridal Veil Falls Road.

Reaching Bridal Veil Falls, we climbed towards the top of the exposed rock to where we could crawl behind the falls.

Near the top, almost all of the rock was covered in water and very slippery, so we took a trail through the woods to safely reach the top.

Several other people weren't so smart and tried walking up the wet rock, nearly falling. One woman said "I'll dry off if I fall." Yes, but broken bones will take a while to heal!

We crawled behind the falls and went to the other side, and then headed back. On our way out of DuPont, we stopped just outside the forest to see Shoal Creek Falls, a very pretty roadside waterfall.

One more waterfall, before making the long drive back to Raleigh.