Casey and I had been here several times before, but Sandy and the others had not. It's always fun to see the look on people's faces when they see the waterfall for the first time. The water level was much higher than I'm used to seeing in the summer and the waterfall was much more powerful. The area below the falls where I have swam in the past was being pounded with falling water and swimming would have been impossible even if the water was warm enough. Even up on the trail, we were getting wet from the spray, so we didn't go down to the viewing platform to get any closer. Next, we headed up to Turtleback Falls, which was also more powerful than usual.
It was also unusual to see no one there. I've only been here in the summer and there's always a big crowd of people water-sliding down Turtleback. So it seemed strange to see it deserted.
We stopped just upstream of the falls and had lunch. After eating, we headed upstream just a short ways further to the end of the National Forest land for a view of Drift Falls.
This waterfall is on private property and no trespassing is actively enforced. But with the foliage down and a telephoto lens, I was able to get some good shots while staying on National Forest property. Then we turned around and headed back. On the way back, we stopped at two more smaller falls along the Horsepasture River. Hidden Falls is a small waterfall just downstream of Rainbow Falls.
It's not real impressive, but makes for a nice swim hole when the weather is warmer. Surprisingly, there was actually someone swimming here - he must have been freezing! Then we headed down to Stairway Falls. I've seen this one before in the summer when the water levels are lower. But today, with the water up, it looked much more like a stairway.
After we were done here, we headed back to the parking area and made a quick stop at the new Visitor Center for Gorges State Park. They had some great photos of the waterfalls in the park and interesting exhibits on the geology and natural history of the park. From the back deck, there was a nice view of the mountains and gorges to the south, including Sassafras Mountain, the highest peak in South Carolina.
Leaving the park and heading towards South Carolina on NC-281, we stopped at a pullout just before the Thompson River and headed down to see White Owl Falls, a small but very pretty and scenic waterfall. From the pullout, we crossed the street and headed back along NC-281 until the end of the guard rail and hiked down a very short but steep trail to see the falls.
Then we headed to our last waterfall for the day; and the biggest. Just before the South Carolina state line, we stopped at the Whitewater Falls day-use recreation area in Nantahala National Forest. At 411 feet, Upper Whitewater Falls is claimed to be the highest in North Carolina and the eastern US. Walking down the paved trail to the first overlook, there was a great view of Lake Jocassee to the south.
We stopped at the upper overlook then headed down the stairs to the lower overlook, which has the best views of the falls.
Actually, climbing down just below the overlook and out on some rocks provided the best views.
After a few pictures we headed back to the cars as the sun was beginning to set. On the way back to the campsite, we stopped at Hawg Wild BBQ just before entering Pisgah National Forest for dinner.
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