South Harper Creek Falls

It started raining quite heavily around 2 Sunday morning - heavy enough to wake me up from a dead sleep. By the time we got up in the morning, however, the rain had tapered off. We had breakfast and then headed into the main Wilson Creek area for more hiking and waterfalls. Driving north on NC-181, we made a quick stop at Brown Mountain Overlook. The skies had cleared after the overnight rain, but there were still fog and clouds lingering in the valleys and around mountain peaks. Looking west to the eastern rim of Linville Gorge, Table Rock and Hawksbill Mountain were partially covered in clouds and were quite beautiful.

Similarly, looking east, there were misty clouds all around Chestnut Mountain and Brown Mountain. After a quick stop here, we continued on, heading into the forest on FR 464 and then turning right on FR 58. It was about 4 miles to a parking area at the western trailhead for Harper Creek Trail (#260). We got our stuff ready and started hiking down the trail. In about a mile, we passed a clearing with a view of the Kanawa community and soon came to an intersection.

Turning right leads to Raider Camp Trail, but we went left to stay on Harper Creek Trail towards South Harper Creek Falls. We passed the top of the waterfall and then headed down towards the base, first through some switchbacks, then got off the trail and made the steep scramble down to the base. A couple who were ahead of us strung up rope, which made our descent a little easier. Once at the base, we ate our lunch down here, while the other couple were trying to get photos. Due to the full sun on the open rocks, photography was a little tricky.

After we ate, the gentleman trying to take pictures and I waded and climbed up further to the base of the waterfalls. He was braver than I and brought his DSLR camera; I stuck with the waterproof GoPro.

We got some pictures and videos from here with a good view of the lower section of the waterfall, then headed back down. Once back, the couple headed back up, taking their rope with them. We stayed for a little while longer, enjoying the views, then started heading back up. Even without rope, it wasn't too bad climbing back up to the trail - going up always seems a little easier than going down. Back on Harper Creek Trail, we continued to the split and went straight to get on Raider Camp Trail (#277). Almost immediately, there was a stream crossing over Harper Creek. Before crossing, however, we scrambled upstream a short ways to see a nice cascade on Harper Creek.

In higher water levels, this might be considered a waterfall, but the flow was light today. After a few pictures, we headed back to the creek crossing. I was sure we would have to get wet, but Sandy found a route to rock-hop across. We then followed Raider Camp Trail up a series of switchbacks and took a spur trail to the cliff overlook for South Harper Creek Falls.

This is the only spot where you can see both the upper and lower portions of the waterfall and get a good idea of the complete size of this waterfall. Far below, we could see the rocks at the base where we had eaten lunch. It was a long way down. After enjoying the view for a little while, we made the hike back to our car.

It was still early in the afternoon, so we headed over to the Mortimer Campground and drove to the back for one more short hike. It rained a bit on the ride over, but had stopped by the time we parked. We hiked along Thorps Creek Trail (#279) for less than a quarter-mile to see Thorps Creek Falls.

This is a small, but very scenic waterfall with three distinct drops, followed by a slide that was also split in three.

After stopping here, we made our way back to the car and headed back to NC-181. We got a pizza from the gas station and ate dinner at Brown Mountain Overlook, enjoying the views of the late day sun over Linville Gorge.

When we first arrived, clouds surrounded the distinctive peak of Table Rock. I got some pictures right away; by the time we finished eating, the clouds were gone.

After dinner, we headed back to our campsite for a campfire before bed.