The first mile or so was pretty easy - flat and easy to follow, with just a couple of easy stream crossings. Soon, we reached West Fork French Broad River and crossed. Shortly after this point, we came out at the base of Lower Waterfall on Tributary of West Fork Pigeon River, a very scenic cascading waterfall on an unnamed tributary that's not shown on the topo maps.
We crossed at the base and then headed upstream along the creek. It was moderately steep through dense rhododendron, but easy to follow and in a short distance, we came out at the base of Waterfall on Tributary of West Fork Pigeon River, also called Rhapsodie Falls.
Although neither the waterfall nor the creek have official names, it was a beautiful falls. The water tumbles off the cliff in a thin curtain, surrounded by lush green vegetation - there was no fall color here. It looked like it would be possible to walk behind the waterfall, but there appeared to be sensitive vegetation growing in the spray zone, so we stayed in front of the falls. We took a few pictures, then continued on, knowing the most challenging part of the hike was still to come. After crossing the unnamed tributary at the base of the falls, we continued on the path towards Dismal Creek. The trail was still pretty flat here and surprisingly well-marked with flagging tape. In about a quarter-mile, the trail split with flagging tape showing paths in both directions. A left turn here leads to Lower Dismal Falls, so we went right. I knew we were heading in the right direction because the trail was insanely steep. No switchbacks, no stairs, just straight up. It was gruelingly steep, but thankfully not too long. When we got to the top of the ridge, the trail turned and headed down into the gorge. It was hard to believe, but the trail was actually even steeper going down. It was so steep, there was no standing up. All we could do was hold on to rhododendron branches and “monkey climb” down. Heading down, I though I heard voices, but assumed I must be hallucinating from the strenuous climb. Nobody else could be at Dismal Falls today. As we approached Dismal Creek, the trail leveled off, but was very overgrown and required a lot of climbing over wet rocks and logs. We followed marking tape to a point that came out somewhere in the middle of Dismal Falls.
Dismal Falls has a big free fall, maybe 50 feet, followed by a series of cascades totaling about 150 feet. We still needed to get to the base, but I wanted to get some pictures from this point. As we were taking some photos, I heard the voices again and saw two people down at the base. Who would have thought that we’d actually see someone else at Dismal Falls on a Tuesday? We backtracked and climbed down to the base of the waterfall as the two guys were getting ready to leave. We talked to them for a few minutes, all of us surprised to actually see someone else here, then they headed back. Sandy and I ate our lunch down here, though there wasn’t really a good spot to sit down and relax.
After lunch, we got some more pictures then started making our way back. The climb back up to the ridge was very strenuous, requiring much climbing, but once at the top, it was all downhill back to the car. The hike seemed so much easier going back and we were back at the car in about an hour. From here, we got back on NC-281 and turned almost immediately onto Slick Fisher Road. In about 2.5 miles, we turned on McIntosh Road and went a short ways, parking on the side of the road.
Our goal was to visit Still House Falls. The waterfall is in Pisgah National Forest and there is a thin strip of public land that leads from the road to the waterfall. There is no trail, however, and it’s a very difficult bushwhack. The bushwhack is less than a half-mile, but took us nearly an hour and was incredibly strenuous. We climbed through dense rhododendron, belly-crawled under thick vegetation, and managed to cross a creek without getting wet. Finally, we came to a path and turned right to head down to Still House Falls. The final descent down to the waterfall was quite steep and required the use of ropes, but after the crazy bushwhack, this didn’t seem so bad.
Still House Falls was once the location of an illicit moonshine operation. The difficulty in getting here made this a good spot for illegal activities. But all evidence of the still was gone. Now, there was a campsite located under the huge outcrop over which the water falls with a fire pit and even an oven made from rocks.
Unlike some of the waterfalls with a grotto behind them, Still House had high water flow. The water is funneled through a narrow opening at the top and shoots out from the cliff. It was a pretty impressive waterfall and worth the challenging bushwhack.
We spent some time relaxing in the grotto and getting some pictures, then made our way back. It was still difficult, but seemed a bit easier going back. Once back at the car, we still had some daylight left, so we continued north on NC-281 past Tanasee Creek Lake and Wolf Creek Lake to the parking area for Paradise Falls. The hike is short but rather steep. We went down for a ways, crossing Wolf Creek and then followed a path to near the middle of the waterfall. I had been to Paradise Falls before, but never to this point.
We had a nice view of the upper portion of the waterfall, but the rocks were slippery and sloped and so it was difficult to get far enough out for a good picture. Then we made the extremely steep descent down to the base of the falls. The water flow of Paradise Falls is controlled by the dam on Wolf Creek Lake and so is generally pretty low, even after a good rain.
However, the waterfall is still quite beautiful as it is set back into a huge chasm with gorgeous cliffs and rocks all around. The pool at the base of the waterfall is a great swim hole, but it was way too cold today for that. It was getting late, so we headed back up and decided to call it a day. Heading back to Cashiers, we stopped for hibachi dinner at Yoshi Steakhouse and then headed back to the hotel. This was our last night at the hotel, so we were sure to take advantage of the hot tub one last time!
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