Pisgah Forest Waterfalls

For Fall Foliage this year, Sandy and I took a whole week to head out to western North Carolina and go on an epic waterfall hunting adventure. We left very early in the morning on Saturday and made our way west, arriving in Pisgah Forest around 10. We made a quick stop at Subway to get our lunches for the next two days and then headed into Pisgah National Forest. From US-276, we turned onto Forest Service Road 475 and drove past the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education and parked at the trailhead for Daniel Ridge Loop Trail (#105). It was a Saturday during peak fall foliage, so not surprisingly, the forest was very crowded. The small parking lot at the trailhead was full, so we parked along the forest road just past the trailhead. Once we got all our stuff ready, we started off for our first waterfall of the week - Toms Spring Falls. We hiked up the gated road and across the bridge over Davidson River and turned right to continue on the road. In about a half-mile, right past where Daniel Ridge Loop Trail splits from the road, we got to Toms Spring Falls, which is also called Daniel Ridge Falls or Jackson Falls.

The waterfall is on Toms Spring Branch, which has a fairly small watershed. Despite heavy rains the week before, this one still had pretty low flow, but its still a nice waterfall given the easy hike. We first hiked up a side trail to view the falls up close from about the middle point, then headed back to the road to see it from the front.

One down, more than forty to go! We didn’t spend too much time as we had many more waterfalls to get so started heading back after a couple pictures. Back at the car, we drove back a short ways on FSR 475 and parked outside the gate leading to Cove Creek Group Campground. There was a bicycle event so this area was even more crowded than expected. We parked along the forest road and hiked up the gated road towards the campground. Along the way, we stopped to see some nice cascades along Cove Creek.

At the campground, we tried to get on Caney Bottom Trail, but missed a double blaze and continued on an old road. After a few minutes, we realized we were not going the right way and saw another group of hikers. We asked them and they too were heading to the waterfall but had missed the turn. I felt a little better that we weren’t the only ones who missed the turn.

We headed back to the campground and found the double blaze and got on the blue-blazed Caney Bottom Trail (#361). In about ten minutes, the trail split and we took the yellow-blazed Cove Creek Trail (#340), which leads to the falls. In about ten minutes or so, there was a side trail that leads steeply down to the waterfall. Despite the crowds near the campground and trailhead, we were the only ones at the waterfall, so we took the opportunity to enjoy our lunch near the base.

To get some good pictures of the falls, I waded into the creek at the base. The water was very cold! But at least it was only ankle deep and wading allowed me to get some nice pictures of the falls. As we finished our lunch and got some pictures, more people started arriving at the waterfall, including those who we had seen when we made a wrong turn. With the crowds arriving, we departed and headed back to the car. We drove back to US-276 and headed north. I was planning for a quick stop at Looking Glass Falls, but expected a crowd given its popularity. This is one of the most popular and easily accessible waterfalls in the forest. Although it’s roadside, we had to park almost a quarter-mile down the road to find a spot.

The waterfall was very crowded so I climbed out onto a big log past the viewing deck to get some nice pictures without people in the way.

Then we continued up US-276 a short ways to the parking area for Moore Cove.

Just before the bridge on US-276, we crossed a footbridge to get on Moore Cove Trail (#318) and followed this pleasant trail for about three-quarters of a mile to Moore Cove Falls.

The fall color in this area was beautiful and it was a lovely walk to the waterfall. Moore Cove Falls is a 50-foot waterfall over a cliff with a grotto behind the falls.

This waterfall is probably second in popularity to Looking Glass, so it was kind of crowded.

We did manage to walk around the get pictures of the falls from different angles, including from behind it in the grotto.

We also saw a small rainbow near the base.

As more people arrived, however, we decided it was time and headed on. Back at the car, we continued up US-276 to the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed south to mile post 417 and parked at the Looking Glass Rock Overlook. From here, we had a great view of Looking Glass Rock to the southeast, but this was not our primary goal.

We crossed the parkway and took a short spur trail to connect with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

Along the way, we passed the dragon tree.

Past the tree, we hiked down some rocky steps and soon came to a footbridge over Yellowstone Prong at Skinny Dip Falls.

This waterfall used to be pretty unknown to anyone except locals, whose activities at the falls gave its name. Nowadays, it’s very popular, right along the MST near Graveyard Fields, and it would be hard to get away with skinny dipping here. It was way too cold for swimming anyway, with or without clothes.

At the top, we got some pictures of the upper portions of the waterfall, then went down the stairs and climbed out on the rocks for a few more pictures, though only the middle section was visible.

We also met a nice young lady here who was backpacking with her dog along the MST. I took some pictures for her and helped her figure out where she was going, and then we made our way back to the car. It was only another mile on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Graveyard Fields, our last stop for the day. The parking lot had been improved over the summer, but it was completely full and we had to park a little ways up along the parkway. We hiked to the main parking area and got on the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail (#358) and took the stairs down to Yellowstone Prong. We turned right on the MST Access Trail (#358B) and headed down to Second Falls.

There was quite a crowd at this waterfall and the late afternoon sun made pictures very difficult. After climbing out on the rocks, we headed back up the stairs to the loop trail and continued counterclockwise to the Upper Falls Trail (#358A) and hiked to our last waterfall of the day.

The hike through Graveyard Fields is beautiful though many of the trees at the higher elevations had already lost their leaves.

We got some pictures of the cascades at the base of Upper Falls and then headed up to the main waterfall.

Unfortunately, due to a camera malfunction, I didn't get any pictures of Upper Falls. I guess, I'll have to come back again some time soon. Then we started making our way back, finishing up the loop trail back at the parking area ready to head to our camping spot for the night.

Before we drove too far off, however, we stopped along the parkway and got some pictures of Second Falls from a distance with the setting sun behind the mountains - a truly beautiful scene.

We also made a quick stop at East Fork Overlook for more nice fall foliage views from the parkway in the late afternoon sun.

Finally, we headed north on the parkway to Mount Pisgah Campground, our home for the night. After setting up our tent, we headed into Pisgah Forest for dinner at Hawg Wild BBQ and then returned to camp. Although the weather was pretty nice down below, it was extremely windy up on the mountain and there were even some snow flurries. It was too windy for a fire so we got in our tent and tried to go to sleep. The strong winds made for a restless night as the side of the tent kept bumping us throughout the night. I think sheer exhaustion was the only reason we managed to sleep much at all.