Thompson River Waterfalls

Sunday morning, we woke up cold and quickly broke camp to get off the mountain. The wind had died down a bit overnight, but it was cold and very cloudy. As we got back on the parkway, the visibility was poor but the clouds began to break as we headed south and there were clear blue skies by the time we reached US-276. We went south on the highway and then west once we hit Brevard on US-64. We continued to Sapphire and then took NC-281 south past Gorges State Park and parked along the side of Brewer Road. The unofficial Thompson River Trail begins from here. We walked along the gated logging road for about a mile, passing the side trail to High Falls. The trail then switchbacked down and led to a ford across Thompson River. When I had been here before, we were able to rock-hop across the river during near drought conditions, but the water level was too high today so we had to wade through the chilly water. Once across, we continued following the old logging road as it ran parallel to Thompson River. Although we could rarely see the river from the trail, we could hear it often as the water roared over falls and cascades.

In about 2 miles from the river crossing, we came to the side trail that leads down to Big Falls. Despite using GPS, we initially passed the side path and had to turn around. The logging road continues past here, I believe ending at the Foothills Trail, though I haven’t followed it that far. We initially passed the turn, despite using GPS, but found it easily after turning around when I realized we must have passed it. There was a cairn and several pieces of marking tape so I don’t know why we didn’t spot it the first time. The path down to Big Falls starts out gradual and deceivingly easy. Then it gets a little steeper and steeper and steeper. Fortunately, someone has tied ropes to the trees at some of the steepest parts to assist in the descent. Finally, the trail comes down to the river below the falls and goes upstream to the base. Another piece of rope helped us get down a huge boulder and then we came to a fallen tree. Peering through the branches and logs, Sandy spotted another piece of marking tape, so we climbed through the mess of branches and came out at the base of the waterfall.

The water level was high enough that we couldn’t cross to the big rocks on the other side without getting wet. It was over my knees and fast moving, so Sandy decided to stay dry while I crossed over to get some pictures.

This is a beautiful waterfall - one of my favorites in North Carolina. And it was really flowing with higher than average water levels. Unfortunately, it was hard to get a good picture as the midday sun was shining right on it and the water level was high enough to create quite a bit of spray and I had to keep cleaning off the lens. The name Big Falls really seems appropriate when walking up the side on the big exposed rocks.

We had lunch down here and enjoyed the beautiful waterfall, then made the very strenuous climb back up. The last time I had been here was in the summer when it was really hot. The climb seemed a lot easier in the cool autumn weather and soon we were back at the top. We started making our way back along the logging road and in about a half-mile or so, we took the side trail down to Waterfall #2 on Thompson River. It was well-marked with tape and easy to follow, though rather steep. This waterfall is a pretty cascading falls, about 35 feet high.

I climbed out on the rocks to get some pictures and then we headed back to the main trail. A little ways further on the trail we saw an enormous bright green caterpillar on the trail; I believe that it was a Polyphemus caterpillar.

After crossing Thompson River again, we took the side trail to High Falls. It’s about a half-mile and easy until the last decent down to the river.

We had to wade again to get across the river and into a good spot to view the waterfall. The water was cold, but High Falls was quite beautiful.

We got a couple pictures here and then headed back to the car. By the time we got back to the car, it was getting late, but we still had an hour or so of daylight - time enough for some more waterfalls! We drove just a short ways up NC-281 and parked on the side of the road, just before Whitewater Church Road. From here, we hiked the short D.E.W. Falls Trail (#281) about a quarter-mile to the waterfall.

This is a smaller waterfall but quite scenic, named for Dorothy Ehrlich Walker, a young lady who tragically died in a car accident. Then we headed back across the street and scrambled down to John’s Jump, a nice 25-foot waterfall on Mill Creek a short ways downstream of D.E.W. Falls.

Since these were such short hikes, we decided to get one more waterfall for the day. We started heading back on NC-281 and parked along a gated forest road before Brewer Road, then walked down the highway to a faint trail just past the guard rail. It was a short hike down to Thompson River for White Owl Falls. It’s not a big waterfall, but quite beautiful and photogenic given the easy hike to reach it.

After a few pictures, we headed back up to the car as the sun was beginning to set. We drove into Cashiers for a quick dinner and then checked into our hotel - Hampton Inn. After getting settled into our room, we hit the hot tub before bed. It felt amazing after such a strenuous day.