Wintergreen Falls

This past weekend, we headed to the Brevard area for some frozen waterfalls and winter hiking. We left very early Friday morning, the very cold day, and had to pack up the car in temperatures around 7°F. Justine and John arrived just before 5 and we took off shortly afterwards. We made pretty good time heading out west, arriving at the Frozen Creek Access of Gorges State Park shortly after 10. Although the sun had come up, it was still bitterly cold. We bundled up in many layers and started hiking off along Augur Hole Road. The first stretch is uphill, leading away from the parking access and running concurrently with Canebrake Trail. After the first half-mile, the trails split and we turned right to continue on Augur Hole Road. From this point, the trail is mostly downhill, heading downstream in parallel to Augur Fork Creek. There were a few spots where small tributaries of the creek had formed some nice icicles along the trail. Snow and ice covered the road for the majority that we hiked, but it actually wasn’t too slippery.

In about 3 miles, shortly before the road fords Toxaway River, we turned right to follow another old road that runs upstream along Toxaway River. The old road was about a mile long, first heading uphill for a bit then downhill ending around river level. After this point, it became more of a trail than a road, but was pretty easy to follow along the river for about the next half-mile until we reached Panther Branch. We rock-hopped across the stream and then made it to a steep section of scrambling around some cliffs. The snow and ice made this a particularly challenging stretch and our Yak-Trax really came in handy. Once past the cliffs, it wasn’t too bad and there was flagging tape conveniently placed to keep us on the path. Soon, we came out at the huge pool at the base of Wintergreen Falls.

We had lunch here and enjoyed the view. The water was still flowing but there was ice all over the rock face - it was quite scenic and fitting for a waterfall named Wintergreen. It was quite cold, however, so we didn’t linger too long.

Hiking back, we followed our own footprints in the snow to keep on the trail. After passing the cliffs and Panther Branch, I made a quick stop to get a shot of a scenic ten-foot waterfall along Toxaway River.

Then we finished up the trail and took the old logging road back to Augur Hole Trail. The hike back to the parking lot is almost all uphill, so it was a bit strenuous after an already long day of hiking. At least it wasn’t hot. Through the trees we were able to see Chub Line Falls and the waterfalls at the confluence of Augur Fork Creek and Maple Spring Branch. We were all a little tired after the trek to Wintergreen, so we decided to pass on trying to head down for these. We were also running low on daylight. We made it back to the car around 5 and then headed towards Brevard to our home for the weekend - Falling Water cottage, a rental just east of Pisgah Forest. It certainly had an appropriate name given our adventures for the weekend. After checking in and unpacking the car, we headed into town for dinner at Twin Dragons China Buffet. After a long and strenuous day of hiking, the buffet really hit the spot. After dinner, we headed back to the cottage and went to bed early.