Saturday, we left early to take Alex to the mountains for a long weekend of camping and waterfalls. Our first stop was the visitor center at Gorges State Park to get Alex's passport stamped.
Then we parked at the Rainbow Falls trailhead and began our hike along Horsepasture River. The trail leaves Gorges State Park and enters Pisgah National Forest in under a mile and begins to follow the river more closely. Soon we made it to Rainbow Falls. Even in low water, the waterfall is spectacular.
We climbed down to the base for a good view of this magnificent waterfall. There was a little rainbow at the base.
Continuing along the trail, next up was Turtleback Falls.
In the summer, it's too crowded with swimmers but today it was looking nice.
From here, we followed the trail to the end of the national forest property. Drift Falls is on private property but can be seen from the property line.
This was our turnaround point. Just past Rainbow Falls, I scrambled down to the river for Hidden Falls.
And shortly before we got back to Gorges State Park, we took a side path down to Stairway Falls.
In low water, it didn't look as much like stairs. After a break, we headed back up to the trailhead.
Then we parked at the Rainbow Falls trailhead and began our hike along Horsepasture River. The trail leaves Gorges State Park and enters Pisgah National Forest in under a mile and begins to follow the river more closely. Soon we made it to Rainbow Falls. Even in low water, the waterfall is spectacular.
We climbed down to the base for a good view of this magnificent waterfall. There was a little rainbow at the base.
Continuing along the trail, next up was Turtleback Falls.
In the summer, it's too crowded with swimmers but today it was looking nice.
From here, we followed the trail to the end of the national forest property. Drift Falls is on private property but can be seen from the property line.
This was our turnaround point. Just past Rainbow Falls, I scrambled down to the river for Hidden Falls.
And shortly before we got back to Gorges State Park, we took a side path down to Stairway Falls.
In low water, it didn't look as much like stairs. After a break, we headed back up to the trailhead.
Heading back on US64, we parked immediately across the bridge over Toxaway Falls. Carefully crossing the highway, we got behind the guardrail and went east to an old gated road. The road petered out after a bit but it was pretty easy following the path. Flagging tape helped us stay on the path down to Toxaway River. Following the river downstream, we came out at the top of Twin Falls. A rope assisted with the climb down to the base.
Twin Falls is a really nice waterfall, I was impressed.
And Toxaway River was really scenic going downstream. After some pictures we made the climb back up. Before crossing US64, I scrambled down to Toxaway Falls. I made it to the top of the big drop.
With condos across the gorge, it wasn't a great view. Getting further down would have been tough, especially for Alex so we headed back to the car.
From here, we drove to Lazy J's and set up camp. Sandy spotted a food truck at Headwaters outfitters to save us the drive to Brevard. We had barbeque from the food truck and drinks from the taproom with Alex. Before returning to camp, we made a short detour on Diamond Creek Road. Diamond Creek Falls is a roadside waterfall a mile and a half up the road.
It was obscured by rhododendron and wasn't much of a view from the road. We headed back to camp and built a campfire for a bit before going to bed.
Twin Falls is a really nice waterfall, I was impressed.
And Toxaway River was really scenic going downstream. After some pictures we made the climb back up. Before crossing US64, I scrambled down to Toxaway Falls. I made it to the top of the big drop.
With condos across the gorge, it wasn't a great view. Getting further down would have been tough, especially for Alex so we headed back to the car.
From here, we drove to Lazy J's and set up camp. Sandy spotted a food truck at Headwaters outfitters to save us the drive to Brevard. We had barbeque from the food truck and drinks from the taproom with Alex. Before returning to camp, we made a short detour on Diamond Creek Road. Diamond Creek Falls is a roadside waterfall a mile and a half up the road.
It was obscured by rhododendron and wasn't much of a view from the road. We headed back to camp and built a campfire for a bit before going to bed.
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