Tellico Falls

Monday, we headed to one of the most remote waterfalls in North Carolina.  We had to come in from Tennessee.  From Robbinsville, we got on Cherohala Skyway and made a quick stop at Big Junction for a beautiful morning view looking down into Tennessee.

Then we continued to FR-81 and took North River Road down into Tennessee.  It was a long, winding gravel road following the river downstream.  At Tellico River, we turned left and followed the road up back into North Carolina.  In a half-mile, we parked at a gated gravel road.  Hiking up this road, it was about a mile to a bridge over Tellico River and a campsite.  Right past there was a ford of Tellico River, but in high water, there was no safe way across.  We tried a couple different spots then tried buswhacking up river left side to an easier place to cross.  There was some semblance of an old logging road but it started getting away from the creek so we bushwhacked back down following a tributary.  The river level was still high, but we found a reasonable place to cross.  But it was all dense rhododendron where we got out of the river on the river right side.  We crawled through the rhododendron until we picked up the road and followed that to Tellico Falls.

First we went to the upper section, which was a very scenic cascade.

Then the lower section where we had a snack and took a rest to recover after the very strenuous trek to get here.

On the way back, we followed the road to the ford then bushwhacked to stay on the river right side of the river.  It was a very difficult bushwhack but short to get back to the road.

After this, we followed Tellico River Road back into Tennessee and made a stop at Baby Falls Day Use Area.

The waterfall was just down the road from the parking area.

We scrambled down from the road for a good view of the falls.

Tellico River was really flowing.  Then we continued to Bald River Falls parking.  On a weekday, it wasn't too crowded.

We walked along the bridge for some beautiful views of the massive waterfall.

Then we picked up Bald River Trail (#88) and climbed up to the top.

There was a scenic cascade right above that's not visible from the base.

Continuing on the trail, we entered into Bald River Gorge Wilderness.  There were lots more beautiful cascades along the river.

In under a mile, we climbed out onto a rock outcrop for a view of Middle Bald River Falls.

There was an upper cascades and then a tiered drop.

The rock outcrop was right above the lower section and there didn't appear to be a way down.

A little further on the trail was a scramble path to the upper section.

We went a little further to a campsite with a small cave next to it.

We turned around at this point and hiked back to car.

We drove a little further on FR-210 and took Turkey Creek Road up to Cherohala Skyway.  We made one stop at Turkey Creek Overlook that had great panoramic views.

Then we continued to Unicoi Crest just across the state line to wait for sunset.

In a few minutes, the sun dipped behind the horizon, a gorgeous sunset and the perfect spot for viewing.

Then we continued on back towards Robbinsville as darkness fell over the mountains.  We were leaving in the morning so we started to get packed up.