Alarka & Indian Camp Creek Falls

Sunday morning, we headed towards Bryson City for a winter hike to Alarka Falls.  At Alarka Road, we met up with the Badger and headed down to the end of Alarka Road.  At the very end where the road turns to gravel, it was really icy so we parked and hiked the rest of the way.

Although not great conditions for driving, it was a real winter wonderland.  At the end of the road, we followed the path leading upstream along Alarka Creek.

There was lots of ice and snow along the creek.

For traction, we wore micro-spikes for the hike.

Shortly we made it to Alarka Falls that was really beautiful in the ice.

It's not possible to see the entire thing and there several trees down across the falls.

But in icy conditions and many icicles, the falls was really beautiful.  After some pictures, we started heading back.

It was still early in the day, so we headed towards Burningtown near Franklin and parked at the trailhead for Indian Camp Creek Falls.  Parking at the end of the driveable portion of Upper Burningtown Road, we hiked the rest of the road and then had to cross Burningtown Creek, which was tricky to stay dry.  We then crossed Indian Camp Creek twice and then followed a path upstream along river right.  The waterfall was visible from the path, but it was very difficult to find a good position to view it from.

The snow and ice made getting to the base too treacherous.  There were a lot of fantastic icicles near the waterfall.

Badger and I headed to the top for a profile view.

Again, micro-spikes were critical to safe passage.  After some pictures, we headed back.

Before leaving the area, we wanted to see one more waterfall.  Off the main road, we turned on Burningtown Falls Road and drove a short ways to view the spectacular Burningtown Falls.

It's on private property but viewable from the road in winter.

After a couple pictures, we dropped Badger back off at this car and headed back to Franklin.