Turtletown Falls

Tuesday, we headed west towards Murphy on US-64.  Our first stop was the Panther Top Lookout Tower.  Driving into Nantahala National Forest on FR-85 and drove to where it was gated at FR-85A.  We parked here and hiked up the rest of FR-85.

It was about three-quarters of a mile to the lookout tower at summit.

Even with the clouds, we still had nice views.

To the south, the sun's rays were shining through an opening in the clouds.  The top of the lookout tower is locked but I climbed part of the way up the stairs for some views.

Then we headed back down.

From here, we crossed Hiwassee Dam and turned on Prospect Road.  In about 0.6 miles from the paved road, where the road enters Nantahala National Forest, we parked and bushwhacked down towards Apalachia Lake.  It was a little steep, but fairly open and not too bad.  Once down near the lake, we could follow some semblance of a trail up to North Shoal Creek Falls.

It's a really scenic waterfall but very far away from just about anything.

After a short break, we headed back.

From here, we made the short drive into Tennessee and drove into Cherokee National Forest, parking at the trailhead for Turtletown Falls.  There is an auto ford right before the end of the road, it looked a little sketchy, so we parked before and rock-hopped the creek.  Then we got on Turtletown Falls Trail (#185).  In about 0.7 miles, there was a split where the loop portion of the hiked started.  We went left to stay close to the creek.  In about a mile, we reached the Upper Falls.

A short spur path led to the base of these really scenic twin falls.

After some pictures, we continued on for about another mile to the other end of the loop.  We went left again and headed down to the base of the Lower Falls.

The lower one is really unique in how the cascades fan out.

We took a break down here to enjoy the view and eat a snack, then started making our way back.  For a loop, we went straight at the first split and climbed up Shinbone Ridge.  We could see Hiwassee River far below, but even in winter, too much trees in the way for a good view.  After crossing the ridge, the trail descended back down and closed the loop.

From here, we started making our way back to Franklin.  In Hayesville, we stopped at Rib Country to get some barbecue for dinner.  Continuing east on US-64, we made a quick stop at the Shooting Creek Overlook for a nice view of sunset.

Then we continued back to Franklin for the evening.