Thunderhole Hike

Sunday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed back up towards Blowing Rock.  We took Globe Road south and then FR-4071 to the end near China Creek.  Hiking down China Creek Trail (#250), we came to Thunderhole Falls Trail (#253) in about a half-mile.  It was just a short distance to Thunderhole Falls.  The climb down was very steep and we needed to use the rope to get down.

The water level was low, but it's still a really nice waterfall.

I climbed up to the middle section for a better view of the upper drops.

The main drop is on Thunderhole Creek while the one to the side is on a small tributary.

After enjoying the falls, we climbed back up and continued down China Creek Trail.

After crossing China Creek, there were two crossings of Thunderhole Creek.  On the last, Alex took a dip and wasn't happy to have gotten his belly wet.  Shortly after, the trail climbed up above the creek and a steep scramble path led down to Lower Thunderhole Falls.

It's a small waterfall, but the pool at the base is lovely.  If it had been a little warmer, I would have taken a dip.

After climbing back up, I continued on China Creek Trail to where it ends at FR-4071 and then we hiked back.

After driving out of the forest, we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at Raven Rocks Overlook.

We hiked a short ways eastbound on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail from here.  The trail followed the road then went in the woods for a short ways before hiking through some open fields.

Some cows were grazing in the field.

We hiked about a mile, just past Blackberry Road and turned around.

From here, we stopped for lunch at Booneshine again and then made the drive home.