Blue Hole Falls (Holston)

Blue Hole Falls is a waterfall in multiple sections on Mill Creek in Carter County, Tennessee.  The waterfall is located in the Watauga Ranger District of Cherokee National Forest near Holston Mountain.

Hike Length: 0.2 miles
Estimated Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Location: Watauga Ranger District of Cherokee National Forest
Trail Users: Hiking only
Dogs: Yes
Features: Waterfalls (1)
Crowds: Moderate
Warnings: The rocks around waterfalls are slippery.
Trailhead GPS: 36.43341,-82.07198 
Waterfall GPS: 36.43273,-82.07213 

Directions:

From Elizabethton, head north on TN-91.  In 10.1 miles from US-19E, turn left on Panhandle Road, which becomes Forest Road 56. In 0.9 miles from the turn, there will be a large pull-off on the left to park.

Map:

Hike Description:

From the parking lot, old road on the right (north) side leads down to creek level above the upper most section of the waterfall.  The slide and drop is difficult to see well.

A little further down the trail is the next section, a scenic cascade over mossy rocks.

In a hundred feet or so, the trail begins to descend to the main section of the falls.  You can scramble on the rocks above the main drop to see this section nestled in a tight little grotto.

The trail descends down to the main section of the waterfall with the Blue Hole for swimming.

You can scramble down from here to see the lower section.

Returning to the parking area, the obvious trail on the left leads out to the cliffs above the waterfall where you can see the main Blue Hole and lower section.  I believe this is the only place you can see two sections at once.

We found a path that continued downstream and there were a few more little cascades and drops.

This last drop was as far as we made it.  I think it goes onto private property around here and there's probably no significant drops past this.

Here's a video of the falls.

Blog Entries:

24-Jun-2023: Laurel Fork Falls

29-May-2016: Blue Hole Falls