Buck Creek Falls (Cullasaja)

Buck Creek Falls is a 100-foot waterfall on its namesake in Macon County, North Carolina.  The waterfall is located in the Nantahala Ranger District of Nantahala National Forest.

Hike Length: 1.0 mile
Estimated Time: 1 to 2 hours
Difficulty: Difficult

Location: Nantahala Ranger District of Nantahala National Forest

Trail Users: Hiking only
Dogs: Yes
Features: Waterfalls (1)
Crowds: Low
Warnings: The rocks around waterfalls are slippery.
Trailhead GPS: 35.13417,-83.22357
Waterfall GPS: 35.13251,-83.22487

Directions:

From Highlands, head east on US-64 for about 2.5 miles.  Turn left on Buck Creek Road and go 5.6 miles to a pull-off on the left in a sharp right hand turn and park.

Map:

Hike Description:

From the north end of the pull-off, hike down the gated FR-4571.  At about 0.1 miles, make a sharp right hand turn.  At 0.3 miles, make a sharp left on an an overgrown road and go under 0.1 miles further and bushwhack down towards the creek.  It's quite steep but fairly open and there was flagging tape when we visited all the way down to the top of the falls.

A steep but obvious path continues down on river right.  We found a spot most of the way down with a nice view.

The water level was too high to cross and the view from the base was blocked.

Blog Entries:

30-Dec-2020: Highlands Waterfalls