Waterfall Hero Hikes: Hidden Dome Falls (Thompson)

Hidden Dome Falls is a tall waterfall on a tributary of Thompson River in Transylvania County, North Carolina. The waterfall is located in the Thompson River Area in Pisgah National Forest.

Hike Length: 5.6 miles
Estimated Time: 4 to 6 hours
Difficulty: Very Difficult
Location: Thompson River Area (Pisgah Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest)
Trail Users: Hiking
Dogs: Yes, but the trail is not dog friendly
Features: Waterfalls (1)
Crowds: Low
Warnings: The rocks around the waterfalls are very slippery. The trail involves a difficult ford of Thompson River that is impossible in high water. The last portion of the hike is off-trail and very difficult.
Trailhead GPS: 35.65449,-82.44059
Waterfall GPS: 35.05609,-82.99424

Directions:

To visit the falls, head west on US-64 from Brevard towards Lake Toxaway. In Lake Toxaway, go left to stay on US-64/NC-281 and go about 2.5 miles, then turn left onto NC-281 south. Drive 3.7 miles, passing Gorges State Park on the left, and turn left onto Brewer Road and park along the side of the road.

Map:

Hike Description:

From the pull-off on Brewer Road, pick up the gated Forest Road 87. In about 1 mile, the trail descends to the river and crosses at a ford. If the water is up, this will not be possible to cross.

At 2.2 miles from the start, an overgrown road splits to the right where the main trail crosses a tributary. Leave the main trail and hike up the overgrown road. There's a lot of down trees and rhododendron to make this difficult. Follow this road about 0.3 miles to where it crosses another tributary on the right. I think the easiest way is to backtrack about 30 feet and follow the tributary from above to avoid the worst of the rhododendron. In about 0.2 from the overgrown road, the tributary makes a sharp turn left (looking upstream). At this point, we descended down towards the creek and came out at the confluence with another tributary. Cross the island between the two tributaries and the waterfall may be visible up and to the right. For the last portion, stay above the creek on river left side to get to the base, again to avoid the dense rhododendron closer to the tributary.