Middle Creek Falls (Scaly Mountain)

Middle Creek Falls is a tall waterfall on its namesake creek in Macon County, North Carolina.  The waterfall is located in Nantahala National Forest near Scaly Mountain.

Hike Length: 0.8 miles
Estimated Time: 1 to 2 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
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 very slippery.  The path to the waterfall can be difficult to follow and getting below the main upper drop is extremely difficult.
Trailhead GPS: 35.00693,-83.32907
Waterfall GPS: 35.01056,-83.33121

Directions:


From Highlands, head south on NC-106 for 9.3 miles from the intersection with US-64 to a pull off on the right side of the road at a yellow school bus sign.  There is only room for one or two cars here to park.

Map:



Hike Description:


Follow the obvious path from the parking area that leads down and under some power lines to a split after a couple hundred feet.  Right goes to Upper Middle Creek Falls.  Go left and head up a ridge.  This part is confusing with numerous side paths that go nowhere.  In 0.2 miles, a trail comes in from the left.  Ignore this as it goes to private property and turn right instead.  In about 0.3 miles, a side path on the right goes to the top of Middle Creek Falls.  There's a huge boulder up at the top but no way to get further down.


Go back 50 feet or so to the split and go right to follow the path to a view point of the main upper frop of Middle Creek Falls.


You can scramble down the rocks to a view at creek level.


The waterfall continues down but there is no reasonable way to continue further.  Here's a video of the falls.


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