Waterfall Hero Hikes: Panthertown Creek Falls (Nantahala)

Panther Town Creek Falls is a tall cascading waterfall on its namesake in Jackson County. The waterfall is located in Panthertown Valley in Nantahala National Forest.

Hike Length: 5.4 miles
Estimated Time: 2 to 3 hours
Difficulty: Difficult
Location: Panthertown Valley (Nantahala Ranger District in Nantahala National Forest)
Trail Users: Hiking only, though a section is open to bikes and horses
Dogs: Yes
Features: Waterfalls (1)
Crowds: Low
Warnings: Off-trail bushwhacking to get to the waterfall and a steep climb down to the base. The rocks around the waterfalls are very slippery.
Trailhead GPS: 35.16793,-83.03980
Waterfall GPS: 35.14871,-83.02364

Directions:

To visit the falls, head east on US-64 from Cashiers for about 2 miles and turn left on Cedar Creek Road. Drive 2.3 miles and turn right on Breedlove Road. Drive 3.5 miles to the end at the Salt Rock Gap parking area in Panthertown Valley.

Map:

Hike Description:

Hike down the old road behind the gate, which is Panthertown Valley Trail (#474). Turn right at the first intersection onto Wilderness Falls Trail (#490) and follow to the end at Deep Gap Trail (#449) at the top of Frolictown Falls (See Salt Rock Gap Waterfalls for descriptions).

Turn left on Deep Gap Trail and continue on Granny Burrell Trail (#486). At 1.5 miles from the trailhead, turn right on Great Wall Trail (#489). The trail follows Panthertown Creek along the western flank of Big Green Mountain.

At about 2.5 miles, the trail turn left and begins to go up Big Green Mountain. At about the 3760 foot contour, get off the trail to the right and head towards the creek. There's no trail, but try to follow the contour line around to the creek. It's open at first then gets more overgrown with rhododendron. As you get close to the waterfall, drop down to the creek at the base of the waterfall. The creek is really overgrown with rhododendron, so don't want to have to creek walk.