Upper Middle Creek Falls (Scaly Mountain)

Upper Middle Creek Falls is a 40-foot waterfall on Middle Creek in Macon County, North Carolina.  The waterfall is located in Nantahala National Forest near Scaly Mountain.

Hike Length: 0.1 miles
Estimated Time: < 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
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.
Trailhead GPS: 35.00693,-83.32907
Waterfall GPS: 35.00794,-83.32848

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.  Left goes to Middle Creek Falls.  Turn right instead on a path that leads down to Middle Creek.  The path ends in 100 feet or so at a rock above the creek with a nice view of Upper Middle Creek Falls.

From here, you can scramble down to creek level, but can't really see the upper portion from here.

Here's a video of the falls.

Blog Entries:

02-Jul-2022: Middle Creek Waterfalls

05-Aug-2016: Highlands Waterfalls & Panthertown Valley