Cashiers Waterfalls

Saturday morning started with a walk downtown with Amaroq to look for white squirrels. Then the whole family headed to Cashiers. Silver Run Falls was already packed, so we continued a short way to the Coyote Falls trailhead. Harper handled the trail really well, we only needed to carry her on the steeper section near the end.

Coyote Falls was lovely, though the water was low and the lighting wasn’t great.

I’ll have to come back under better conditions.

Near the base we spotted some gem-studded puffball mushrooms growing in the moss.

On the way out, Silver Run was still full, so we drove on to Cashiers Sliding Rock and managed to grab a parking spot. It was crowded, but we still had a good time splashing around.

I slid down a couple of times while Harper stayed in the shallower water. Amaroq waded in up to about mid-leg but showed no interest in going deeper.

Another dog actually slid the falls with its owner, something I’m pretty sure Amaroq would have strongly objected to if I’d tried it with him. 

Heading back toward Brevard, we stopped for dinner at Forks of the River Taproom.

It happened to be Pirate Day, and they had llamas out for Harper to pet, which was a big hit. We made one more quick stop at the small roadside Williamson Creek Falls.

Its on private property but viewable from the road.

We got a couple pictures before returning to the Sunset Motel. That evening we took Harper on a short downtown stroll for ice cream and one last look at the white squirrels before calling it a night.

Bartram Hike in Nantahala

On Sunday we checked out of the cabin early and returned to the Bartram Trailhead on US-19/US-74, this time heading the opposite direction into Nantahala Gorge. After crossing the Nantahala River on two bridges, we joined the Nantahala Bikeway and followed it upstream along the river for about a mile.

The stretch was especially scenic in the morning clouds and fog drifting over the water. At the Beechertown Commercial Launch Site the paved path ended.

We crossed the road, passed the Duke Energy parking area, and continued on an old service road that climbed toward Rattlesnake Knob for roughly a mile and a half.

At the top of the road a clearing offered a fine view of the foggy gorge far below.

From there the route turned to singletrack and rose through a series of switchbacks before leveling off, only to become so overgrown that we decided not to push farther.

Rain set in as we retraced our steps along the old road, and we finished the hike wet before making the long drive home to Raleigh.

Panthertown Little Green Hike

On Sunday, we enjoyed breakfast before setting out for Panthertown Valley under a light rain. Along Cold Mountain Road, Shower Bath Falls trickled faintly.

To our surprise, the trailhead had only a handful of cars. We began on the Greenland Creek Trail (#488), passing beneath the powerline. A short spur soon led to Mac's Falls.

Continuing onward, we reached Greenland Creek Falls, where we scrambled over rocks to capture photos of this stunning cascade.

Retracing our steps, we took Mac's Gap Trail (#482) back to the trailhead. From there, we followed the Panthertown Valley Trail (#474) to Little Green Trail (#485) and paused at Schoolhouse Falls.

Harper played in the sandy beach area while Amaroq rested and had a treat. Pressing on via Little Green Trail, the path climbed steeply at first but soon leveled at the summit.

A spur trail opened to breathtaking views from an exposed rock face - fall colors blanketing Panthertown Valley below, even under cloudy skies.

It's clear why this area is called the Yosemite of the east.

The trail crossed a few more scenic overlooks before descending the opposite side.

At the base, we turned left onto Mac's Gap Trail and returned to the trailhead. We then drove back to Brevard for dinner at Oscar Blues. Afterward, a quick detour brought us to Key Falls.

It's a roadside cascade that could use more flow to shine but offered a pleasant finale.

Finally, we returned to the hotel to begin packing.

Drive through Nantahala Gorge

Sunday, we went into town for a great breakfast at Everett Street Diner.  After breakfast, we headed west on US-74 through the Nantahala Gorge.  Our first stop was at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.  We walked across the street and down to Nantahala Falls.

The river release hadn't started and the flow was very low.  It's fun to paddle over when the water is higher but not much of a waterfall.  Then we went back up to the bridge and went down past the railroad tracks.  I think the road is closed and we couldn't make it to Townhouse Falls.

We could get a view of Wesser Falls from just past the bridge.  In the low water, this one looked nicer.

Then we took off and continued up through Nantahala Gorge.  We turned on FR-422/Winding Stairs Road, crossing the twin bridges over the river and then steep, bumpy climb up the road.  It was about 3 miles to a viewpoint of Queens Falls.

The view from the road in summer isn't great and I think all the land is private property.

So we headed back down the mountain and parked at a small area on the other side of the road.  A short trail led up across the railroad tracks and crossed Bartram Trail to Findley Falls.

This small waterfall on Ledbetter Creek is easy to reach, especially with a baby.  All the other waterfalls are much, much harder.

We let Harper crawl around a bit and then headed back.  We continued to Wayah Road and headed up and stopped at a nice drop on Nantahala River.

A fisherman was in the river but it would have been difficult to get down, so we continued to a parking area just a couple hundred feet up the road at the Cascades of Nantahala.

A short paved pathway provided nice views of the cascades.

We then continued to Old River Road and parked at the bridge over Whiteoak Creek.  Heading back across the bridge, Jagged Rock Falls was right across where Old River Road split from Wayah Road.

In low water and summer foliage, it wasn't too impressive but did have a lot of wildflowers blooming around it.

There was some thistle blooming along the river.

We then made the short hike to Whiteoak Falls.

I first climbed up to the pool at the base and rock-hopped out for a picture.  But I liked the view from further downstream better.

Then we headed back and drove just a short ways further up Old River Road to another parking area that was right at the top of Nantahala Cascades.

A short scramble path led down to the base.

It looked like there used to be stone steps but they had washed away.

We got some pictures and then climbed back up.

There were some wildflower blooming along the road here.

Driving back, we made one more stop to see a heron at the top of Whiteoak Falls.

Then we headed back to NOC to get lunch at River's End.  After lunch, we took Needmore Road into Needmore Game Land and turned on Big Dog Road, pulling over in a quarter-mile at the top of Rattlesnake Falls.

I didn't see a reasonable path down to the base and it really didn't seem worth it anyway.

There was some butterfly bush blooming along the road.

Driving back, we stopped at the Needmore Road Suspension Bridge.

There were nice views of Little Tennessee River and the wobbly bridge led to a gravel road on the other side.

Then we headed back to Bryson City and enjoyed the nice hot tub at our cabin.