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.

Panthertown Waterfalls

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at camp and then headed to the Cold Mountain section of Panthertown Valley in Nantahala National Forest.  The parking area was almost full but we found a spot.  We took Mac's Gap Trail down to Greenland Creek Trail and followed that up to Greenland Creek Falls.

The waterfall was really pretty in the early morning light.

A lot of mountain laurel were blooming around the falls and along Greenland Creek here.

After some pictures, we followed a steep unofficial trail up alongside the waterfall and continued following Greenland Creek upstream.  It was about 3/4 of a mile to Carlton Falls.

At the base, we had to wade to the other side for a good view.

There was a really cool cave to the side to get a side view of the falls, the Burnt Kitchen I presume.

There wasn't a good view of the upper section from here though, so we continued up the trail.  The rocks along the side were dry enough to go out and get a nice view of the upper section.

A lot of mountain laurel blooming here too.

We waited for a bit up here and our patience paid off when a cloud covered the sun briefly for a good picture.

After some pictures, we headed back down past Greenland Creek Falls and stayed on Greenland Creek Trail.  Where it left the creek to head up to the parking, we got on the unofficial trail that follows the creek closely.  First we came to Mac's Falls.

Mountain laurel and rhododendron were blooming around the falls and there was a beautiful reflection in the pool.

Looking downstream, we could see the top of Potholes Falls.  We continued on the trail and found a spot to get out for a view of the waterfall.  Potholes in the rock made it easy to walk out for a view.

Right past here, were heard some falling water just off the trail.  A very small tributary made a cute little waterfall in front of a rock overhang.

Continuing down the trail, there was another nice drop on Greenland Creek Trail a little further down.

There were more cascades a little drops on the creek as we continued down.

This was definitely the scenic route to take though a little more difficult than an official trail.
Soon, the trail came out beside Schoolhouse Falls, but it was really crowded so we continued to Panthertown Valley Trail and got on Devil's Elbow Trail.  In about half a mile, the trail went through a powerline clearing.  There were some beautiful flame azaleas blooming here.

After crossing Little Green Creek, there were some fire pink blooming.

At the next intersection, we went left on Riding Ford Trail and descended to the ford in about 0.1 miles.

From here, we went left through a campsite to Jawbone Falls.

There was a lot of mountain laurel blooming around the falls and the pool was very scenic.

On the way back, we saw (and smelled) a lot of galax.

Back at the ford, we found a scramble path down to the base of Riding Ford Falls.

There were some rocks to climb around on for a nice view of the falls.

At the bend in the river, there was a rock overhang with some beautiful rocks.

Then we headed back to Devil's Elbow Trail to continue.  In about 0.3 miles, we turned left on an unofficial trail and then left at the next fork.  This trail came out at Elbow Falls, but the lighting was poor so we didn't stay long.  There were some nice cascades in the river just downstream.

Heading downstream, we soon came to Red Butt Falls.  A scramble path led to the big rocks at the base.

There was a cool rock overhang here where the river made a sharp turn.

On the hike back, some clouds had rolled in so we stopped back at Elbow Falls since its on the way and took a break.

It's a small waterfall, but I thought it was really scenic surrounded in mountain laurel.

There was some cool potholes in the rock.

A fallen tree on the rock here made a nice seat to enjoy the view of the waterfall and cascades downstream.

After our break, we started heading back.  Near the powerline clearing, we stopped for a beautiful view of Panthertown Valley.

There were a lot of butterflies here.

A spicebush swallowtail was collecting nectar from a flame azalea.

At the end of the trail, we turned right on Panthertown Valley and an immediate left on Little Green Creek heading over boardwalks.

Just past here, we came to the to Schoolhouse Falls.

It was less crowded by now.  I waded across the pool and went behind the waterfall for some pictures.

It's a really scenic waterfall and easy to visit so very popular.  Then we finished up our hike by taking Panthertown Valley Trail back to the parking area.

We stopped in Rosman and got a pizza to bring back to camp for dinner.

Salt Gap Waterfalls

Monday morning, we headed to the Salt Gap side of Panthertown Valley.  It was our first visit to this part of the area.  And the weather was looking a lot more favorable today.  After parking, we took the Blackrock Spur.  There was a nice view of Panthertown Valley from here and our first fall color sighting.

We turned in Blackrock Trail and got on Overlook Trail near the summit of Blackrock Mountain.  There were no views from the top, but the trail descended to an open cliff area with stunning views.

This spot may have the best views in Panthertown Valley.

At high elevation, the leaves were really starting to change but not quite peak yet.

Continuing down into the valley, we got on Granny Burrell Falls Trail to the small sliding waterfall.

Beautiful fall colors along Panthertown Creek here.

The waterfall would make a nice slide in warmer weather.

Next, we turned on Great Wall Trail along Big Green Mountain.  The wall was pretty cool but hard to get an unobstructed view.

Where the trail turned left and started to head up, we got off the trail and bushwhacked towards Panthertown Creek Falls.  The woods were open at first, then more overgrown.  As we approached the waterfall, a steep scramble path led to the base.

I climbed up the rocks for a good view and then we had lunch on the rocks.  Heading back, we went left on Granny Burrell Falls Trail to Deep Gap Trail and Frolictown Falls.

I rock hopped across the creek for a straight on view of the falls.

Then we got on Wilderness Falls Trail and began the climb back up.  Shortly, we came to the waterfall and climbed to the base.

A little further on the trail was a path down to the base of the upper drop.

From here, it was just a short ways back to the parking area.

We headed into Cashiers and had dinner at Ugly Dog Taproom.  But before heading back to camp, we had to get one more waterfall.  Driving down NC-107, we parked at the trailhead for Silver Run Falls.  We got a couple pictures of the waterfall, but more people were showing up.

So we climbed up and went to Upper Silver Run Falls.

It's smaller than the main waterfall, but the steep climb up means few people venture this far.

We enjoyed the falls for a bit then headed back down.

Then we headed back to the car and to camp for one more campfire.