Falls Creek Falls
A recent snowfall gives this steep hike up to Falls Creek Falls in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area a worthy view at the top.
Not long after one of our southern snowfalls this winter, I set out upon the Falls Creek Falls trail, a challenging 1.5 mile hike up to an amazing waterfall. This hike is in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area of South Carolina. The recent snowfall was still in evidence on the waterfall itself, providing a unique view of the cascade.
To get to the trailhead, one heads off towards Jones Gap State Park, where I’ve been a couple of times before, for Rainbow Falls and Hospital Rock. From my area of Seneca, I headed up to Hwy 11 and across to US 276. The trip itself is beautiful; it’s not called a Scenic Highway for nothing. I’ve traveled on 11 many times, and I always enjoy the sight of Table Rock to the north as I pass by (or stop and wander there). Hwy. 11 and US 276 join up and you follow both of them to River Falls Road. Turning left on River Falls Road, you go down towards Jones Gap, but turn right onto Duckworth Road and then turn right on Falls Creek. Just past a local Bible camp and over a bridge, there’s a small parking area and kiosk marking the trailhead.
I got out of the car, got my gear on and went up to the kiosk to register. Upon doing so, I faced the trail and realized what I was in for.
Many trails start off on an easy grade, and eventually build up in elevation. Not so the Falls Creek Falls Trail. It wants to let you know early on that this ain’t no easy hike. So, I set off, climbing up the steep incline.
It goes up and down, but mostly up. There is a relatively easy section about a quarter of a mile in past a patch of large boulders, but one mustn’t get complacent. It’s well-blazed for the most part, but I did get confused down at one point where there was a double blaze. The directions on SCTrails were confusing, and I never saw the trail as it described, but being about 7 years old, that’s not too surprising. I decided to head on along the upward part of the trail, and it turns out that was a good direction, and I continued to see the purple blazes for the trail.
Erosion had turned some of the steeper grades to gullies, so they can be hard to manage, but it’s certainly doable. There are some points to clamber over and around rocky areas, but as long as you follow the blazes and keep going, it’s difficult to get lost.
Eventually, I heard the falls themselves. I’d already been hearing them, or what I thought was them, for some time, as the trail meandered through various switchbacks. But as I neared the falls, the sound was unmistakeable.
I broke through the trees and got my first glimpse of the falls. The hard work of the trail was certainly worth it. The 100-foot falls were in fine form on this day, with plenty of water spilling over the slope across from right to left as you clear the trees. I headed up to the upper parts of the falls.
There was still snow on the rocks at the different spillover points, and the water splashed over and beneath the white ice and snow, providing a lovely display. I got as close to the falls as I felt comfortable, with the potential of ice in play, and got a number of shots. Then, as another couple of hikers came up (one who took movies of the waterfall with an iPad), I headed downslope to get more shots of the lower cascades.
Then, the time came to head back, and I made my way back up the slope (very rocky, and awkward with camera, pack, and tripod) and then made my way back down the trail. And this is where I earned my pains the following day. Going up was strenuous and challenging, to be sure, but coming back down those same slopes wreaked havoc on my old knees. I was on easy hiking for a while after this trip. To give myself a little break, I followed the other trail (the one marked by the double blaze) to a lower part of the creek, with a smaller cascade and water rushing past patches of remaining ice. I stayed there a bit, to take pictures and rest my legs, and then soldiered on. I made it down before the rains started to fall and headed back home.
Yep, this one reminded me of my age. But, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, particularly in the spring or summer to see it in the green.
