DILL FALLS is a beautiful and very easy to reach waterfall located near Rocky Knob Gap in the Nantahala National Forest (North Carolina). Pictures don't actually do it justice. ALLTRAILS map guides to Upper and Lower Dill Falls, both accessible from the same parking area, but utilizing two different trails. DIRECTIONS TO FALLS Turn onto US Forest Service Road 4663 from Hwy 215. It will look as if you are pulling into someone's driveway, but it is a service road that will lead you deep into the woods! However, to be clear, the road IS side by side with the driveway of a nearby home (on the right side) and both look similar. Once on FSR-4663 (Bittern Trail), drive about 2 miles until you see a very distinct V-shaped fork in the road. It may be difficult to see because it is location in a curve as you are going uphill. Take the road on the left, which will be 4663B and is marked. It will begin to descend downhill as the two roads separate. The parking area for the trailhead will be at the end of 4663B and can accommodate about 6-8 cars comfortably or a dozen in a squeeze. *** TO GET TO THE LOWER FALLS - Take the trail on the LEFT from the parking area until you reach a creek, then look to your right and the waterfall will be in full view approx. 100 yards from the trail. You will need to rock hop to get to the base, but we managed to keep our shoes dry even while rock-hopping directly through the creek. TO REACH THE UPPER FALLS, take the trail on the RIGHT from the parking area uphill until you reach a side trail leading down a VERY STEEP embankment on your left. On the day I visited, there were stones embedded in the dirt trail shaped like a left pointing arrow indicating "turn here" to reach the upper falls. Because of the steepness, I only decided to go a partial way down, unsure if it was leading to the upper falls or if it was the lower falls. What I DID observe through the foliage was a sliding chute-type waterfall that was not visible from the lower falls. Still unsure of exactly where the trail was leading, I decided to return to the main trail. It was a seriously steep trail, so steep in fact that I was convinced it was leading back to the base of the lower falls and I didn't want to burn the extra energy to find out. In retrospect I wish I had investigated further, because the pictures I found online of the upper falls after returning home are beautiful. But without mobile service, I was unsure if what I was seeing through the vegetation was worth the effort of that steep embankment. I will most likely return here to get that upper falls pic on my next visit to the area. *** [ THINGS TO KNOW ] Total Hiking Distance: 1/4 mile round trip to lower and slightly more to upper. Difficulty: Easy and family friendly (lower falls) Moderate (upper falls) Creek Crossings: NO Elevation Gain: 236 feet (most of this gain is if visiting the upper falls) Waterfall Height: 60 feet (lower) 25 feet (upper) Waterfall source: Tanasee Creek WATERFALL ATTRACTIVENESS - 8.5 out of 10 TRAIL ATTRACTIVENESS - meh, but both are very short Access to top of falls: YES (lower) Access to base of falls: YES (both) Pool of water @ base of Falls: NO Sitting areas @ base: YES (lower) RESTROOM FACILITIES: NO PARKING: YES (space for about 8 cars) *** [ FINAL THOUGHTS ] DILL FALLS was our 9th waterfall of the 15 we visited in a 3 day weekend!!! That being said, most of them were LESS than a half mile hike round trip. I crafted this hiking weekend to tailor it to MY need to see as much as humanly possible, but also to my sweethearts desire to not make any of the hikes too difficult or long. On any given single day excursion, I can get away with as much as 5-7 miles of hiking, but no more than 9 miles total in a weekend or I risk having to deal with some SEVERE attitude! She'll do it, but it won't be very pleasant for me... LOL I was very fortunate to find several beautiful short hikes to waterfalls in this area as well as a few along the drive up to Cashier from Atlanta! More than half of them were practically roadside, allowing me to take maximum advantage of our 3 day getaway from the kids! Get ready, I've been saving the best waterfalls for last and will be posting six more very soon! Stay tuned ;-) 2021 / 56 read more

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