Amazing to watch the shadow come around and morph into a bear! If you are in the area in mid-late…read moreOctober, make sure you check this out! Bear comes around 5:30 pm but definitely get there early as there is limited parking.

Are you looking for something to do this fall? Have you ever heard of the "Shadow of the Bear" in…read moreNorth Carolina? This was highlighted in "Our State" magazine, I think last year but I could have saved the article from the year before, but this was one of those items on my "local" bucket list to see. I love the Shadow of the Bear in Cashiers! The "Shadow of the Bear" is visible for 30 minutes daily (on sunny days!) between 5:30-6:15 PM from mid-October through early November as the sun sets behind Whiteside Mountain between Sapphire Valley and Highlands, North Carolina. It's best seen on clear days around 5:30 p.m., with the show lasting for about a half-hour. The photos below are from 2022; I'm pretty sure we'll visit again this year. PS I agree with Ginger L. that the camaraderie with all the people standing on the side of the road to watch is an experience in itself. A note of caution, to view the bear, you park your car on the side of a road hugging the edge of a mountain and people crossing the road that has a curve around the mountain so use caution while driving through the area and walking along the road!!!! But its all worth the view!!!

IF you want a challenging hike and are looking to score a bunch of amazing waterfalls on the SAME…read moreTRAIL, the Thompson River Waterfalls trail is your Huckleberry!!! Google maps has labeled the trailhead HIGH FALLS TRAIL HEAD just off Whitewater Road. As you turn onto Brewer Road, you will see a wide trail entrance on the corner. We parked along the side of the road near the entrance. There are multiple waterfalls along the trail as Thompson River makes its run down the mountain, dropping approx. 1,900 feet over 5 miles as it makes is way to beautiful Lake Jocassee. There are seven names waterfalls along the trail and 3 that absolutely should not be missed: HIGH FALLS, RICH FALLS & BIG FALLS aka THOMPSON FALLS. THE TRAIL The trail initially ascends about 60 feet but remains at a fairly consistent decline of about 500 feet along the entirety of the main trail. First up was REID FALLS at around .9 miles, but we decided to skip it. A split in the trail at around 1.1 miles leads to HIGH FALLS, a gorgeous 50 foot sliding ribbon waterfall. There really is no way to get an excellent picture of the falls without getting wet. The best vantage of the falls is across the river and a scramble over some large boulders to a beach like area. The pool in front of the falls is better than 6 feet deep, but most of the shallow areas were only ankle or calf deep. Back along the main trail we continued our descent down the mountain and next came to SIMON FALLS, which we also opted to skip. All of the falls (except High Falls) require a scramble downhill to view. Reid and Simon Falls have the least steep scrambles, but we wanted to conserve our legs for Big Falls, the steepest of the scrambles. We also bypassed Rich Falls around the 3.8 mile mark as we decided it would be best to see how we feel after tackling Big Falls. BIG FALLS Listen, however easy the trail seemed up until this point was about to SEVERELY change! The descent to the falls is about 535 feet in less that a quarter of a mile. IT IS VERY STEEP and some areas require sitting on your butt and sliding, other require holding on to low branches or roots and one area in particular requires mild vertical rock climbing. NOT KIDDING! But all of it is doable if you take your time and don't have any serious physical or health challenges. All of the MAIN trail is very easy to follow, but I would highly recommend downloading the ALLTRAILS map because it shows the exact entry points for the side trails to each of the falls. The side trail to Big Falls is easy to follow, but can be very faint in some areas. Once you make it down to the river, look for a side trail just before the final descent to the riverbank. It will lead you through a thicket of vegetation that leads to a boulder entrance to the falls. Navigate them as best you can to get to a great vantage point to view the falls. If you are not skilled at boulder hopping, this area will be very intimidating! But you MUST do it in order to view the Big Falls, which is not visible otherwise. NOTES / TIPS ~ Download ALLTRAILS MAP prior to your drive to the trailhead ~ There are 3 river crossings and yes you will get wet ~ Most of the falls require getting wet for best view ~ No restroom facilities at the trailhead ~ BRING PLENTY OF WATER & SNACKS FINAL THOUGHTS On our return, we were just too exhausted to attempt to see Rich Falls, so instead we used every ounce of energy we had remaining to make it back to the car. I was thoroughly exhausted. The 3.5 miles back seemed more like 10 and we'd run out of drinking water during our time at Big Falls. I recommend a minimum of five 16oz bottles to do this hike and more if you bring salty snacks. I'd also recommend you chug one bottle at the parking area before you begin. All in all this is an amazing trail full of gorgeous waterfalls. Big Falls easily has become one of my top 5 favorite southern waterfalls... but it is a beast of a hike! ALLTRAILS LINK: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/north-carolina/thompson-river-waterfalls?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map 2023 / 12

A series of gorgeous waterfalls along beautiful Thompson River as it makes its way from the higher…read moremountain elevations down to the Jocassee River. The trail offers a great experience for anyone at any hiking level. If you are like me and prefer more leisurely hikes, The first three waterfalls (Reid Branch, High Falls & Simon Falls) are fairly easy to reach. High Falls in particular is great for families with small children and has a wading pool of water at its base of different depths. There is even a small beach like area to relax and have a picnic. Just know you must get wet in order to reach the beach area, which also has the best view of the falls since High Falls kind of sits recessed into a little nook making it difficult to see in its entirety. But for those who are more like my husband and don't mind a more difficult hike, Rich Falls and Big Falls further downstream will give you plenty of challenge. Although I must say, my husband was sore several days after his hike and while he thought Big Falls was stunning, he was miserable on the return. He said the side trail to Big Falls was extremely steep and challenging, both on the way down and especially on the climb back out. It drained him completely at age 54 and he still had to endure a 3.5 mile hike back to the car running on empty. Knowing him he'll do it again! MEN... LOL Also near the parking area is a trail leading to White Owl Falls. A very short hike to a beautiful 20 foot waterfall. Walk west on Whitewater Road from the parking area and look for an opening with a pink ribbon tied to a tree branch about 900 feet from the trailhead.

My husband and I are staying (late Sept, 2023) at the Club Wyndham-Sapphire Valley, and we were…read moregiven a "Sapphire Valley Master Association Amenity Card" for use of amenities while staying on-site. One of the amenities is access to Fairfield Lake, an 80 acre lake at 3,160' elevation in Sapphire, NC. The lake's length is 1 mile, and it is 35' at its deepest point. The amenity card also allows us to use the private beach, picnic tables, a grill, rest room, and to rent motor boats, canoes, kayaks, paddle boards, fishing poles, etc. at the boat house. There is also a Lake Trail around the lake, which is the private property of Camp Merrie-Woode. However, the trail is open to the public (at your own risk) for hiking purposes only during daylight hours from August 15th to May 15th, when camp is not in session. Dogs are allowed but must be on leashes. We saw two brochures, one of which stated that the trail is a 3.3 mile loop while another said that it's 3.8; my Fitbit recorded 3.55 miles. The trail is mostly flat, with an occasional incline or descent, and has a variety of trail surfaces (gravel, pine needles, small rocks, tree limbs, etc.). Besides the lake, there are a few highlights on the trail -- (1) Fairfield Falls. With a height of 25', the waterfall is created by the stream of the Trays Island Creek, a tributary of the Horsepasture River, which runs along the western side of the all Bald directly into Lake Fairfield. (2) Presley Pass. The Iron Bridge across the stream above the waterfall was built by Camp Merrie-Woode caretaker, James Presley, in the mid-1950s. (3) Intersection with the trailhead for the Old Bald Trail, a more strenuous 3 mile hike. The trail is mostly well-marked with small green-white tags. We walked clockwise, and got a bit confused relatively close to our ending point (after a paved road when the signs seemed to disappear).

We did the walk while in Sapphire for the week, and it was beautiful! Luckily, the camp was closed,…read moreso we are able to do the entire loop around the lake. It ends up being about 3.5 miles from end to end. There are some steep areas, and some areas are challenging to navigate due to the rocks, but it was worth it. There is even a waterfall you pass if you need another reason to check this out. The photos do not do justice to the beauty.

Its a long hot hike in the summer, but when you finally make it to the falls, the water is cold!…read more The climbing rope is not very safe, I slipped due to so many people being there and the rock being so slippery and had massive bruises on my knees for weeks. A little overcrowded in the summer.

Turtleback Falls was always so much fun. Everything in this area is spectacular. It is a giant…read morefalls shaped like a turtle's back and you can slide off of it! The rock surface is so smooth and when you slide off the turtle's back you fall 10-15 feet into freezing cold water. There is a hole on turtle back that you can slide into and lean your head back to find an air pocket. You can also swim behind the waterfall and just chill. On the opposite side of the catch pool (natural), you find a giant rock that you can jump off of. I'd say it's roughly 15-20 feet so you may want to wear shoes to assuage the impact on your feet.

I didn't realize just how massive Gorges State Park was until I read more about it. It spans over…read more8,000 acres and has 26 waterfalls. We hiked to Rainbow Falls and Turtleback Falls, both of which were well worth the effort. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Drift Falls (I'll blame the IPAs from the night before and my hiking attire). It's located on private property, but from what I've read, the views are still good. The hike is moderately challenging, so come prepared with proper footwear and plenty of water. The trails can be demanding, but the waterfalls and scenery make every step worth it.

We wanted to see waterfalls during our mini vacation in the mountains and this was one of the parks…read moreon a handout about places to see them. I think it said rainbow falls was about 1-1/2 miles out but it felt longer than that due to the terrain. It got a little steep and rocky at times. We went to Dupont State Park the next day and those trails were much flatter. We did make it to rainbow falls and then a little bit farther to turtleback falls. Some people went down to the waters' edge of both falls but that did not seem safe. PSA: if you're visiting any park or natural place, don't be loud and distracting. There was a group behind us yakking on and on and I actually faked tying my shoelaces so they would pass us. That's not good behavior, and they should have known better.

CHARLIE FALLS and JULIE FALLS are located along the same trail inside Chinquapin, a mountain…read morecommunity with a wide array of available lots to build your dream home... or even a second home if you've got disposable income like that!!! ~ THE SCENE There is not a lot of information available about either waterfall other than their names, but I hope to discover a source of knowledge that would help me with a few curiosities. One curiosity would be each of the crossings leading to the waterfalls have named bridges, such as Grandma's Bridge, Caroline's Bridge and Abby Bridge. Who are they named after and why? Another curiosity would be an answer as to why there is an outhouse and storm shelter in the middle of the woods? No less pressing is the question of an old nearby shack with a sign over the door proclaiming it to be the Ritz Carlton! LOL Clearly those whom have occupied this space prior have a sense of humor, so it would have been lovely to present the full backstory. But alas my good yelp family, all I can offer are photos and approximate geographic coordinates. We accessed the trail from inside the gated community after making an appointment to see one of the available lots. The easiest access point was a trail between lots 96 & 97. However, as we walked the trail, there did seem to be other adjoining public trails to navigate to the falls, but I couldn't tell you exactly how. ~ TWO WATERFALLS (on two separate creeks) The first waterfall you will reach is JULIE FALLS. A gorgeous cascading fall that plunges into a small pool at its base and tightly surrounded by trees. We could not see the full height, but my guess would be around 30 to 35 feet tall. It was impressive even with average water flow, but I bet it would be spectacular after heavy rainfall. Further along the same trail, as you cross another bridge or two you will reach CHARLIE FALLS, which is a waterfall you might picture in a bedtime story. The trail opens up to a wider, more open area where the sunlight dancing on the green leaves of the trees seem to have a magical effect. Charlie falls is visibly approximately 25 to 30 feet tall, but I suspect there is more to this waterfall than we could see from the base. The surrounding boulders are blanketed in moss, making it an ideal setting for Hansel & Gretel's cabin. One of the boulders will immediately catch your eye, as it literally has the shape of a dinosaur fossil head. I promise, you will know it when you see it. CHARLIE FALLS is, imho, the more attractive of the two and very enchanting. It's the type of waterfall you don't want to leave straightaway. It makes you want to linger, although there is not much more to see as the trail ends here. NOTE: There are SIX waterfalls total within the subdivision boundaries! ~ FINAL THOUGHTS If you find yourself interested in coming here, the geographic coordinates to JULIE FALLS are 35.183073, -83.065735. Julie Falls is located on Mill Creek, just before it connects with Robinson Creek. CHARLIE FALLS is located on Robinson Creek and the coordinates are 35.181791, -83.066106. I suspect there might be a trail leading from Great Falls Drive where it crosses Robinson Creek, but I am not for certain: 35.188666, -83.061975. From this coordinate it would be about a half mile creek walk upstream to Julie Falls OR you could always call the Chinquapin Outpost for better directions. I also suspect there are several more waterfalls downstream on Robinson Creek as Google Earth images seem to show large whitewater sections of the river at the following coordinates: 35.189796, -83.058901 (appears to be on private property) 35.196138, -83.055175 (near the crossing of Trimble Ridge Rd) 35.200339, -83.053114 (also near Trimble Ridge Rd) All appear to be on private property, but the second seems to be close enough to the bridge to view. ENJOY!!! 2020 / 43

Came on a weekday morning, not many cars parked, only went to Rainbow Falls. Pretty short hike to…read moreit, although downhill there so uphill on the way back, not too steep. Slightly slippery from rain, lots of dead trees and leaves on the ground. Not a bad hike, would recommend if you're in the area!

What a fun hike! You hike down to the falls and the hike back up to your car. The falls are…read moreamazing. And there are many spots to get off the trail and climb around on the boulders.

It's an awesome park to cool off in‼Rocks to slide on and lil pools of water to soak in. Fun family…read moretime, too!

Awesome experience. The family had so much fun and the line was not bad. Looking forward to…read morevisiting again.

During busy times you may have problems finding parking (paid area) The trail starts off with a…read morecouple of flights of stairs. When you reach the top the left side is the "easier" side up to the top and the right side is more stone stairs that is a shorter distance, but tougher climb. We took the left side going up and down. There are large rock areas along the way, which might make it difficult if you have mobility problems. Otherwise, it was a bit wet on the path in places, but it had rained a good bit of the day before. The whole path is a light incline the entire way up, but an easy decline on the way down. There are no sitting areas along the path when you reached the top there are two overlooked areas. The better view is the one all the way to the right there is a sign, noting the continental divide on either side of White side Mountain very cool. It was definitely worth the hike. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top. I saw people with dogs and children a lot. It is a very family friendly activity.

This might be my new favorite trail! The parking lot was very busy but we did not see many people…read moreon the trail. There are lots of look outs and the views are amazing! Bathrooms are pretty gross.

ONION FALLS is not a destination waterfall. Why you ask? Because it is primarily a spillway for the…read moreLake Glenville Dam in North Carolina and its orientation and property restrictions make it difficult to view. In fact, it is waterfalls like this that have given rise to my desire for a drone. Apparently this is not the original Onion Falls. When the river was impounded in the 1940's, the first waterfall was covered over by the dam according to some sources. Still, mapmakers used the same name for the new waterfall location. The name is inspired by the look of the water as it cascades over the round rock surface and gives the appearance of the skin of a white onion. Based on topography maps, the crest of Onion Falls lies just beyond the dam floodgates at around 3,485 feet and falls like a giant waterslide to its base around 3,245 feet, making the total overall height around 240 feet. *** PRO TIP - There is a small parking area near the dam power house, but signs restrict anyone from following the service road down to the base of the falls. The signs warn of police arrest if caught trespassing, so I took heed despite my overwhelming temptation to risk it! THEE BEST VIEW will be just beyond the dam where a small pull-off across from the lake leads to a trail that allows for a distant view of the falls. You will see a metered power box and two metal poles to mark the beginning of the short trail. It also appears possible to bushwhack to the falls by following the river upstream from the High Falls trail, but not sure that is advisable considering the trespass warnings. *** [ THINGS TO KNOW ] Total Hiking Distance: 200 feet Difficulty: Super Easy Creek Crossings: NO Elevation Gain: maybe 10 feet Waterfall Height: around 240 feet overall Waterfall source: West Fork Tuckasegee River WATERFALL ATTRACTIVENESS - 7 out of 10 TRAIL ATTRACTIVENESS - 5 out of 10 Access to top of falls: NO Access to base of falls: NO (heavily restricted) Pool of water @ base of Falls: NO Sitting areas @ base: N/A RESTROOM FACILITIES: NO PARKING: YES (space for about 5 cars) *** [ FINAL THOUGHTS ] While the falls flow is heavily restricted by the dam, the gates have scheduled releases at least 4 times a year making this waterfall a BEAST!!! I highly recommend looking up the "bypass" release dates and planning a trip accordingly for the best and most spectacular look of the falls. On those dates, use Onion Falls as a bonus waterfall as you hike to nearby High Falls downstream. Both High Falls and Onion Falls go from attractive to flat out stunning during the dam release. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND visiting on those dates! Also be sure to check out the The Pines Recreation Area to make it a full day of hiking, waterfall chasing and beach fun and on the opposite side of the lake is Hurricane Falls for a little more waterfall exploration! 2021 / 84