Elk River Falls is an open recreation area. As such it is not developed and the path is not…read moremaintained. Nevertheless the road into the parking lot is safe and easily passable by typical cars SUVs cans or trucks with either two or four wheel drive. There are no rest rooms or food so you must bring your own food and water. The path is firm and slopes upward gently becoming rocky with prominent tree roots. The 65 foot high big falls is spectacular. It is not a straight fall down. Many deaths have occurred as visitors attempt to dive from the top of the falls. Elk falls ranks in the top 3 waterfall related deaths. The rocks surrounding the first pool are beautiful but have a slippery surface. This park recently reopened after extensive restoration following Hurricane Helene. On the first day it opened there was a fatality of a falls jumper. Despite these challenges this park is a great example of the outdoors in nearly natural and breathtaking state.

The falls are closed as of late April 2026. Road is blocked about 2 miles out from town.read more

Took the trail from Dennis Cove rd. Beautiful well maintained trail. Fairly moderate until the…read morefinal climb down. Very steep but plenty of places to rest. Definitely one of my favorite waterfalls hikes yet.

An amazing place with a lot of tiny trails on the side. Great for photography and even just to…read morerelax.

This place is fantastic. Great waterfall hike with a fantastic playground and lake with canoes and…read morekayaks. Could spend a half day or more here with young kids. Will definitely be back.

Terrific recreation center. Numerous activities. Highly recommended! Very family friendly.read more

Loved it!! Beautiful falls and swim hole. I can't wait to be back. Water shoes for when you get…read moredown to the water hole are recommended. It's a nice hike with lots of roots in the way so you need to be careful. But definitely worth it!

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce UPPER CREEK FALLS to Yelp!…read more If you are a hiker and lover of waterfalls, then you just might want to spend an entire weekend in the Newland, NC area. The mountains surrounding this area are a treasure trove of sights and sound for your soul to behold. Amongst them is the highly popular Upper Creek Falls. Now let me be honest, you're gonna burn some calories on this trail so don't let the short 1.5 miles round trip distance fool you! There is SIGNIFICANT elevation gain that will surely bring a little heavy breathing to your lips and sweat to your brow. However, the payoff is tremendous. **** The creek consists of multiple waterfalls, cascades and swimming holes, but the largest waterfall requires venturing to one of the lowest points on the trail to fully view. It will require detouring off the main yellow blazed trail and mountain-goating it down a steep side trail, then back up to the main trail before continuing the loop back to the parking area. According to ALLTRAILS, the loop starts at an elevation of around 3,215 feet and drops as low as 2,790 feet for a gain of approx. 425 feet in 3/4's of a mile. My personal trail tracker logged 436 feet of gain. The lowest point of the trail leads to a wonderfully exposed area of stone that almost acts as a raceway for the creek. The topography is such that you can walk on an island of stone that splits the creek in two for a short distant before rejoining and continuing its descent. I can only imagine how many more waterfalls are below this point as the creek continues its slide down the mountain another 460 feet over the following mile according to topography maps. *** FEATURES 1) There are two trailheads, but each links to the other. The trailhead on the left side of the parking area behind the information board leads first to the top of the main waterfall before crossing the creek and descending towards the base. You can get some terrifying pics on the dry stone near the crest, but don't drift too close to the edge! 2) Once you cross the creek, look to the left to spot a faint trail leading back up the mountain. Follow it and you will be rewarded with a gorgeous 15 foot waterfall. Here locals us the fall as a slide, complete with a rope to help you get back up to the top of this ultra-smooth cascade. 3) There is a fairly deep pool of water here and opposite of the climbing rope is a tire swing to launch into the pool. 4) Continue down the trail until you see side trails leading to the base of the largest waterfall. WARNING: The side trail is steep, but worth it to view the larger fall in its entirety. 5) As you continue down the trail it will once again cross the creek. This crossing is most likely tricky in high water and probably not advisable. It was only at average flow when I visited and I still got my feet wet doing my best jump. It is here you will discover another small pool of water and a large area to camp out on the stone outcrop. Even though this is the lowest point on the trail, it is actually an overlook of the mountains below. Very open and majestic. 6) Once across the lowest creek crossing, the trail switchbacks up the mountain OR you can find the shortcut trail that goes straight up the center! But fair warning, it's a leg burner! This portion of the loop will return to the parking lot on the opposite side of the upper creek trail. In total I logged 1.5 miles after visiting the sliding falls, main falls and lower raceway/overlook. *** FINAL THOUGHTS Upper Creek Falls in my opinion is 5+ stars despite its difficulty because of the multiple points of interest along the loop. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this waterfall to avid hikers! While I personally would have thought it to be too much for kids and elderly... we saw SEVERAL older couples in the area above the main falls as well as a school bus load of 6 to 12-year-olds trekking along the lower falls trail well ahead of their parents. There was also a very large family of about 20 members (all age ranges) picnicking at the lower overlook, so I guess its safe to say its doable for all ages and skill levels. If you have any energy left, to the northeast are: - Grandfather Mountain - Big Lost Cove Cliffs - Harper Creek Falls - Gragg Prong Falls - Huntfish Falls And to the southwest are: - Linville Falls & Linville Caverns ENJOY! 2021 / 116

We did the portion of this trail that goes to Rough Ridge Overlook. This hike is very crowded, but…read morethe views are definitely worth it. I recommend waking up early and getting there for sunrise. We got there around 7:45am and the parking lot was already full. We were able to park on the side of the road though. It got way more crowded later in the day. It's only about a 2.5 mile hike round trip from the parking area. We tried to hike further on the trail, but ended up taking a wrong turn that brought us back to where we started. It was recommended to start at Linn Cove Visitor Center and hike the back way there for less crowds. We wanted to do this, but the parking lot was closed so we couldn't. This is a great hike in the fall for gorgeous fall colors. It's hard to beat the views.

My sister and I were researching a new hike in the area that would be easy to medium difficulty and…read morehad a nice view. We wanted something under 3 miles round-trip due to the coming thunderstorms. This trail was easy to spot off the road with a very nice visitors center with lots of fun items and some cute dogs to pet but that's where to good stuff ends. The trailhead marker behind the center took us the wrong direction on the trail that we wanted to head. There was not sufficient signage to indicate which way it was leading. After hiking over 1 mile we realized our mistake and turned back. There was some interesting things to see but not enough for me to ever return. The rain was holding off so we took the trail the correct way which is located on the opposite end of the parking lot from the visitor center. While this part of the trail was more interesting the view point under the bridge was very underwhelming and we would not do it again.

Great Hike. We had lots of run on this trail and reaching the Devils Bathtub…read moreTake the plunge and jump in it play in the water.

Strenuous hike with multiple creek crossings. Be mindful of your steps as you trek over roots &…read morerocks. A stellar experience the whole way. Please carry trash out. It's a very special place. Plan to spend the day, it's worth immersion in the whole environment.

We met up with an old friend for a short hike in July 2024. The weather and the views were…read morespectacular. A wedding reception was to take place later in the day and I'd imagine it was amazing because the location was awesome. This park had various hike options with a range of difficulty levels. It was a great day overall.

Great views and hiking trail, at least before the storm. Great place to pack a lunch.read more

Spectacular views. Words do it no justice. Just a note, you better have a higher lift vehicle to…read moreget there. It's about 4 miles past Falls parking lot, it's gravel, rutty and pretty rough.

Gorgeous spot near Lineville, Table Rock, Grandfather, etc.! We took our engagement photos at…read moreWiseman's View on a beautiful September afternoon at sunset. It's the perfect spot for photos because... A) It's an easy stroll from the parking lot, i.e. you're not going to get hot and sweaty hiking to your photo shoot location. B) It's almost always 15-degrees cooler here than in Charlotte. Again, avoiding the whole hot and sweaty thing. C) The views are unrivaled. Sweeping from all angels, on a clear day you can see for miles and miles from one of the several outcrops/overlooks.