Station cove falls was first up on our day trip to multiple waterfalls, and this was a good first…read morestart! The hardest part of Station cove may very well be the parking. The trail head is found on the side of the road and outside of a dirt clearing and a marker on Oconee Station road, it can be hard to miss if you're not looking for it, and sometimes even if you are! All natural trail, station cove is more of a nature walk than a hike, with trail that is friendly to all fitness levels and age. Being an in and out trail at roughly 1.3 miles round trip, I think it's worth it to reach the actual falls. In addition to being an easy trail, this trail is filled with blazes (those little colored markers you see on trees along some trails), so much so that it's a little excessive, so you certainly wont get lost here. Being surrounded by the Sumter national forest, there's tons of lush forest surrounding you at all times, and it's worth it to keep an eye on your surroundings for some nice blooms growing here and there. The falls themselves are also beautiful, standing at approximately 60 feet, the falls are full, wide and powerful. It's a nice cap on a brisk walk, and yes, photos don't do it justice. Located in Oconee County, near Walhalla, SC, this is a waterfall that's well worth seeing if you're in the area. Even if you're like the group I came with, who all were out of the Atlanta area, it's not quite 2 hours drive from Atlanta to here, and if combining Station Cove falls with another hike or two, i'd highly recommend it! FYI, no restrooms here outside of tree, so plan accordingly

These falls are beautiful. I highly recommend checking them out. If you want a longer hike start at…read morethe Oconee Station State Historic Site. There are bathrooms there. If you prefer an easier, shorter hike then drive past the historic site and the trailhead, and parking, are on the left. If you start at the historic site, know that you will eventually just be crossing that same street to get to the trailhead.

I love this places, beautiful, relaxing. I love to end here after mountain biking trails. Is not…read morecrowded place

Stonewall Creek Falls is located on the trail known as Stonewall Falls & White Twister Mountain…read moreBike Trail. It's an 11.5 mile trail used most often by mountain bikes (as the name would imply) and has multiple wet creek crossings. The parking area & trailhead are off Stonewall Creek Road, also known as Crooked Oak Road on one end and Carleton English Road on the other. Three names in less than 3 miles of road, but you would only know this if you are looking at Google Maps. [ DIRECTIONS ] The trailhead is approx. 1.3 miles from paved South Main Street in Tiger, GA. The road is gravel with no signage, but a small utility building with two power boxes surrounded by a chain link fence sits right on the corner. The road is a touch bumpy and is best for trucks, Jeeps, SUV's and vehicles with more clearance, but a car COULD make it through. [ THE TRAIL ] You'll know you've arrived when you reach a small forest service gate with a niche large enough for about 3 cars. There is also sufficient room for several more cars to park roadside. The Mountain Bike Trail has a 1492 foot elevation change and encompasses some of the roadway past the parking area. However, to get to the waterfall, go through the gate, cross the small creek and continue left downhill for about 1/2 mile. The waterfall will come into view near a large open camping area. [ THE FALLS ] The easiest waterfall to reach is the one at the camping area. It's approximately 20 feet tall. HOWEVER, there is another waterfalls upstream of the main falls, but it is difficult to reach. Scouting reports I have read say to use a steep side trail 100 yards or so further uptrail past the falls. You will see two faint trails and I've been told the first of the two is the better option, but be careful, BOTH are STEEP. I tried the second trail (didn't know the first trail was the better option at the time) and only made it halfway before turning back. It felt against my better judgement to try this alone with my tiny little dog. So I plan to come back on another day when I have another crazy adventurer with me for support (and possibly a 911 call). Just slightly upstream from the main falls is an easier path to Stonewall Creek. My thought is to try to wade through the river to the upper falls, which are far prettier according to some of the pics I've witnesses on hiking trail galleries: https://mtnimages.smugmug.com/Hiking-With-Mtnimages/Hike-to-Stonewall-Creek/i-bdsqddz/A TIP - If you hike upstream looking for the side trail to the upper falls and make it to a creek crossing, you've gone too far! There is also another waterfall downstream of the main falls, but requires some mountain goat skills and bushwacking, which I'm hoping to get into this summer as I want to trailblaze to more remote waterfalls. [ THINGS TO KNOW ] Hiking Distance: 1 miles (round trip to main falls) Difficulty: Easy & family friendly (main waterfall) Difficulty: Strenuous & dangerous (upper and lower falls) Creek Crossings: YES (1) small stream at the beginning Elevation Gain: n/a Waterfall Height: Approx 18-20 feet (main) Access to top of falls: NO Access to base of falls: YES Pool of water @ base of Falls: YES Sitting areas @ base: YES + camping area RESTROOMS: NO PARKING: YES (3+ cars) [ FINAL THOUGHTS ] I enjoy hiking very much! The beauty, serenity and adventure calls to me and the peace that comes from such adventures is simply unmatched. The only thing that disturbs my hiking serenity is when I can't reach my destination. I'm stubborn and bullheaded like that! The first waterfall was nice, but my mission was to see all three, or at the very least the main falls AND the upper falls.... so I left disappointed. Still, it was one of several waterfalls I toured today as I scouted new trails for my hiking groups 2020 expeditions. This is a great short hike to add to other longer hikes when looking to fill up a day. NOTE TO SELF: Be better prepared next time with trail map downloads and GPS trackers that work even offline to better navigate to falls that are off-trail. Also, bring a machete just in case some light bushwacking is required. 2020 / 9

If you like ice cold mountain water and sliding down a rock, this is the place for you.read more

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!

Possibly one of the most WOW views in all of US-64 on the Highlands route down toward Cashiers. The…read moregreen mountains are massive with the iconic white smoke near the peaks. As beautiful the view, it is a quick peek to the right along the curved roadway. Only one little area to park your car to get some decent pics. Best view was at 6pm so not as misty. It should be called "Dead Man's Curve" since most tourists are probably not paying attention driving.

No one else here as the sun was thinking about setting so I had the view to myself. Peaceful and…read morequiet other than the occasional passerby not stopping. This was one of the greatest views I've seen in some time. A long valley and near sunset, the light on the cliffside was beautiful. This is worth going out of your way to visit. [Review 20016 overall - 3456 in North Carolina - 991 of 2023.]

Spectacular view less than 20 minutes from home. The…read morecountryside is absolutely beautiful. The water from our well tastes better than any water we've bought. The air is the cleanest we've ever breathed. We've lived here for 10 years and will never leave.

Like waterfalls but not the hike? This waterfall can be viewed from a VERY narrow pull off on Hwy…read more64. It's difficult to see it in its entirety due to vegetation, but there is a trail that leads you down to the base of the falls. It's extremely steep and it would still probably be difficult to capture the full size of this waterfall. Some sources say it is around 200 feet tall while others say it's closer to 250 feet. Just from what I could see from the road, I'd be more inclined to agree with the 250' estimation. It is quite long and dramatic, but then again I'm not exactly sure where the fall begins since the river has quite a few cascades before the first major drop. Cullasaja Falls is the last and largest waterfall along the Cullasaja River. The others include Dry Falls and Bust Yer' But Falls (also known as Quarry Falls). In the Cherokee language, Cullasaja mean the place of honey locust. It sits on the Western side of the Eastern Continental Divide, which means the flow of water will eventually find its way to the Gulf of Mexico. I found a pic of an old postcard of the falls I thought was pretty cool: http://www.moonshiner28.com/moonshiner28photos/Highlands/CullasajaPostCardMirror.jpg THE VERDICT If you are doing a tour of the local waterfalls, add this one to the list. It takes very little effort to view it and has excellent photographing opportunities from the roadway overlook. I would not recommend hiking down the steep trail if you have seniors or small children in your hiking party.

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.

The hike to Lee Falls is similar to some relationships, beautiful and easygoing in the beginning,…read moreyet difficult and tumultuous in the end. Lee Falls sure is a pretty girl or handsome guy (depending on your preference), but man, what you have to go through to be with Lee might make you wonder if the hike is actually worth it in the end! { DRIVING NOTES } The drive to Lee Falls was a tad confusing, kinda like bumbling over words when you first introduce yourself to someone. I approached the falls heading north on Hwy 11 and then turning left onto Cheohee Valley Road. I sometimes bring a notepad with me and self drawn maps with directions just in case I lose signal or my phone battery dies. My map had me turning left off Cheohee Valley Road onto Tamassee Knob Road, which is correct. However, Tamassee Knob Road meets Cheohee Valley Road TWICE, and I was supposed to take the second left, not the first. I was taken off course slightly, but eventually found my way to the trailhead parking area. { THE HIKE } Once parked, I headed past the large gate into a field of gorgeous green grass several football fields in length. There are NO blazes on this trail to tell you where to go, however, someone did tie ribbons to trees in key spots to give some sort of direction. Sometimes the ribbons are blue, other times they were orange. At the end of the first field, you will need to cross directly through the Tamassee Creek. There is no footbridge here and you will most definitely get your shoes wet. Actually, there are a total of 6 water crossings, so wear proper shoes and bring an extra pair + socks to change into when you return to your car after the hike. After the first creek crossing, you will enter into the second of FOUR grassy fields. This field is by far the prettiest as it has an island of trees in the center. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to own this land and build a home here. It truly is what I would expect Hanzel & Gretel's land to look like from childhood fairy tales. A small strip of woods separates the second field from the third. At the end of the third grassy field you will cross Tamassee Creek once again before entering into the fourth and final field. It will be all forest from here, but be forewarned: the trail will become more difficult to follow the closer you get to the falls. This literally is the part of your relationship with Lee where you start to have doubts, but you fight through them to make the relationship work! --- Once you cross the creek for the 6th time, the hike takes a turn from pleasant (grassy fields), then confusing (forest) to outright difficult (the final climb). Each step you make will be heavily calculated and your route to the falls will be determined by your own security. The trail becomes undefined and you will scramble over rocks, huge boulders, downed trees and through the creek itself to make your way to the falls. Talk about relationship obstacles! Although the falls are easily within view, it is an uphill battle to get to the best viewing area. It is very likely you will need to stop and catch your breath. It is this part of my relationship with Lee Falls that I wondered if all of this fighting to be together was worth it. But I pressed on, determined to make it work! { THE FALLS } Once you reach a satisfactory viewing area, take a snack & water break! You have truly earned it! Soak in the sights and sounds of nature as you stare 70 feet up at Lee Falls in all its mossy beauty. Truly one of the most unique waterfalls I've ever seen in the South. My favorite spot was leaning against a large boulder in the middle of the river. Oddly as I looked down I caught the remains of a frog trapped in between two stones. "I feel you bro" I whispered. { FINAL THOUGHTS } I spent about 15 minutes with Lee regaining my strength before saying my farewell and heading back to my car. The return down the boulders was no less difficult, but at least I could walk though the woods more confidently than I did when I first encountered the difficult to follow trail. It's so true that difficulties make you smarter & stronger. The trail to Lee certainly took me through the ringer, but I emerged wiser from the experience nonetheless. It was a short fling that I will always remember. SCOUTING NOTES: * The parking area along 715A is to the right just before you cross the creek. *Parking area can easily handle a dozen or more cars. * Road to the parking area is gravel, but smooth. * Some parts of the FIRST grassy field can be really muddy. Best not to follow the path through the grass. Instead stay close to the treeline on the left for this field. * Trail is approximately 1.5 miles in length to the falls. The first half is super easy & pleasant. * Pack a lunch! You're gonna want to stay here for a while. * Bring extra shoes & socks to change into after the hike. Several crossings have ankle deep water. * NO RESTROOMS * NO PARKING FEES 2019/45

This is the most unique trail that I have ever hiked! The parking lot is pretty small and there are…read moreno parking fees. The trail starts at a gate connected to the first of many grassy fields that you have to pass through. This is the part that didn't seem like most trails I've done. It was mostly tall grass, but there was a beaten path that you could find and walk on. Even though it was beautiful, it was in direct sunlight, so depending on the season and time of day, you could be a little warm and easily sunburn if you are not prepared! There are also a handful of water crossings, so wear Chocos or bring another pair of socks and shoes. This is not a trail for the weak! Or for people who prefer a nice, well laid out pathway. I barely noticed trail markers or blaze markers. It is kind of hard to follow at times. The trail was very narrow and full of foliage. There is no way to avoid the plants touching you. Some kind of plant that is similar to poison ivy was everywhere and made me itch like crazy. But once I got to one of the water crossings, I was able to wash my legs off and feel better. Once you get closer to the waterfall, you have to almost rock climb and navigate through a really rocky area to make it to the top of the falls. But all of this was worth it when you finally reach the falls. WOW. It is huge! And there are several spots to rest on the rocks as you take in this lovely view. There are no bathrooms, so make sure you stop somewhere before you get there.

I'm always on the lookout for something uniquely native to the indigenous people, or something with…read morespiritual meaning. I found this place doing a search, and decided to visit. I learned that Judaculla is a hunter god of the Cherokee people, and it is believed that this stone marks his footstep as he jumped between the mountains. The stone also has petroglyphs and has made its way into the Atlas Obscura. I didn't see any offerings or indigenous people around, this stone actually sits next to active farms. I enjoyed the peace and serenity of the location until several people came, some with dogs, in cars, and everyone became friends. Odd experience, nothing new to me. If you look at the pictures, you may see faces and things. I will tell you, the camera catches things the eyes can't. Just another oddity.

Went there in august , it was well maintained, fresh cut grass and nicely graveled path to it…read more There is another path at the end of it leading out to the field but it needs trimming, it starting to close in. Other than that, nice looking area . Part of NC. History