Panthertown Valley, NC - Trip Report & P ictures

“Panthertown Valley, NC - Waterfall Wandering Trip Report
Raven Rock Falls, Schoolhouse Falls, Upper Warden Falls, Greenland Creek Falls
Sunday, Oct. 5th, 2003
SCJack, Waterfall Rich, Harry, LoneWolf, Kevin, Donna & Dave


The group met up at the Lake Toxaway Volunteer Fire Dept. at 10:00am. This was my first time hiking with any of these fine folks so after some quick introductions, we piled into the cars and headed to our first destination:


Raven Rock Falls:
From the junction of US64 & NC281, head North about 1 mile. Just past the Lake Toxaway Fire Department, turn left on Cold Mountain Road. Eventually the paved road turns to gravel, and shortly after that you will see Shower Falls, a small waterfall on the right side of the road. At this point start looking at the telephone poles, which are numbered in sequence. The trailhead is almost impossible to see from the road, but it is right before pole #61 on the left side of the road.

I am not sure of the exact distance, but I would say it is a little less than a mile to the falls making it about 1.5 miles out & back. The most difficult part is finding the trailhead. Once on the trail, it is fairly easy to follow with a mostly gradual descent. This is an excellent trail with many interesting features packed into a short hike. At one point the trail takes you underneath a rock overhang, and behind a small waterfall. Watch your head here!

Raven Rock Falls is a very impressive and scenic waterfall, which drops about 80ft. There was a hint of early fall color in the trees surrounding the Falls, making for a real nice picture. After a good long break to photograph and enjoy the Falls we returned back to the cars and headed on to Panthertown.

Trail Quality Enjoyment = 9.0/10
Waterfall Rating = 9.0/10
Difficulty = 3.0/10



Pathertown Valley National Forest:
Continuing on, Cold Mountain Road turns sharply to the left at the entrance to Canaan Land. About 100 yards past Canaan Land, turn right at the US Forest Sign. In less than a mile the road widens a bit to allow room for parking. A gate at this point marks the end of the road and the beginning of the trail.

Warning: Do not venture into this area without a good map and compass. It is very easy to get lost. Trails and old logging roads go off in every direction and there are absolutely no blazes or trail signs anywhere. I am glad we had Waterfall Rich as our hike leader.

I usually like to post a hike route and mileage with my trip reports, but I will have to skip that this time since I am not sure exactly what trails we took, or how far we hiked. Instead I'll just give a brief description of the sites we visited on this beautiful Fall Sunday.



Schoolhouse Falls:

It was an easy hike of about a mile to this beautiful waterfall, which drops about 25-ft over the top of a cave into an awesome swimming hole, which even comes equipped with a nice sandy beach area. This time of year the water is a little too cold for my tastes, but there were a couple of folks from another group taking a swim in the cool pool at the base of the falls. There is a short loop trail that encircles the entire pond and takes you into the cave underneath the falls. This allows you to get great pictures of the falls from just about every angle, including from behind.

Harry brought along a roll-up mattress and enjoyed his first nap of the day, while the rest of our group used the time to take plenty of pictures and thoroughly enjoy the falls. After the break, we said our goodbyes to Lonewolf, Donna & Dave who had other plans for the rest of the day.

Waterfall Rating = 9.0/10
Difficulty Rating = 2.0/10



Upper Warden Falls:

From Schoolhouse Falls, the remaining group of Waterfall Rich, Harry, Kevin, and I hiked North to check out Upper Warden Falls. Again, I am not sure of the route or mileage, but it was an easy hike except for the last section, which went steeply downhill from the top to the base of the falls. This section of trail requires lots of ducking under, around, and through many rhododendron branches.

In order to get a good view of Upper Warden Falls, you must get your feet wet and cross to the other side of the creek. It is not too difficult of a crossing, but I wouldn't recommend it after a heavy rain. I guess Harry didn't feel like getting his feet wet, because he pulled out his roll-up mattress again and enjoyed his 2nd nap of the day.

Upper Warden Falls does not drop straight down; instead its raging waters twist and turn down the 45-degree rocky slope.

Waterfall Rating = 7.0/10
Difficulty Rating = 4.0/10


Greenland Creek Falls:

We backtracked a little and said our goodbyes to Kevin, who had enough for the day. Rich, Harry, and I hiked South on the Greenland Creek Trail. This trail is hard to follow at times, and the many side trails can easily get you sidetracked. But, if you just head South and stay between the road and the Creek you should be OK.

Several Side Trails along the way take you down to the creek where at least (4) different small waterfalls/cascades can be viewed.

The main trail eventually ends up at Greenland Creek Falls. Again, you might need to get your feet wet in the creek to get the best view/photo of this very impressive waterfall. Or if you prefer, you can climb across the HUGE downed tree to get the same view. My boots were already wet, so I just hopped into the creek, while Waterfall Rich & Harry played tree monkey to get to the same spot.

After viewing the falls, we backtracked a little before taking a different trail that took us up to the road a short distance from Waterfall Rich’s Jeep.

Waterfall Rating = 9.0/10
Difficulty Rating = 4.0/10



Summary:

I really enjoyed this dayhike waterfall wandering. The area is absolutely beautiful, the waterfalls are some of the best around, the weather was perfect, and the company can’t be beat! Waterfall Rich was an excellent tour guide and hike leader on this trip. Again, unless you go with someone who is real familiar with the area, make sure you have a good map and a compass!

There are many trails in Panthertown and several other waterfalls that we didn’t have time to visit, but I am sure I will be back sometime to check them all out! For those who like overnight-backpacking trips, camping is allowed and there are plenty of excellent campsites in the area. The sandy beach area at Schoolhouse Falls would be a great place to spend the night. It’s also a short and easier enough hike that you should be able to carry in few extra 12-oz packages!

Overall we spent about 6hours in the area, about half of it hiking and the other half photographing and enjoying the wonderful waterfalls. I estimate that we hiked a total of about 8-miles, which is a lot of waterfalls packed into a fairly short hike. My only complaint is that I prefer trails to be well marked and blazed. But with Waterfall Rich along, this was not a problem.

I give the area a 9.0/10 on the trail quality, beauty, and enjoyment rating - nothing more than a 5.0/10 on the difficulty rating. The company I had along this hike rates a 10/10


My pictures are posted here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/93583426wZANdr


Also, be sure to check out Waterfall Rich’s website:
www.ncwaterfalls.com



SCJack”

“Very nice photos SCJack! I had the pleasure of hiking in that area with Rich and Harry 2 years ago. We bushwhacked to Dismal Falls. That was an adventure.”

“great photos!”

“Lovely trip report and outstanding pictures! You are super! Thanks for sharing. Hope to meet you soon.”