Big Bradley Falls & Little Bradley Falls

“Big Bradley Falls, Little Bradley Falls, Poinsett Bridge
Saluda, NC area
SCJack, Matt (Mountain Goat), Tim, Christina
Saturday, March 13th, 2004

Pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/125088669WpOEQE

Trip Report:

Matt (MountainGoat) picked me up at my house in Spartanburg, SC and we headed up I-26 to the Saluda, NC area. I hadn’t heard back from Tim & Christina who expressed interested in the hike, so I assumed they would not be joining us.

1st Stop - Big Bradley Falls

Directions: I-26 to the Saluda, NC exit. Head North/East on Holbert Cove Road for 3.2 miles. Just before the road crosses the creek there is a pull-off area on the left with room for about 8 cars. The trail to Big Bradley Falls begins beyond a gate on the LH side of the road.

The trail, while not blazed is easy to follow. After passing through an open field there is a T-intersection. Turn right and a short distance later the trail meets up with Cove Creek. There is a nice campsite (although camping is not officially allowed) and a small waterfall before the trail crosses over to the other side of the creek. The crossing requires either a rock hop or getting your feet wet. Last time I attempted this hike, the temperature were below freezing and the rocks were covered with ice, so I turned back. This time, there was a 2x4 across a pair of rocks making it a bit easier.

After the trail crosses the creek, it heads slightly uphill. At about 1.0 mile a side trail heads off to the left. This side trail takes you to the base of Big Bradley Falls and is marked with a wooden sign with an eye drawn on it. Matt and I continued on the main trail which started forking all over the place. I am not sure where the right forks go to, but we followed the direction of the creek and headed to the left. There are many side trails leading to nice overlooks of the gorge and distant views of big Bradley falls. Some very impressive and very steep drops can be seen. After checking out several of the overlook points we backtracked and returned to the “eyeball” trail down to the base of Big Bradley Falls.

Again the trail forks, we started with the left fork, which takes you to the top of the falls where we ran across Tim and Christina. From there, the four of us headed to the base of the falls. This is where the trail goes from easy to very difficult. At one point you need to climb down a 25-ft rock face. Fortunately there is a good sturdy climbing rope to help with the descent. Although it is not a very long hike from the top to the base of the falls, it is one of the steepest that I have come across. I was glad I turned back the last time, as this is definitely not a trail you want to attempt in icy conditions.

Big Bradley Falls is very impressive and highly recommended. However, the descent to the base is not recommend for children or if you are uncomfortable or physically unable to climb down/up a 25-ft rock face using a rope. Also, there is no guarantee that this rope will always be there, and I would not attempt it without a rope

SCJacks Waterfall Rating = 9.0/10
Difficulty Rating = 3.0/10 to the overlooks, 10.0/10 to the base

We returned to the parking area and continued our hike to Little Bradley Falls.



Little Bradley Falls

There are two was to get there. The directions in Kevin Adams “NC Waterfalls” book say to drive back up the road about a half a mile and find a shoulder to park on. From there you have to scramble down a steep bank to meet up with the trail. This is what I did last time and I don’t recommend it.

Instead we followed the directions from Waterfall Rich’s www.ncwaterfalls.com website and started from the same parking area as Big Bradley Falls.

Walk across the road and bridge over the creek. There is a trail that leads towards the creek to a couple of campsites, but the trail to Little Bradley Falls is located above that one and starts out with a gradual up hill climb. It parallels the creek, but doesn’t run right along side it. This trail crosses two smaller tributaries of Cove Creek before reaching the main crossing of cove creek. Although it is possible to rock hop, it is not easy to get across without getting your boots wet.

The trail continues on the other side of the creek. If you decide to avoid the creek crossing and instead scramble down the hill from Holbert Cove Road, this is where you would end up. From here it is about a half-mile easy hike to Little Bradley Falls.

While little Bradley Falls is not as tall or as impressive as Big Bradley, I think it is a prettier waterfall. I highly recommend them both and I give each of them a 9.0/10.

On the way back, we decided to avoid the creek crossing and instead climbed up the bank to the road and returned to our cars.

SCJack’s Waterfall Rating = 9.0/10
Difficultly Rating = 3.0/10 (except for the creek crossing or bank climb)

It was still early in the day and Matt recommend that we check out Poinsett Bridge. I wasn’t familiar with it, and Matt was relying on memory to find it. So after driving around a bit we pretty much gave up. Tim and Christina were running low on gas and decided to head back at the turn that said “Hendersonville - 12miles”. Matt turned the other way, which seemed to be the direction we wanted to go. Suddenly after passing along side the Saluda Reservoir we saw the sign to Poinsett Bridge and checked it out before finding our way back to Spartanburg.

Overall, a great day! The weather was perfect for hiking and it was great meeting Matt, Tim, and Christina. I hope to have many more hikes with them in the future. I highly recommend Big Bradley Falls and Little Bradley Falls and would definitely put them on your MUST SEE list.

SCJack”

“Great report and pics. Thanks, scjack!”

“I am heading that way one day...wow love those photos..!”

“Rox, just let me know when you want to do it. I'll be happy to act as hike leader. The trailhead is only about 10-15 minutes from Jeff's house.



Little Bradley Falls is a short & easy hike.

Big Bradley Falls is a short & easy hike to the overlooks. But, the descent to the base is very very steep.

SCJack”