Pisgah National Forest

While we were exploring the Pisgah National Forest and hiking to see waterfalls, we met an older couple who were intent on seeing and photographing waterfalls as well. The man wanted to take at least twelve different waterfalls. He was planning in making calendars for Christmas presents. We were in separate vehicles, but we kept ending up at the same sites and hiking the same trails together.

Even though they were from Florida and we were from Pennsylvania, we found in our conversations that we had much in common. Their children were much the same age as mine. They had the same religion as we did. It was so enjoyable to share each others’ lives.

Some of the falls could be reached by short walks while others had a half mile walk, climb, and hike to see them. The trails were marked fairly well and were easy to see, but not all paths were easy to walk or climb.

Each falls has a different height, volume, and different vantage point. All are beautiful and distinct. Each one was worth the effort to see them.

The one I liked because it was more unique than the others was the Connestee Falls. Two waterfalls from two separate streams tumbled approximately thirty feet into a confluence and dropped into a chasm. The view was limited to only one platform. A storm had come through and destroyed the trail and the second viewing area, but it was still wonderful.

Sliding Rock was more like a wide chute of rapid water; fast flowing with a lot of ripples and white water. It was like a wide, natural sliding board covered with frothing and foaming water that dropped into a deeper pool. People were sliding down the chute and swimming in the pool.

Looking Glass Falls is a waterfall that pours over the top of a ledge and tumbles sixty feet into a narrow chasm. One rock wall shows the wear of the water over the many years that it needed to create the narrow channel.

Moore Cove Falls had the longest hike on a trail that seemed less maintained. The trail was filled with roots, rocks, and small trickles of water that ran across the dirt pathway. The falls itself was a curtain of water that ran over a ledge and fell about fifty feet onto a cluster of rocks and disappeared. The total volume was less than the other falls, but it had a delicate beauty.

Slick Rock Falls is a thinner flow of water that pours thirty-five feet into a jumble of water washed rocks and trickled away. The trail was a combination of actual steps and pathway. The vantage point allowed us to take pictures from below.

We also visited DuPont State Forest to see some of the natural beauty and the waterfalls that are contained in it.

Hooker Falls is a wide waterfall. It was wider than it was tall. The trail followed the river until we reached the falls. The water spills over a ledge and falls a distance of thirteen feet. It empties into Cascade Lake.

Triple Falls and is in the same area. Crossing the road and walking along a trail of stepping stones. It is a series of three, short spilling of water that flowed into a fast moving stream.

Mingo Falls is in the Cherokee National Forest. It is a tall flow of water that falls over a lip and down the face of a cliff in shining trickles. The trail is formed from one hundred and sixty steps.