Stunning Raven Cliff Falls
To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below:
Raven Cliff Falls Loop in Caesars Head State Park(Opens in new window)
8.4 mile lollipop walk to view gorgeous Raven Cliff Falls in Caesars Head State Park, South Carolina. The walk started and ended on the Raven Cliff Falls Trail and included Gum Gap/Foothills Trail, Naturaland Trail, and Dismal Trail – November 1, 2009
Where do I start with this Sunday’s walk? The perfect weather? The beautiful views? The stunning colors? The spectacular raging creek? The amazing waterfall? The awe-inspiring wall of rock? Sounds a lot like one of my typical Smoky Mountain weekend walks, right? Nope…not this time, because to get all those adjectives on this day I didn’t even leave my home state. Thanks to the Saturday Halloween festivities I would wait for Sunday to walk on ‘Fall Back Weekend’. I appreciated the extra hour due to the end of Daylight Savings Time so I could take advantage of one of those long days, with a ‘drive up-walk-then drive home’ plan. Thanks to the rock slide on I-40 and the fact that I’ve completed almost all of the trails in Cataloochee, the closest Smoky Mountain area to my South Carolina home not impacted by the slide, I chose to stay in my back yard. My choice was the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area at the very edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment.
Gorgeous view of Table Rock Mountain from the overlook
The Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area sits on US 276 at the North Carolina/South Carolina state line and encompasses about 50 miles of trails and two South Carolina State Parks, Caesars Head and Jones Gap. For me to get there meant a drive on one of my favorite routes, SC Hwy 11, also known as the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. This is one beauty of a road, traveling the gorgeous rolling Carolina Piedmont parallel to the front range of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I spent a lot of time traveling this road on weekends in the late ‘80s while in college at Clemson University, probably to put off studying. I was happy to be back this way again as a strong cold front finished rolling through and clearing out the air and the overnight rains. Driving up the mountains on twisty US 276, it was tough not to slip and slide on the wet road covered with a thick layer of fresh fallen leaves. It would be foreshadowing of a tough day on the trail. Around 8:45 AM I reached the closed Visitor Center atop Caesars Head and stepped out to the stunning overlook in 25 mph winds, and immediately felt like I would freeze to death. I’m telling you it was brisk!
Raven Cliff Falls Trail and Gum Gap/Foothills Trail
Something I'm not used to as a Smokies walker
I got the idea for today’s walk from author and hiker/blogger extraordinaire Danny (Danielle) Bernstein’s excellent first book Hiking the Carolina Mountains. This book has a plethora of fantastic information on 57 Carolina day hikes, and it includes lots of facts that I would need to get to and complete my walk today. Being spoiled by extremely well documented and well maintained Smokies trails that I could get to and from with my eyes closed, it was nice to have this book to help with an area not so familiar. The first essential information was the location of the Raven Cliff parking area another 1.2 miles north of the Visitor Center. By 9:30 I would have my $2 fee paid and my hiker information sheet filled out and deposited in the box and be on my on my way down the wide carriage path on Raven Cliff Falls Trail. For the lesser-traveled State Park trails it is necessary to fill out an information sheet and deposit the white copy in the box, then put the pink copy in when you return safely at the end of the day. That saves the Rangers from having to come and get you when you don’t return by nightfall. That should’ve been my first warning.
Raven Cliff Falls Trail is an extremely popular moderate 2.2 mile walk to a new covered observation deck overlooking the beautiful falls across a gorge. Initially it is a wide path that according to Danny used to carry lodge guests to view the Falls in the early 20th century. At this time in the morning I’m alone on this popular trail. Just after passing a Park maintenance building the trail ducks around a ridge and begins to climb modestly along a ridgeline among oaks, pines, hickory, and sassafras. To the left through the trees are occasional very nice views of the Carolina Piedmont. About a mile in the trail changes character as it switches sharply right and descends through a thick laurel patch on a nice wooden staircase. After a short walk through the tunnel of laurel the trail flattens out and before long reaches the intersection with the Gum Gap/Foothills Trail. Here I see one difference between my Smokies and this State Park, with a full color copy of the entire trail map posted at the intersection complete with a “You Are Here” annotation.
Here I take a right and begin to follow the blue-blazed Gum Gap/Foothills Trail around the north side of the falls gorge instead of continuing on Raven Cliff Falls Trail for the remaining few tenths to the observation platform. I figured I would go counterclockwise around the loop instead of Danny’s recommended route of going clockwise. Reason? Well, I figured I would save the highlight of the big Falls view until the end of the day. That decision would very nearly turn out to be costly. (see mistake #2 later) Gum Gap Trail is a mostly level cruise through a dry ridge pine-oak forest. A few tenths in I turn sharply left and begin to follow a muddy jeep road through a forest of white pine. A few streams cross under the road here and I begin to heat up as I walk quickly along the flat road, dodging mud puddles. Now heating up, I stop and drop a layer while listening to the stream tumble under the road. At one low spot in the trail a water diversion channel is filled with yesterday’s rainwater. Before long I reach another full-color map at the intersection with the pink-blazed Naturaland Trail on the left.
Nightmare on Naturaland Trail
The cable crossing of Matthews Creek
Naturaland Trail travels the south end of the Wilderness Area and crosses the Falls below Raven Cliff. The west end of the trail is a nice fairly gentle climb amongst brilliant fall colors, with views back toward Caesars Head appearing at one point. Here I begin to notice the very loud roar of Matthews Creek, and eventually swing around to the left to parallel it as hemlocks appear on the north facing slopes. The wide creek is really raging, dropping on several large cascades as I begin to walk directly beside it. I sense the Falls are nearby as the water picks up speed. I’m frustrated that there isn’t a good spot to photograph the beautiful roaring creek. Soon I reach the skinny suspension bridge that goes directly over top of Raven Cliff Falls. Wow! Raven Cliff Mountain drops suddenly away as the Falls tumble 400 feet down beneath me. On the opposing ridge are gorgeous Fall colors, from which I will have a direct view to photograph the Falls later today. After a thousand photos I amble across the bouncy and somewhat scary bridge and then stop for a brief lunch of trail mix and water.
The suspension bridge from across the gorge
Now it’s time to discuss those mistakes I mentioned earlier. Both would be highlighted on the section of Naturaland Trail I was about to travel, which now abruptly drops about 900 feet in elevation from this point at the suspension bridge to eventually end up at Matthews Creek below. Mistake #1 was when I left home today without my proper hiking gear. All of my gear was safely tucked away at base camp in the Smokies, so I had to walk today totally ill prepared…a real recipe for disaster. Here’s the rest of the recipe:
- - One ounce of incorrect footwear
- - Two teaspoons of no GPS
- - One cup of steep gradient
- - One unfamiliar boulder strewn path
- - Two bushels of fresh fallen leaves
- - One gallon of fresh rainwater
- - Three cups of no cell phone reception
- - One helping of nearly deserted trail
- - Two cups of mud
- - One poorly balanced non-hiking bookbag
- - A pinch of barely visible trail blazes
- - Two liters of no emergency supplies: water treatment stuff, matches, headwear, first aid kit, compass, extra clothing, etc.
- - Combine with mistake #2, a downhill on the steepest, rockiest, most leaf-covered trail section
Mix well and bake for about 3 miles. Makes one humble pie.
Ladders lend a helping hand on Naturaland Trail
You get the picture..it definitely wasn’t pretty. I can honestly say two things about this section of the trail. Number one is I am incredibly sore from doing full squats after slipping at least 30 times on the leaf-covered boulders, and number two I am genuinely thankful to be here writing this story today unhurt. I fell hard on a sharp pile of rocks once and thought for sure I broke my tailbone. I have a nice large bruise to show for it, but fortunately missed real injury by a few inches. Combine that with all the previous disaster ingredients and like I said…I’m happy to be unharmed. Learn from my stupidity.
Anyway, although this was by far the toughest downhill I’d ever done I guess it wasn’t all bad. At a few points on the trail crews have installed handy ladders to help with the steep sections. One huge highlight just down the trail from the steep section was a 120 foot high semicircular wall of rock called the Cathedral. The Cathedral was composed of sheared-off layers of striated rock all cleanly stacked up like a pile of sheetrock at the neighborhood Home Depot. After this high point though I continued on and had several occasions when I really thought I had missed my turn and was lost. The trail was difficult to follow and slow going thanks to the poor footing, but eventually much to my relief I reached Matthews Creek and my first experience with a thin parallel cable crossing. We’re definitely not in the Smokies anymore Dorothy! No whimpy little footlog bridges here! I am relieved nobody was there to capture my terrified expression as I slinked across Matthews Creek on the skinny cable dangling a few feet above a swift cascade. (bottom cable for your feet , top cable to hang on for dear life!) After I survived I could pause and laugh a bit… Continuing on the trail ducks back into the thick forest of rhododendron. This short flat section takes you across a few feeder streams and eventually to the intersection with the purple-blazed Dismal Trail.
The aptly named Dismal Trail and the stunning overlook
View of the falls from the Dismal Trail
I was never so relieved to see a Dismal Trail in all my life! Thank God, 1000 feet straight up, this I could handle! If you’re going in this direction though, the Dismal Trail is aptly named, climbing relentlessly up the front range of the Blue Ridge opposite Raven Cliff Mountain. The highlights of this section were a few big trees, the one spot where I could see Raven Cliff Falls across the ridge, and the fact that it was over. Out of gas mostly due to the nervous energy of the Naturaland downhill, I’m sure I didn’t set any records on this uphill. Soon I let out a big sigh of relief when I saw the backward trail map and the intersection with the trail I started on this morning, Raven Cliff Falls Trail.
Raven Cliffs Falls from the observation platform
Just a quick and thankfully flat 0.2 mile spur away was the very nice covered Raven Cliff Falls observation platform. From here I sat with the mass of humanity and took dozens of shots of the gorgeous Falls across the ridge, bragging to everybody that would listen about how I was standing on that faint suspension bridge across the gorge a few hours earlier. It was stellar, and I soon forgot my two mistakes. Forgot them until the next day that is…when my extremely sore quads would remind me. After a nice break I walked the easy 2.2 miles back to the parking area, now busting at the seams with outdoor enthusiasts. I finished the day with an ice cream from the Visitors Center and a few more pictures from the stunning Caesars Head overlook…could it be any better? I love my Smokies like no place else on Earth, but my first real hike in my South Carolina mountain back yard was a real treat, and I’d recommend it to any of you looking for a nice change of pace. Bring your gear with you though, ok?! ..and go buy Danny’s book too!
Views into the South Carolina Piedmont
Low elevation on today’s 8.4 mile lollipop walk was around 1900’ at the Dismal Trail/Naturaland Trail intersection and high elevation was near 3100’ on Raven Cliff Falls Trail. According to Danny the walk included about 1950’ of overall climbing.
For pics of this walk, click the link below:
Raven Cliff Falls Loop in Caesars Head State Park(Opens in new window)
I love a cautionary tale! I’ve done this hike twice, both times clockwise
It is not a hike for the faint-hearted. In fact, this is where I took my LLS team to train for the tougher Grand Canyon trails. It can be disorienting to be out of the Smokies - suddenly trail blazes become very important.
I’m glad too that you finished the hike uninjured. Sounds like you need two sets of hiking gear - one for the Smokies base and one for the home base. Or, uh, just keep it in your car?
Thanks Smoky Scout. I wasn’t anywhere near this sore after my first hike…I’m still sore and bruised and it’s Wednesday. For 8.4 miles it sure had some bang for the buck. I will have to look up your LLS hike on your blog.
Agree on the second pack…the day was filled with poor planning all the way around. The only thing I’ll give myself credit for is bringing Danny’s book with me. There were a few times when I REALLY thought I was lost and Danny’s book reassured me I was still on track.
It’s always refreshing to know that I’m not the only person to make these scary hikes. When we were in Glacier NP in August, we decided to go around Avalanche Lake, although the trail ended about 2/3 the way around. We could SEE the other end of the lake, and it looked like all we’d have to do would be to step over a few fallen trees. OMG! In, on, around, under, through, between (pick your preposition) a gazillion BIG fallen trees. Another lesson learned - but thanks to you, my backpack is going into my car today! Along with an extra pair of hiking boots. Beautiful photos and great trail info. Thanks Dan.
Thanks for the compliments Glenda. Glad you survived your off trail excursion. Nothing worse that trying to get around blown down trees, they can make a pretty easy trail nearly impossible. As for my gear, like the old commercial used to say, I won’t leave home without it. Hope you’re closing in on your goal!
[...] Park, the east side of the mountain bridge. In November I walked the west side of the bridge on the Raven Cliff Falls loop at Caesars Head State Park. The Mountain Bridge Wilderness [...]