THE TRAIL IS…OPEN
Years ago, I found myself in
the Old Fort area with some spare time.
I was with Bob, who suggested we make the short hike to Catawba
Falls. We drove over there, only to be
greeted with dozens of “No Trespassing” signs at the trailhead. The only reasonable access to the falls
passes through a short stretch of private property before reaching the National
Forest boundary. When Bob had last been
there, some 20 years earlier, the trail had been open to the public. Unfortunately, sometime during the
intervening years, that had changed. We
left disappointed, but hopeful that we might be able to visit the falls
sometime in the future.
A few weeks ago, while
browsing through Rich Stevenson’s excellent website, http://www.ncwaterfalls.com/, I
discovered that Catawba Falls is now open to the public! The Foothills Conservancy (http://www.foothillsconservancy.org/index.htm)
recently purchased the property, securing public access. However, the conservancy had to take out a
private loan to obtain the necessary funds.
They are currently soliciting donations to reduce their outstanding
debt. If you would like to help with
this worthwhile cause, go to the link above.
I contacted Bob, and we immediately planned a hike. Last Saturday, we finally made it up
there. After an easy drive to Old Fort,
we followed Catawba Falls Road to the end.
There we found a small parking area, just before an old bridge over the
river. The bridge is gated, but the
gate is passable to foot traffic. The
“No Trespassing” signs are all gone now, and the gate now features a sign that
states that foot traffic is allowed.
We gathered our gear, and
were greeted by our guide for the day, a black Lab named Spot. I let Saucony play around and socialize with
Spot in the parking area, before putting her back in the car. I decided not to bring her on this hike, as
I’d read that the “trail” between the main falls and the upper falls is steep
and hazardous. She was a little
confused though, as she watched us head up the trail, with another dog, from
the window of my car.
Spot ran ahead, while we
strolled along an old roadbed running parallel to the river. After a few minutes, we reached the National
Forest boundary. Not far beyond, we
followed the trail down to cross the river.
The water level was fairly low, and it was easy to hop across on
rocks. From there, we continued
upstream, climbing above and away from the river. At one point, we passed a nice campsite near the river. However, camping here is not currently
allowed. Part of the agreement made by
the Foothills Conservancy is that this area is day use only, and no overnight
parking is allowed.
We continued ahead, rock
hopping a side stream before reaching a steep path heading down to the
river. I decided to check it out. At the bottom of the path, I arrived at the
base of a small but pretty waterfall.
Just upstream are the remains of an old dam. Bob joined me there, and we spent a few minutes enjoying the
falls and taking photos.
We climbed steeply back up
to the trail, and immediately passed along the base of sheer rock wall. Before long, we left the old roadbed and
crossed another side stream. From here,
the trail was a bit rough, but still easy enough to follow. A few minutes later, we arrived at a large
sandbar at the base of Catawba Falls.
My first impression was one
of disappointment. While very high, the
falls are also rather wide. Although this
was February, the water level was surprisingly low, and there wasn’t much more
than a trickle coming down the falls.
This waterfall is very close to the river’s headwaters, and water levels
change rapidly. If you plan to visit
this waterfall, I highly recommend going immediately after a significant
rainfall. Going in the winter will
enable you to see more of the falls, but if the water level is low, it just
isn’t very impressive.
Despite that disappointment,
we decided to climb to the upper falls.
We followed the trail, which continues up the cliff alongside the
falls. The trail is very steep, but it
wasn’t as bad as I had feared. The
worst section does have a rope anchored to a rock, which assists with climbing
and descending. By the time we reached
the top, we both felt like we’d gotten a decent workout, even though the hike
was only 3 miles roundtrip!
From the top, we followed a
rugged path up the river. Before long,
the path split. A prominent trail
continued ahead to the right, but we dropped down to the left, to stay closer
to the river. This was the right
choice, as we reached the river just downstream from the falls. My first impression here couldn’t have been
more different. Wow! Upper Catawba Falls isn’t nearly as tall as
the main falls, but it’s much more attractive.
It features a sheer, 70’ drop, with a nice run of cascades at the
base. Bob was as impressed as I
was. He had been to Catawba Falls
several times previously, but he had never made it to the Upper Falls. We both stopped in our tracks to take in
this sight before resuming our hike upstream.
Getting to the base was
tricky. We negotiated lots of slippery
rocks, and hopped across the river at one point. Bob made one misstep, and dunked a boot. Despite that, it was worth the effort. We reached a nice sandbar just short of the
very base, and took in the view from there.
We spent the next 30 minutes or so exploring the falls and taking photos
from various angles. Although the
cloudy day provided good photographic conditions, I had a lot of difficulty
excluding the ugly gray sky from my photos.
As a result, I don’t feel like my pictures do this waterfall
justice. I have no regrets though, as
it is one of the nicer waterfalls around.
We eventually headed back,
following Spot back down the trail. It
was slow-going descending to the base of the main falls, as considerable
caution was required. Once down, the
rest of the hike out was easy. On the
way, we passed several groups of hikers heading the other way. Apparently word is out that the trail is now
open!
We returned to the parking
area, greeted Saucony, and parted ways with Spot. We drove into Old Fort, where our lunch options consisted of
McDonalds or Hardees. So we grabbed a
bit of McLunch, and drove over to the Old Fort picnic area. The road to the picnic area was gated, so we
pulled off the road, and walked from there.
This time we brought Saucony with us.
I wasn’t going to leave her in the car all day!
We had lunch at a picnic
table, before starting our second hike of the day. Our plan was to hike the Young’s Ridge Trail up to Kitsuma
Peak. This trail starts in the picnic
area, but we weren’t sure exactly where.
We found a trail at the far end of the picnic area, and followed it up
some steps. We followed along a ridge
below an impressive rock face, before descending down to Swannanoa Creek (not
to confused with the Swannanoa River, which is nearby, but on the opposite side
of the continental divide). The path then
turned to follow the creek under some nice Hemlocks. These Hemlocks are healthy, as they were treated with pesticides
before they could be infected by the blight.
The trail quickly returned
us to the picnic area. That little
excursion was nice, but it hadn’t taken us up Young’s Ridge. We wandered back through the picnic area,
and found the correct trail running along a stream not far from the parking
area. We followed this path up the
valley, before eventually climbing away from the stream. After a gradual climb, we topped out on the
ridge. Here the walking was easy, and
we found a few winter views through the trees.
Unfortunately, some of those views included I-40. Young’s Ridge is adjacent to the interstate,
so traffic noise is present at times during this hike.
Eventually the easy stroll
ended, and we ascended and descended several knobs. Along here, we found a narrow view through the trees of railroad
tracks emerging from a tunnel. One
final steep ascent brought us to the summit of Kitsuma Peak. There is no view here, so we descended
through a maze of trails. We arrived at
a rock outcrop, where we found a limited view obscured by trees, and a large
group of hikers. They had come up from
the Ridgecrest Trailhead, which is adjacent to the interstate directly below
Kitsuma Peak. They left shortly after
we arrived, so we stopped there for a break and a snack.
After a few minutes, we went
searching for a better view. We climbed
back up towards the summit, but descended a side path back down to the
left. Here we found a rock outcrop,
with a better view. The vista included
Greybeard Mountain and Seven Sisters Ridge.
Some of the peaks near Mt. Mitchell, including Clingmans Peak, were in
sight. In the opposite direction, we
could see the peaks of High Windy and High Top. Below, we looked out over Ridgecrest, the town of Black Mountain,
and the interstate running towards Asheville.
In the farthest distance, we could just make out the hazy outline of the
Balsam Mountains, despite the clouds.
We hung out for a few
minutes, before beginning the 3-½ mile hike back. On the way back, we passed several other groups of hikers and a
couple of mountain bikers. It was busy
on this trail, particularly for a cloudy day in February! Young’s Ridge provided a nice walk, but it
probably isn’t one of the better hikes in the area. There’s only one good view, and there’s no escaping the noise
from the highway along several stretches of this trail.
Back to North Carolina's Black Mountains
Back to North Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!