Waterfalls Of The Blue Ridge: The Falls Of Laurel Run Park

When you are practicing Social Distancing and Shelter in Place because of the coronavirus it gives the Wood Booger time to write about something I love...waterfalls. Not just any waterfalls, but the place in Hawkins County that you will find the most Laurel Run Park.

The main waterfall gives the park its name Laurel Run Falls, but there are five others of different sizes and water flow. Since it is the closest hike to St. Clair that means I have hiked there many, many times. When I hike at Laurel Run Park I always start at the parking area near the bathroom, so that is where this one will start. It is a large parking area and you go up the road past the park map, on the right, and the park sign on the left. Then it is past the park office along the road and upper parking lot.

The actual trail starts past the parking area and you will know as there is trail sign at the bridge. The sign used to be further up the trail. You will cross two footbridges before a short climb up a wide trail to two old looking buildings. These were actually leftover from the movie the River's Edge and they are starting to show their age and have been boarded up. It is another short distance when you will come to the junction with the Overlook Trail.

This is a mile trail up Canebreak Mountain to an overlook and then back down to the Laurel Run Trail. You can go straight, but I norma;;y take the wide steep trail up to the overlook. It is an old roadbed, so it is very steep, but in Spring it has plenty of wildflowers. After a heart-pumping climb, you will reach the overlook which is a good time for a break with views of the Holston River Valley and Church Hill to enjoy.

There is a little bit more uphill before the trail heads back down and reconnects with the Laurel Run Trail. The trail now does a short uphill before heading downhill to a ford of Laurel Run Creek. How hard this is to cross will depend on how much water flow there is. If it is low a rock hop can be done. If higher then you will have to wade or do some fallen tree gymnastics. In a bit of irony, the harder the crossing the better the waterfalls will be...oh, a place for a footbridge?

The trail heads uphill with the beauty of the creek to the right. You will notice what looks like an old road than the trail straights out and as it tops a rise you will see the short side path to the right down to Laurel Run Falls. This is a 12-foot curtain-type cascade that you can view from several angles. It is a beautiful waterfall.

Most people stop here and return for a two-mile hike (sans the Overlook Trail which adds about half-mile more), but this is just the first. A couple of yards further you will come to a junction while a trail goes left, the official trailheads straight so continue that direction. In a hundred feet or so there will be another slight trail to the right. Here is a small five-foot cascade I call Little Laurel Run Falls.

Continue straight until the trail comes to a turn. here is where we get to the "unofficial" part of the hike. First, you will cross near where Kiner and Laurel Run Creeks come together. Once over you will cross some large blowdown and head up Kiner Creek. There is a faint manway up through here so follow it. It won't be long before you come to the first, I call Lower Kiner Falls. It is a seven-foot horsetail cascade that can vary in beauty by the amount of water flow there are spots where you will climb through rhododendrons before reaching Middle then Upper Kiner Falls. You will also notice a marker about here, so maybe they might make this an official trail? we will see.

You will know you are there when you reach the base of 30-foot Kiner Falls pouring over the cliff which is the end of the trail. As I have pointed out before this falls looks like a small Grotto Falls. Like it, you can walk behind Kiner Falls, but it can be tough in the Winter if it ices up. Oh, in dryer times it can be more of a trickle over the cliff than a falls

You can get another view of Kiner Falls by staying on the main trail back when you crossed the creek. It is about two-tenths of-a-mile climb where you will see a steep trail to the right. Be careful if you go down because you are 30 feet above Kiner Falls. You will notice before you get to this side trail another path down which you can use to get to the base of Kiner Falls. I would recommend going the lower trail on the other side of the creek as I described.

Anyway, the hike back is mostly the way you came, except you will go straight instead of going up the Overlook Trail. overall of this hiking clocks in just over three miles. Once back a trip down to the river is never a bad way to end the day at Laurel Run Park.

Waterfalls Of The Blue Ridge: The Cascades Of Margarette Falls

During this COVID-19 disruption, nothing makes a Wood Booger happier than more waterfalls. Margarette Falls is not just one of the best cascades in the northern section of the Cherokee National Forest, but one of my favorite Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge. However, if you know this area Margarette Falls is just the biggest one of six waterfalls.
There aren't many waterfalls that I have visited more. I have hiked it with snow in the Winter, wildflower lined in the Spring, the heat of Summer and with Autumn colors. I have been there twice (here & here) since Thanksgiving. One of the reasons is there is more to this hike than just the 60-footer. There are four on the mile-and-a-half to Margarette Falls and one on a manway above it.

The parking area for Margarette Falls is off Shelton Mission Road. It shares a trailhead with Phillips Hollow & Bullen Hollow Trails. While Margarette Falls is a popular hike there is plenty of room for parking. As you start up the trail you will notice that the trail is an old roadbed, which it once was as the half-mile segment has been added after an easement was obtained by the US Forest Service. So, be mindful of this on your way up.

This is an easy section which to get your legs under you. Just after the trail meets up with Dry Creek you will come to an information board. The reason it is here than at the trailhead is this was once the starting point of the hike. You will notice a trail that goes off to the left with a sign indicating that this is the Phillips Hollow Trail.

To the right is two signs for the Margarette Falls and Bullen Hollow Trails. These trails don't stay together long after a few yards the Margarette Falls Trail goes left. You will notice the blue diamond blazes, well this is fairly new as it uses to be rectangle blue blaze (you will find one on the way and others still under the diamond one in places). The uphill here is gradual, but in Winter and Spring might be wet. You will also find wildflowers through here when it starts to warm up. The West Fork of Dry Creek will be on your left until you reach a large footbridge at 0.8 miles. This is the half-way point of the trip up.

Once across the bridge the trail continues uphill but gets really, really rocky. Around the one-mile mark, you will see some waterfalls off the trail down to the right. There really isn't a trail to these twin cascades which I am calling Double Falls of Dry Creek. One is tiered falls and the other a plunge. While small they are definitely worth a look.

On up the creek, a hundred yards or less is a waterfall with a name...Mid-Point Falls. You can view this one from the trail or take the manway to the right down to the base. It is an 18-foot, punchbowl cascade, but be careful if you try to get a better look if the water is up you can get your feet wet. Back on the trail, it goes down steps and across the stone bridge and then up.

It is after this that you will reach the waterfall I call Split Falls. The reason, it splits over the rocks as it comes down. From here you come to a stream crossing at a spot I call Charlie's Hole. I call it this because when Glen and I have done this part with his Chocolate Lab Charlie, he loved getting in this water hole. When I took Bax up here he liked it too. As for the creek crossing in low water, it is an easy rock hope, but when the water is up the feet can get wet. The trail climbs up from the creek but then moves back towards it as it straightens out you will come to the cascade I named the Shute. The waterfall cuts through the rock as the water shutes through. The trail hits it steeps spot here which is made a bit tricky (especially on the way back down) by not one but two Springs running across and down the trail.

It is at this time you will see a huge monolith known as Cathedral Rock. If you look at it from the side it looks like a face. The other thing about Cathedral Rock is it means you are in the home stretch to Margarette Falls you can even hear it by this point. Before long you will come to what has been described, by Johnny Molloy, as an "amphitheater of rock and water which I can't disagree with. The water fans out and tumbles down sixty feet to a shallow pool below. There is a big flat rock that you can sit on, have a snack and enjoy the beauty of this falls. You will notice a faint trail up to the left. You can go up a little way for a different look, but it is best not to climb up on the falls. Remember it is 60 feet and people have fallen off.

It is here the "official" hike ends, but there is another waterfall on up known as Bailey Falls. You will see a manway that heads up to the right. Now, this hike is not for the novice. The first part of the trail up is short but steep...I mean really steep. As you come to a 10-foot rock wall there is a spot to get a view of Margarette Falls. Like on the left description be careful people have been hurt here. At the wall, you have a decision to make. You can go up and over the wall, there are handholds and it is what I did. Or you can take some extra time and go around. Either way, again, be careful.

Once on top, the trail flattens out a bit and turns right. There is a trail to the left with a view of the top of Margarette Falls. The faint trail heads down to a bend in the creek. Before crossing you will have to navigate some blowdown. It is then uphill and back across the creek again. You will kind of come to a junction. Right is a cascade called Glen Falls, this is not Bailey Falls you will go left and down. At this point, I need to mention something about this hike. When I did this it was early fall, in dry weather so I was able to rock hop and climb. So, if it is a time of high water there will be no way to avoid getting wet. So, it is probably best not to attempt this in cold weather.

After what seems like a good way you will reach a small gorge and set back at the end of it is Bailey Falls which plunges 20 feet to a large pool. It won't feel like it but this hike to this cascade from the bottom is just half-a-mile! After enjoying the falls head back the way you came.

Make sure to be careful heading back, especially at the rock wall and the final climb down. It is trickier on the way down. However, before you know it you are back the base of why you came Margarette Falls. To finish return the way you came. It is just over three miles round-trip to Margarette Falls and four if you add Bailey...