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| Episode One - Carter Creek Falls |
In this episode we first went to Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway,
located 17 miles north of the Oteen entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway on Highway 70. The trail
to Craggy Pinnacle is located in the parking area just past the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center
at the Craggy Dome Overlook. It is a moderate 1.4 mile round trip hike. Springs are located
about half way up the trail. From the top of Craggy, one can see the Burnett Reservoir in the
Asheville Watershed, the Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Pisgah, Mount Mitchell, parts of Asheville,
and the Blue Ridge Mountain range, including Greybeard Mountain. On a clear day it is a spectacular
360 degree view.
One can reach the trail to Douglas Falls from the left end of the parking lot at the Visitor
Center in Craggy Gardens. Starting out as the Craggy Gardens nature trail, it soon turns right
onto the Mountains To The Sea trail. Not much further is the intersection for the Douglas Falls
trail. It is a steep and rugged trail with a lot of downfall. This is a strenuous 6 mile round
trip hike with a 1300 feet elevation gain through old growth and virgin hemlock forest with
some small waterfalls along the way.
We left the Craggy Dome overlook and proceeded south approximately 3.5 miles to the Craggy Gardens
picnic area entrance, turning right from the parkway. Just 0.3 mile later we came to the intersection
of FS 63 and went down to Dillingham 11 miles away. Turning right, the paved road soon turned
to gravel and is called FS 74. Staying on this road for 10 miles we reached the parking area
for Carter Creek or Douglas Falls.
Along the way, we toured Corner Rock, a camp rock, located about 3.3 miles from the Dillingham
intersection. There is no sign here but it is located near a sharp curve crossing a creek with
limited parking on the left. There is no mistaking Rattlesnake |
Den. The road has barely enough room to negotiate between the high cliffs on your left and the
steep drop on the right. Walker Falls are less than 0.5 mile from this point and are next to
the road on your left.
The hike to Douglas Falls is an easy gentle descent through old growth hemlocks which are unfortunately
infested now with the Woolly Adelgid, as most of our native hemlocks are. The falls are about
70 feet in height and you can walk in behind the falls. It is slick in many areas around the
base of the falls so watch your footing. The trail to Craggy is located to the left of the falls.
This trailhead is also accessed more quickly from Asheville by taking Route 19-23 north for
11 miles to the exit for Jupiter/Barnardsville. Turning right from the exit, go 6 miles to the
town of Barnardsville, then take a right on Dillingham Road and in another 6 miles you will
be on FS 74.
No doubt there is some driving involved for this trip but it is worth every bit of the drive
to be able to enter into a virgin forest and see spectacular scenery. |
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