Hiking Catawba Falls
Blue Ridge Trip '24 #30
Old Fort, NC - Sat, 7 Sep 2024. 12pm
We got up and got going early today! We were rolling in our car by 8:45am. Partly that's because the hiking trek we'd picked for the day was an hour and 45 minutes away by car and was expected to be crowded by midday on a weekend. Sure enough, the parking lot was nearly full when we arrived at the Catawba Falls trailhead just before 10:30.
The trail along the Catawba River starts off easily at first, staying mostly flat for the first 1/2 mile or so. In the next half mile it starts sloping upwards. In this area we enjoyed a small falls just off the side of the trail. It was a good excuse to stop and catch our breath.
Above this the trail gets steep enough that the Forest Service recently built wooden stairs.
The stairs don't look that intimidating at first. At first. At least they lead to more falls!
The stairs also include a deck of sorts that leads out to the base of the falls. Then a short flight of steps drops down to the bare rock at the edge of the pool. It's a nice view up at the falls from here. Fortunately I was able to capture this picture just before a family of hicks put all their kids wearing nothing but diapers into the pool to splash around and climb on the rocks.
We headed back to the stairs and started climbing up alongside the falls. There were plenty of views to stop and appreciate along the way. At least here there are plenty of views. A bit further up.... Ooh, boy, it turns into quite a workout.
Update: The adventure continues! Keep reading in Up, Up, Up to Upper Catawba Falls.
Old Fort, NC - Sat, 7 Sep 2024. 12pm
We got up and got going early today! We were rolling in our car by 8:45am. Partly that's because the hiking trek we'd picked for the day was an hour and 45 minutes away by car and was expected to be crowded by midday on a weekend. Sure enough, the parking lot was nearly full when we arrived at the Catawba Falls trailhead just before 10:30.
The trail along the Catawba River starts off easily at first, staying mostly flat for the first 1/2 mile or so. In the next half mile it starts sloping upwards. In this area we enjoyed a small falls just off the side of the trail. It was a good excuse to stop and catch our breath.
Above this the trail gets steep enough that the Forest Service recently built wooden stairs.
The stairs don't look that intimidating at first. At first. At least they lead to more falls!
The stairs also include a deck of sorts that leads out to the base of the falls. Then a short flight of steps drops down to the bare rock at the edge of the pool. It's a nice view up at the falls from here. Fortunately I was able to capture this picture just before a family of hicks put all their kids wearing nothing but diapers into the pool to splash around and climb on the rocks.
We headed back to the stairs and started climbing up alongside the falls. There were plenty of views to stop and appreciate along the way. At least here there are plenty of views. A bit further up.... Ooh, boy, it turns into quite a workout.
Update: The adventure continues! Keep reading in Up, Up, Up to Upper Catawba Falls.