Autumn on the Cherohala Skyway

With the grand opening of the Foothills Parkway this past weekend there is yet another scenic drive in the southeast with grand vistas of the Appalachian Mountains. While a return visit to the Foothills Parkway to see the 10 bridges of the “Missing Link” is in the works, we opted to let the initial excitement die down and instead headed to another destination about 3 hours from Greenville for our annual autumn color trip – The Cherohala Skyway.

The Cherohala Skyway is a 40-mile National Scenic Byway and National Forest Scenic Byway that connects Tellico Plains, TN, to Robbinsville, NC. The name Cherohala is a combination of Cherokee and Nantahala, the two national forests through which it passes, and the skyway provides access to those as well as the Citico Creek Wilderness, the Bald River Gorge Wilderness, and the remote interior of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.

Fishing Indian Boundary Lake

Start your trip on the west end in Tellico Plains, mainly because the Visitor Center is located on that end.* Grab maps, updates on fall color, weather information or a souvenir before heading on. Expert tip: stop at the Tellico Grains Bakery and pick up croissants/scones for breakfast, as well as a loaf of bread for lunch. 

Tellico Grains Bakery

The first pull off is about three miles in, with a view of Tellico River, and the next (Oosterneck Creek, just 1 mile further) also serves as a boating takeout. Just afterwards is the turn for River Road, which winds along the Tellico River to multiple campgrounds and picnic areas. Be sure to take the 6-mile detour on River Road to Bald River Falls, a 100 foot waterfall that is easily viewed from the road. The Bald River and 3,721 acres of its watershed are part of the Bald River Gorge Wilderness, designated as a wilderness area by the US Forest Service.

Bald River Falls

Having returned to the Skyway, continue east. At about 13 miles in take a left on Forest Service Road 345 to Indian Boundary Campground. With 100 campsites, picnic areas, swimming, biking, fishing and hiking, this detour is worth it. There is a 3.2 mile trail that loops the lake, and the views of the mountains over the lake are breathtaking. Check ahead if planning to camp – reservations are advised during the busy season and the campground closes for winter.

The shores of Indian Boundary Lake

The skyway gains a total of over 4,000 feet in elevation over its 40 miles, climbing from a low point of just under 900 feet at Tellico Plains to a high point of over 5,400 feet near the TN-NC state line. The first overlook with an elevated view is Turkey Creek (15 miles in, elevation 2,630 ft), looking out over the Tennessee River Valley, although once you’ve hit 3,000 feet in elevation the pull-offs start coming a little closer together. Lake View (17.2 miles in, elevation 3,360ft) has a narrow view of Indian Boundary Lake, while Eagle Gap ( 17.9 miles @ 3,600ft) and Grassy Gap (19.3 miles @ 3,400 ft) offer trail access to Flats Mountain, Grassy Branch and McNabb Creek trails. At 20 miles (and 3,750ft) is the Brushy Ridge pull-off, overlooking Sassafras Ridge. The West Rattlesnake Rock Trailhead is soon followed by East Rattlesnake Rock, 4,000 and 4,110 feet, respectively. The 2.2 mile Falls Branch trail leaves from the West Rattlesnake Rock parking area and leads to a 70-foot waterfall in the Citico Creek Wilderness.

View from Unicoi Crest

At Beech Gap (4,480ft) you’ll cross into North Carolina, and the Unicoi Crest pull-off at 23 miles also sits right along the border. After crossing Old Santeetlah Road (which follows Santeetlah Creek all the way down to Santeetlah Gap) you’ll reach Stratton Ridge, an excellent place to stop: for the views, for the restrooms, for the picnic tables. We pulled out the fresh loaf of bread and our cooler, and enjoyed lunch at 4,420 feet in elevation.

The next pull-off is Mud Gap, trailhead for the Benton Mackaye Trail (BMT). The BMT begins at Springer Mountain, GA along with the Appalachian Trail, then loops west through Cherokee National Forest to rejoin the AT at Davenport Gap on the east end of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 275 miles long, it is named for the man who proposed the creation of the Appalachian Trail. At this trailhead you are actually standing on the TN/NC state line; the trail, state line and the Cherohala roughly parallel one another bearing north, while following the BMT southwest will take you to Whigg Meadow in 1.5 miles (and Springer Mountain in 160 miles). Formerly home to a shepherd’s cabin, there is a small pond tucked into the back side of the hill.

On the Benton Mackaye Trail

The next overlook is Whigg Cove at 4,570 feet, and the Skyway keeps climbing to Haw Knob (4,890ft), Big Junction (5,240ft) and finally Santeetlah (5,390ft), the highest overlook along the Skyway. At the Hooper Bald trailhead a ¼ mile hike leads to Hooper Bald and the site of the old hunting preserve created in 1908 by George Moore. Although no trace of the lodge remains today, this is a nice, easy hike, especially gorgeous in the spring when the native Flame azaleas are blooming.

Returning from Hooper Bald

Our favorite hike along the Cherohala Skyway starts from the Huckleberry parking area, an easy there-and-back, 2.5 mile round-trip trail to Huckleberry Knob. While Santeetlah is the highest overlook on the Cherohala, Huckleberry Knob is the highest point in the Cheoah Ranger District of the Nantahala. At 5,560 feet the panorama includes the Skyway heading into Tennessee, and a view back over the way you came and Oak Knob. The grassy knobs are maintained by mowing once a year, and in the summer clover, buttercups and blueberries dot the green expanse. A large cross on Huckleberry Knob marks a grave of one of two men who died on their way to Robbinsville from a Tellico Creek logging camp in 1899.

Up on Huckleberry Knob

The next overlook is Spirit Ridge, 32 miles into the journey. A short trail that is accessible for the physically challenged leads to an overlook. The Wright Cove pull-off has another short trail, although this one is more challenging as it drops down into the dense forest. Popular in the spring for the wildflower showing, the loop trail totals about ½ mile.

Hiking Spirit Ridge

After Wright Cove the Cherohala drops below 4,000 feet, and the last three overlooks pull-offs are Obadiah, Shute Cove and Hooper Cove. Shute Cove has a wooden platform with views looking north across the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area, and Hooper Cove has picnic tables in a nice, sheltered area with a view into the Santeetlah Creek drainage.

On the Wright Creek loop trail

Then just as suddenly as you found yourself at the top of the world you round a bend to find a pull-off with an info kiosk and an intersection signaling the terminus of the Cherohala Skyway. Old Santeetlah Road rejoins 143 at this point, and a road leads off to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and Rattler Ford & Horse Cove campgrounds. It is possible to circle Lake Santeetlah to the north to reach Highway 129 by heading north, while continuing on 143 will take along the south shore to Robbinsville.

Cherohala Skyway Visitor Center bear pen

There is plenty in the area to help make this into a longer trip: to the east Fort Loudoun State Historic Park, The Lost Sea, Unicoi Turnpike Trail and various Civil War Trail sites, while to the west are Fontana Dam and thousands of acres of State, National Forest & National Park lands. Get in touch with the knowledgeable folks at the Cherohala Skyway Visitor Center and check out the official Skyway website; this will build a soild foundation to begin exploring what is one of the wildest, most remote wildernesses left in the southeast.

* Note that while my mileages and descriptions are starting on the west end in TN, the Skyway mileposts begin at Lake Santeetlah and in fact run east to west.

Tail of the Dragon

On our return trip from Sweetwater TN we elected to take the more direct route back to Upstate SC, one that would add a couple of hours to our travel time but take us straight through the mountains. With Nantahala National Forest on one side and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the other, our course would hug the Little Tennessee River and the shores of the lakes created by multiple dams for the duration. The river flows through six impoundments in total: Fontana Dam, Cheoah Dam, Calderwood Dam, Chilhowee Dam, Tellico Dam and Porters Bend Dam. Tellico Dam is actually further west from our start point (see my post on Fort Loudoun), and Porters Bend is closer to the headwaters of the Little Tennessee, but Chilhowee Lake is at the intersection of US 129 and the Foothills Parkway, and from there we passed the rest of the dams on our way east towards Fontana.

This section of road heading to the TN/NC border & Deals Gap twists and snakes its way up in elevation, the curves popular with motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts who flock to the region for the 318 curves encompassed in a mere 11 miles. Named “The Dragon” or "Tail of the Dragon" (for its supposed resemblance to a dragon’s tail), the curves have names like Copperhead Corner, Hog Pen Bend, Wheelie Hell, Gravity Cavity, Beginner's End, and Brake or Bust Bend.

My first visit to the Tail of the Dragon was on a UIUC ecology trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I don’t remember if I was behind the wheel of the 8-person passenger van, but I do remember the emergency stop we made when someone (not me!) became carsick… If you can believe it, the speed limit on the Dragon used to be 55 mph; in 2005 it was lowered to 30 mph due to the increased amount of emergency calls stemming from frequent motorcycle accidents. 

0.7 miles south of the gap (and the state line) is the community of Deals Gap, located at the intersection of US 129 and NC 28. From here we followed NC 28 along Cheoah Lake to continue east, while 129 cuts south to Robbinsville*. Despite the fact that we had been driving the southern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park almost the whole way from the Foothills Parkway, the only Park Service facilities on this end of the Park are the 20 Mile Ranger Station and Twentymile Trail Trailhead, about halfway between Deals Gap and Fontana. However, don’t expect too much in the way of facilities; it’s really only a jumping-off point to the trails on this end of the park. One popular destination is Twentymile Cascade, a 1.25 mile roundtrip, although the Twentymile loop trail will take you on an eight mile hike from the trailhead.

stretching our legs at Twentymile

Just a little further is the Lewellyn Branch lake access point on Cheoah Lake. A result of a partnership between NC Wildlife Resources Commission and Alcoa Power, the boat ramp and pier are open to the public. Not only a great spot for fishing and boating, Cheoah Lake is also a spot to do some sightseeing; Cheoah Dam was the location of the scene in the 1993 movie “The Fugitive” where Kimble jumps from the dam to escape his pursuers…

About 23 miles from our starting point on the Foothills Parkway we finally reached our next destination. There, just before NC 28 crosses over the Little Tennessee, a road splits off to the left, leading to the bottom of the highest dam east of the Rocky Mountains – the TVA Fontana Dam. We skipped the view from the bottom this time in favor of more time on top, but that's a story for next time...

*Another route from Sweetwater back to SC would have been to take the Cherohala Skyway, the National Scenic Byway that crosses through the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests connecting Tellico Plains TN with Robbinsville NC. Over forty miles long, it runs roughly parallel to the route we took; however it can easily be accessed from Deals Gap by continuing on US 129 south instead of east on NC 28…

Look Rock and the Foothills Parkway

The Foothills Parkway might be the least well-known of the ten National Parkways that include popular drives such as the Blue Ridge and the Colonial Parkway; probably because it’s the only one of the congressionally mandated parkways that remains unfinished! When completed, the 72-mile parkway will connect US Route 129 and the Little Tennessee River on the west end with I-40 and the Pigeon River in the east, winding through the northern foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains for its entirety.

Authorized in 1944, about 22.5 miles are complete and open to the public, crossing a series of high ridges with views of Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the south and the Tennessee Valley to the north. The longest section is the 16.5 mile segment on the west end that connects US 129 with the town of Walland. Another 6 mile section connects US 321 in Cosby to I-40 in Pigeon River valley, and on the east end the Gatlinburg Bypass links the north end of Gatlinburg with the Great Smoky Mountains Parkway.

On our return trip from Sweetwater TN we elected to take the more direct route back to Upstate SC, one that would add a couple of hours to our travel time but take us on a more direct path home, cutting between Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Nantahala National Forest. This course took us to the western terminus of the Foothills Parkway on the Little Tennessee River.

Look Rock tower

It is 11 miles from US 129 to Look Rock, the highest point on the Parkway that has 360-degree panoramic views of the mountains. Look Rock features a picnic area and a campground, but the highlight is the observation tower. From the south Look Rock parking lot (Southwest Parking #6) the ½ mile trail crosses the road and then gains altitude as it scales the ridge. Just before reaching the concrete tower hikers pass the air quality monitoring station which (I believe) is where the Look Rock webcam is located. Note that the enclosed portion of the tower is not open to the public

There is a natural ledge on the south end of the parking lot that does not require hiking, but it only offers views in one direction. Still, it will give you a good idea of visibility at the tower, which due to pollution (and on our visit, rain) can be rather severely impacted at this high altitude. On a clear day you can easily see Mt. LeConte and Clingmans Dome (29 and 26 miles away, respectively), and possibly Mt. Guyot (40 miles away). Cades Cove is only 8 miles away, although to reach it takes over an hour (and a 30+mile drive) around through Walland and Townsend.

View south from parking lot

An additional portion of the parkway is scheduled for completion this June; the Walland to Wear's Valley section that will add another 16.1 miles. Under construction since the 1960s, structural fill failures and environmental/erosion concerns have plagued the project since the very beginning. Construction was halted in the 1980s with just a 1.65 mile segment remaining unfinished; nine bridges were required to span the series of steep ravines in it, and the ‘missing link’ as it came to be called is finally nearing completion. As for the rest of the Parkway, Park officials say that the last three segments have not even entered the planning phase.

There are multiple other pull-offs that showcase the grandeur of the foothills along the west end of the parkway, every view seemingly better than the last. Similar to Skyline Drive or the Blue Ridge Parkway, each season brings something new to the view - in autumn this is a far less-crowded route to see spectacular fall foliage. On this particular trip the spring buds and blooms were not yet visible, but without leaves on the trees the views were less obstructed. Reluctantly we retraced our steps back to the Little Tennessee River and highway 129, with the curviest section of our journey still ahead; to reach North Carolina we would have to traverse The Dragon…

Lost Sea of Craighead Caverns

Spelunking, boating, waterfalls, campouts... all fun trips with the family. But what if I said one destination had all of these things!? In the middle of a mountain in east Tennessee is a lake so enormous as to merit the title of America’s largest underground lake in the Guinness Book of World Records. The 4.5 acre Lost Sea is part of an extensive cave system called Craighead Caverns, located near Sweetwater, TN in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. (The largest underground, non-subglacial lake in the world is Dragon's Breath Cave in Namibia, 4.9 acres in size.)

The caverns are named for their former owner, Cherokee Chief Craighead. In the “Council Room,” almost a mile from the entrance, a wide range of Indian artifacts have been found, indicating the cave was long used by the Cherokee for habitation and as a meeting place.

Starting with the 1820s, the first white settlers in the Tennessee Valley used the cave for storing potatoes and other vegetables, since the underground temperature is a cool 58° year-round. In subsequent years the cave was utilized by Confederate soldiers, who mined the cave for the saltpeter needed to manufacture gunpowder.

the descent underground

The Lost Sea was discovered in 1905 by a thirteen-year-old boy named Ben Sands. The water level of the lake fluctuates depending on precipitation, and by the time Ben had convinced his father to return to explore his discovery further, the water level had risen and concealed the entrance; local explorers only rediscovered it several years later. Today the lake is stocked with rainbow trout, and although fishing is not allowed, visitors can take a ride on the lake on one of four boats powered by electric motors.

In 1939, off-duty cave guides found the bones of a Pleistocene jaguar. A portion of the remains are now on display in the American Museum of Natural History in New York, while others (and plaster casts of the cat’s tracks) can be viewed at the visitor center. Around this time a mushroom farm was operating near the Historic Entrance in the “Big Room,” and it was in 1947 that the nightclub “Cavern Tavern” operated underground, complete with dance floor. It didn’t seem surprising to hear the cave had also long been used for moonshining and cockfights.

a few of the crawling tour options...

In the 1970s cave divers explored the Lost Sea and discovered several additional rooms that are completely filled with water, totaling more than 13 acres. The full extent of the underground sea has yet to be fully explored.

my spelunker!

In addition to historical relics, the caverns also contain stalactites, stalagmites and a waterfall. However, it’s the presence of cave flowers, rare crystalline structures called anthodites, which resulted in Craighead Caverns being added to the National Park Service list of National Natural Landmarks in 1974. According to the Lost Sea website, Craighead contains 50% of the world’s known formations of anthodites.

sleeping arrangements!

Want to explore the cave for yourself? Various tour packages are available (see website for details), ranging from an hour-long visit of the lake and main rooms, to an overnight “Wild Cave Tour” adventure that includes a cavern tour, various crawling tours in the undeveloped section of the cave, a boat ride on the Lost Sea and an overnight sleepover; this is the option that gets our vote! Roberts and Lauris emerged into the early morning fog absolutely covered in mud, tired from their adventure but with grins on their faces and quite a few stories to tell… It has already been decided that they won’t get to hog all the fun next time!

Thanks to Roberts for use of his photographs!

A night in Cataloochee Valley

Cataloochee Valley from the overlook

There are two ways into Cataloochee Valley. The first and most direct route involves about 11 miles of winding mountain roads, 3 of which are gravel. A second, more scenic route is to take highway Route 32 (the Old Cataloochee Turnpike) from Cosby, TN, a good 14 miles of gravel road. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is about 520,000 acres, but the mileage to reach this eastern vestige of the Park that is daunting: 65 miles from Gatlinburg and 39 from Cherokee. However, I had booked the last available campsite at the primitive campground for that evening, and so it was all in as we turned off Interstate 40 near the TN/NC border and headed into the mountains.

We opened the sunroof to let the filtered autumn light in, rolled the windows down to breathe in the cool mountain air, and crossed our fingers that the noise coming from the rear driver’s side wouldn’t get any worse. The ‘turnpike’ is a marvel in road-building, what was originally a livestock trade route was completed in 1860 just in time for the Union Army to move into North Carolina from Tennessee during the Civil War. The road immediately turned into gravel, and as we wound our way up into the mountains from Jonathon Valley we passed a few homes and driveways. Later, nothing but endless forest - other than the two (probably) locals in their pickups who barreled down that one-lane road without guardrails with only a curious glance at the out of state sedan just moseying on along. Then down we went, twisting and turning on our descent into the valley, finally coming to a large bridge over Cataloochee Creek and the hydrologic bench-mark streamflow station operated by the US Geological Survey. Boards rattling as we pulled across, we were in the home stretch; a few more miles and we crossed back over the creek to enter the meadows.

Cataloochee Valley is nestled among 6000-foot peaks, an isolated area that used to have one of the largest and most prosperous settlements in what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cherokee hunted and fished in the valley, naming the area “Gadalutsi” (meaning standing up in a row), but white settlers pushed into the valley in the early 1800s. In 1910 there were 1,200 residents, and although they were amazed when rumors surfaced that the government would buy the land to form the Park, by 1938 all but a few families had moved on. The history of these former residents of the Valley can be explored in the preserved school, churches, barn, and several homes in the valley.

Viewing wildlife in the Smokies can be challenging because of the dense forest cover, which is why areas like Cades Cove attract so many visitors; the open meadows provide some of the best opportunities to see deer, elk, bear and turkey. As many animals are most active at night, often it is during the early morning and late evening when they can be seen – and we weren’t disappointed as we made our entrance in the waning light.

In the spring of 2001 the National Park Service released 25 elk in the Park. Originally roaming over much of the eastern United States, elk were eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. Another two dozen elk were released in 2002, and today an estimated 150 to 200 animals residing in GSMNP. The majority live in Cataloochee Valley, although in recent years a satellite herd has appeared on Balsam Mountain and a group of about 20 elk have taken up residence near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

By camping in the Valley we were able to enjoy prime wildlife-viewing time without having to drive the narrow mountain roads at dark or attempt to make the trip in the early morning hours. The campground was ideal for car camping, with 27 sites open mid-March through October for tents or RVs up to 31 feet (group camping is also available by advance reservation). We set up our tents, cooked up some chili for dinner, and topped it off with hot chocolate and s’mores before crawling into our sleeping bags and settling in for the night.

The next morning we proceeded down the Cataloochee Entrance Rd to the main meadows. White-tailed deer and wild turkey were grazing in the distance, and while we were speaking to a pair of volunteers (that had a portable wildlife lab in their vehicle!), an elk bugled off in the distance.

The morning was spent exploring the historical structures and enjoying the colorful show of foliage. Five historic buildings are located along the road in the valley, and other buildings can be reached from the 6-mile Little Cataloochee Trail. Make sure to pick up the Self-guiding Auto Tour booklet at one of the visitors centers; it provides brief histories of each structure as well as a map and interesting background information on the area.

It wasn’t long until the valley started filling up with visitors who had made the trip that morning from Maggie Valley or Cherokee. We decided to let them have a turn, and packed up for our trip out of the valley… this time a mere 10 miles on the ‘short’ route to the interstate!

One final stop; the overlook near the intersection with Big Creek Rd. is worth the stop (the first picture in this post is taken from the lookout). A little path leads to a higher point that allows for an unimpeded view of the valley and mountain peaks surrounding it, and if you’ve lucked out to be there on a beautiful fall day – well, it’s enough to make you wish you had a week’s reservation at the campground instead of a day!

Behind Grotto Falls

After the mountain vistas and high peaks of the previous day, I wanted to show the boys a different side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park; one of moist hardwood coves, abundant animal life, towering trees and fragrant forests that in my mind embody this National Park. The timing of our visit coincided with prime leaf-peeping in the region, and despite the draw of the unique historical and biological value of nearby Cades Cove, I knew that it would be bumper-to-bumper traffic, overflowing pull-offs and very little, if any wildlife sightings – which is why I turned my attention to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

Similar to Cades Cove only in that it’s a loop, the one-way Roaring Fork passes through rhododendron thickets and dense hardwood forests as it follows the old roadbed of the Roaring Fork community. To reach it, visitors must drive through Gatlinburg and then a short distance on Cherokee Orchard Rd, through what once was an 800-acre commercial orchard in the early 1900s. It was here that we saw our first bear; traffic had slowed to near stop despite the ranger waving everyone on. Not long after we spotted a wild turkey, of which we would see a lot of on this trip! After 3.6 miles we made the right turn onto Roaring Fork, where a tour booklet can be purchased from the kiosk for a small fee.

Built by hand, the road is narrow and serpentine, winding through the forest connecting the homesteads of about 25 families that lived in the area. Many had running water thanks to a series of troughs which can still be seen today, such as at the Alfred Regan Cabin. Proximity to the river and various tributaries also means fantastic natural geographic features; there are three major waterfalls within easy hiking distance of the Motor Trail. Rainbow Falls is a strenuous 5.4 miles to an 80-foot waterfall that is very popular due to the heavy mist that surrounds it, the Baskins Falls trail (3.2 miles) leads to a 30-foot waterfall, and a 2.6 mile hike will bring you to Grotto Falls.

We chose Grotto Falls as our destination, partly for the shorter distance, and partly due to it being rated moderate (it has an elevation gain of 585ft as opposed to 1,700ft on Rainbow Falls and 950ft for Baskins). Then there's the trees; although the old-growth hemlock forest is suffering the effects of the balsam woody adelgid, there are still enormous hemlocks to be seen. However the clincher was the grotto; the trail actually passes behind the 25ft waterfall!

The trail is packed hard with years of use, not only by people headed to the waterfall, Brushy Mountain and LeConte Lodge, but also by llamas! As the resupply route for the lodge, it is the trail that the llama train uses to carry supplies up the mountain. The llamas leave very early in the morning, and so our chances of catching them on the way up were slim to none. But in order to get a parking spot we headed out sooner than later, and so they hadn’t started their return trip yet (it’s my understanding that they usually return sometime in the afternoon). We had to settle for llama poop and checking out the llama trailer…

This is far from a secret hike, and is actually one of the most popular hikes on this side of the park; therefore it was not surprising that we arrived to a crowd at the waterfall. As the kids were still fresh we decided to keep climbing, hoping to reach the intersection of Trillium Gap and Brushy Mountain trail (3+ miles from the trailhead), where I’ve heard the views are pretty fantastic. However after about another mile we got our fill of views and elevation gain, and instead headed back down to linger at the falls.

Although there was still a crowd, it wasn’t quite as obnoxious as when we were on our way up. We let the boys play in Roaring Fork, and were rewarded with several salamander sightings including what might have been a hellbender judging by its size. 

A salamander (but not the hellbender), a millipede and a brown squirrel

Not only a haven for amphibians, the perpetual mist makes it ideal habitat for wildflowers such as white and yellow trillium in the spring, hence the name Trillium Gap.

source: here

Know before you go: The roundtrip distance to the waterfall is 2.6 miles and the hike is generally considered moderate in difficulty. It takes about 2-3 hours to hike to the waterfall and back so carry drinking water with you. Pets and bicycles are prohibited on the trail, and black bears are regularly seen in the area. Do not climb on rocks around the waterfall; people have fallen to their deaths and suffered serious injuries! Not only are you risking life & limb and causing erosion of sensitive habitat on your way to the top, but you are ruining other people’s photos for that selfie – and there’s nothing to be seen at the top! Finally, make sure to stop at the roadside Thousand Drips Falls near the exit of the Motor Trail; after a rain it’s a great cascade plummeting down the mountain, but even in drier weather it is still a sight to behold.

Once back at the car we continued on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and found a quieter spot to enjoy a picnic lunch. The boys spent an hour splashing in the cool mountain water before we packed up the car and headed east into the mountains, where more adventures awaited.

A boy finds his first salamander