Length: Three days, Friday through SundayCrew: Two adults, three Scouts
Trip Sheet
Pictures
Day 1
The group drove in one car from Chapel Hill to the Wilson Creek Visitors Center, but found it was not open yet. We continued up to FR 464 to try to enter the Harper Creek area from the north side, but the FR 464 was blocked by a landside. So we had to backtrack to the Harper Creek trailhead on Brown Mountain Road. The car was parked on the road by the trailhead and we hiked in. Lunch was at the campsite near the confluence of Hunter Camp Creek and Harper Creek, where the Mountains-to-Sea trail changes from the Hunter Camp Creek Trail to the Harper Creek Trail. We took the deadend trail to Harper Creek Falls by mistake, had to backtrack to where the main trail turned uphill. The falls were worth the visit, but we should have dropped the packs at the trail split. After a somewhat treacherous trail over the falls area, we found an excelled campsite with a firepit and benches on a rise overlooking the trail, the creek and some waterfalls.
Day 2We left the campsite with dayhike packs and continued up Harper Creek Trail with the intention of having lunch at the South Harper Creek Falls and then deciding whether to come back down by backtracking on the Harper Creek Trail, taking Hunter Camp Creek Trail, which is a little longer, but has more ridge hiking and less creek hiking or by Persimmon Ridge, which is much longer with more ridge hiking.
It took twice as long to get to South Harper Creek Falls as expected. There were three major creek crossings (where you had to wade through current) before branch off for the Persimmon Ridge Trail, and many ( we stopped counting after six ) more major creek crossings before we got to the Harpers Creek gorge. We did see a beaver dam, freshly built from mountain laurel and met some fishermen at the last major creek crossing before the gorge.
The climb up the gorge to South Harper Creek Falls is very steep, but well worth the visit. We had lunch on a huge rock ledge, which the waterfall crossed after coming down a fifty foot drop and before dropping another hundred foot drop. It is spectacular. The total drop of the falls is two hundred feet. Above the falls, there is another major creek crossing and a climb through a poorly marked set of trails up to a campsite with a beautiful overlook of the falls and the gorge.
From the top of the mountain, we took the Hunter Camp Creek Trail, because it is obvious that there would be many fewer creek crossing and an easier trail. It turned out to be much easier than we expected. There is one major creek crossing just before the intersection with Harper Creek Trail, where we had lunch the day before. After a short revisit to Harper Creek Falls, we rehiked the short trail to the campsite.
Day 3It took twice as long to get to South Harper Creek Falls as expected. There were three major creek crossings (where you had to wade through current) before branch off for the Persimmon Ridge Trail, and many ( we stopped counting after six ) more major creek crossings before we got to the Harpers Creek gorge. We did see a beaver dam, freshly built from mountain laurel and met some fishermen at the last major creek crossing before the gorge.
The climb up the gorge to South Harper Creek Falls is very steep, but well worth the visit. We had lunch on a huge rock ledge, which the waterfall crossed after coming down a fifty foot drop and before dropping another hundred foot drop. It is spectacular. The total drop of the falls is two hundred feet. Above the falls, there is another major creek crossing and a climb through a poorly marked set of trails up to a campsite with a beautiful overlook of the falls and the gorge.
From the top of the mountain, we took the Hunter Camp Creek Trail, because it is obvious that there would be many fewer creek crossing and an easier trail. It turned out to be much easier than we expected. There is one major creek crossing just before the intersection with Harper Creek Trail, where we had lunch the day before. After a short revisit to Harper Creek Falls, we rehiked the short trail to the campsite.
We hiked back to the car, which was covered with road dust, had lunch at the Visitors Center and drove home. At the visitors center, we asked about leaving cars at the parking lot. They said to let the center know if we were leaving cars overnight. The phone number for the Visitor Center is 828-759-0005.
