Flat Laurel Creek Cascades
Jun. 10th, 2023 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flyminion
Today, I finally got to tackle the waterfalls of Flat Laurel Creek, which has been up there on my wish list since the third edition of Kevin Adams’ North Carolina Waterfalls book came out in 2016. This is a stretch of creek that loses about 800 feet of elevation in a series of cascades and waterfalls over three quarters of a mile. I wasn’t sure if there would be any swimming holes, but it seemed like the creek walk would be worthwhile regardless. Also, there are a couple of roadside attractions in the immediate vicinity (Bubbling Spring Branch Cascades, Sunburst Falls on the West Fork Pigeon River), and I knew that the former had a swimming hole. I was curious to see if Sunburst Falls did as well.The main obstacle for the Flat Laurel Creek walk is that it’s a thru-hike where you leave a vehicle at each end of the trailhead (otherwise you have to backtrack through the creek down hundreds of feet of cascades), so I needed a second person who was both willing and able to do this type of hike. My friend, Chris (who did Cave Falls with me last summer) was up for it, so we planned to do it today since the forecast was cloudless and bone-dry.
I met up with Chris in Chandler, and we drove to the Flat Laurel Creek area in separate cars. I left mine at a pullout across the road from the upper trailhead (the dirt road leading into it was a little rough), and we left Chris’ car at the lower trailhead. The pullout by the bridge of the West Fork Pigeon River was small, but there were no other cars there at that time. We followed a trail from the pullout a short distance upstream along the river and came to a campsite. We weren’t sure if the creek running behind it was still the West Fork Pigeon River, or if this was Flat Laurel Creek. The rhododendrons were too thick to see where the confluence was. We could see a scramble path leading upstream, but Kevin Adams warns that most apparent trails lead away from the creek and bypass the waterfalls. The faint trail seemed to be doing that, so we returned to the campsite and opted to just creek walk.
We quickly started gaining elevation, but the creek was making its way down in small bouldery cascades of five feet or less. It took a little while before the legit cascades started. The first actual cascade wasn’t very high (maybe 10 feet) and slid into a small pool, but it wasn’t big enough to be a legit swimming hole.
We then ascended a straight stretch where the creek tumbled through a boulder pile.
At the top of this was the second cascade. It was a slide of about 12 feet into a pool that looked about six feet deep.
The low-flow side of the cascade on the river-right looked like it would be a fun slide, but it was textured and didn’t feel as slick as it looked when I ran my foot over it, so I didn’t try it.
The third cascade was where keeping track of how many there were got a bit subjective. It could either be three small cascades or one continuous cascade depending on how much of an interruption between the drops would be required to distinguish them. I’m just considering all of them together as one cascade. The bottom drop was about 6-8 feet into a small pool.
The middle drop was a zig-zagging slide against a sloping cliff on the river-right.
The top drop started off with a vertical drop of about 10 feet, and then a series of slides and small drops through a mess of boulders (similar to Hebron Falls on Boone Fork).
Chris picked a choice boulder near the top of this cascade to stop and eat his lunch while I took photos and videos. I also took the water temperature, and it was 52 °F. I knew it felt cold, but I was surprised it was that cold. I did take the temperature in a shaded spot, though.
Between the third and fourth cascades was another stairway of boulders.
I don’t really have much to say about the fourth cascade, although I did take a lot of pictures and videos as we surmounted it.
It was the tallest cascade we had encountered so far. It had a slide laden with fallen rhododendron flowers at the top.
The fifth cascade was about 15-20 feet high and had a small pool at its base that may have been deep enough to immerse oneself, but it wasn't big enough to be a legit swimming hole.
The sixth cascade also had a small pool at the base that may have been deep enough to be over my head in one small area.
The next two drops above this one were so close that I’ll consider them part of the sixth cascade.
The seventh cascade was easily the highlight of the day. It was a steep waterfall of about 30 feet that had a legit swimming hole at its base, and a large boulder overlooking the pool.
There were two guys sunning themselves on the boulder, and they asked if we had come up from the bottom, and we said yes. They had come from the top, so I asked if there were any better swimming holes upstream. They said this was the best one they had seen, which meant I was going to have to get in. The air temperature was probably in the upper 60s with a gentle breeze, but it was completely sunny with no clouds, so I decided I would swim across the pool once.
The water felt like it was possibly a little "warmer" than 52 here, but definitely not above 60. I wanted to look under the water to see how deep it was, but I didn’t want to get brain-freeze. We chilled by the side of the pool for a little while, and I finally found a place I could stand on the slippery bedrock to look under without fully immersing myself. It looked maybe 9-10 feet deep in the middle of the pool. I swam across once more, and then we went up to the boulder where the two guys had been sitting (they had moved downstream by now). The height of the boulder was about 15-20 feet. We had asked them if anyone jumped from here, but they said they wouldn’t do it due to the remoteness. It looked like you might be able to pull it off if you landed in exactly the right spot, but you’d probably break a leg if you missed. If you jumped too far, you’d hit a boulder in the middle of the pool, but not far enough and you’d hit the rock slab that the waterfall tumbled down.
The cascades were so continuous after this one that I gave up on trying to count them at the time. I guess this was #8, or the top tier of 7, since there was only a small ledge separating them (I’ll just say 8, since 7 was cool enough to be distinguished from the others):
Just above the top of 8, the creek flowed over the exposed granite bedrock in a series of small cascades.
One of the small cascades had a cool yellow rock pool.
Just beyond this was cascade 9.
It looked slippery, so we took a scramble trail back up to the main trail and followed it to where it met Flat Laurel Creek at the top of the cascade area. We worked our way back downstream to the top of cascade 9.
Here is a video of cascades 6-9:
Upstream of cascade 9 was a large boulder that some campers had congregated on/around.
After they moved downstream, I climbed up for a view of cascade 10 (the numbering is very subjective at this point).
This was a two-tiered cascade with a deep pool in the middle (this was where we had re-entered the creek after bypassing 9). I didn't get into the pool, but it looked just big enough to be a legit swimming hole.
Just above this was one final small cascade, and then the creek flattened out and became uneventful.
I took the temperature again here, and it was 57.5 °F, which was closer to how the swimming hole felt. I changed from my Vibrams back into my hiking boots, and we hiked the two miles along the trail back to the road. We saw Wildcat Falls along the way.
The trail was mostly flat and followed the contour the whole way, and Chris was still wearing his water shoes, which slowed him down enough that I could keep up with him. I drove him back to his car, and the lower pullout was now full.
___
After I dropped Chris off, I planned to check out the two roadside attractions before heading back. The first was Bubbling Spring Branch Cascades, which was supposed to have a nice swimming hole with a slide and rope swing. I thought about possibly saving this one for a future excursion where I hit several roadside attractions in one day, but I figured I should take a quick look and make sure it wasn’t lame. The pullout for it was a short distance up the road from the lower Flat Laurel Creek trailhead. I parked there and followed a short trail under the guardrail and down the steep bank to the falls.
The pool at the base didn’t look deep and had several people standing around it.
I walked up the rocks on the river right and noticed a couple of rock tubs that might have been deep enough to be over my head.
The swimming hole with the slide and rope swing was supposed to be at the top of this. There was a group of unenthused teenagers coming back down from it when I got there.
The pool ended up being small and didn’t look very deep, so I decided it wasn’t worth getting my swim trunks wet again. I also didn’t see a rope swing. I didn’t scope it out thoroughly because there were two guys hanging out there, one of whom was eight feet up in a tree hammock. I asked if there was anything else beyond this, but they said they hadn’t been upstream.
___
I walked back to the car and headed to my last stop for the day: Sunburst Falls. I had seen it from the road on the way in, but I wanted to stop for a better view on the way out. The falls are located at a road bridge over the West Fork Pigeon River. The river tumbles over several cascades before crossing under the stone arch bridge and plunging into a pool. I was mostly interested to see if the pool was a legit swimming hole. I first looked at the upstream view from the bridge.
I then turned my attention to the plunge pool below the bridge. It was definitely a legit swimming hole. It looked bigger than in pictures. I scrambled down the bank for a base view.
Some people might complain that the bridge ruins the aesthetic of the waterfall, but I don’t know. It kind of gives the pool a cool amphitheater look. A swimming hole stadium, if you will.
After I climbed back up the other bank, I headed back to the Sonic in Canton to possibly rectify not getting to try the Strawberry Shortcake Snowball Slush Float last night. They actually had it this time, but it was kind of disappointing. The shortcake flavor didn’t really come through, so it was basically just a strawberry slushie with ice cream on top. I tried stirring in the ice cream, but then it just tasted like a strawberry milkshake diluted with sleet. At any rate, I was glad I didn’t have to drive back to Raleigh tonight. The actual Flat Laurel excursion was less than four miles, and it wasn’t exactly grueling, but exercise was definitely had.
In summary, Flat Laurel Creek lived up to my expectations and was worth the wait. It was definitely one of the best creek walks I’ve been on in terms of effort vs reward. It was a workout, but it wasn’t super strenuous or technical (for experienced off-trail hikers). Chris got through the whole thing without getting his feet wet (except for intentionally soaking them in the main swimming hole, with his shoes off). Once the cascades get going, they are pretty much non-stop all the way to the top. I wasn’t sure if there would be any legit swimming holes, but there was one at the base of cascade 7(ish). There were also a couple of smaller pools that looked like they might be legit. The creek walk would still have been worth the price of admission even if the main swimming hole hadn’t been there, but it really rounded things out. That particular spot was probably the highlight of what we saw today.
As for the roadside attractions, Bubbling Spring Branch Falls failed to impress after Flat Laurel Creek. The supposed swimming hole at the top looked kind of dinky, so unless there was something upstream that I missed, then I would say it’s probably not worthy of a return visit unless I happen to be passing by for some other reason. Sunburst Falls, on the other hand, looked like a legit swimming hole, so now I’m interested to find out if it’s a one-hit-wonder or just a sneak peak at what else the West Fork Pigeon River has to offer.
