Adventures of a swimming hole aficionado

I haven’t gotten up to the mountains much this summer due to all the rain in the forecast, but this weekend was forecasted to be dry (albeit somewhat cool), so I figured I would go ahead and take advantage of it. My plan was to drive up today and hit Catawba Falls, and then hit a swimming hole in Linville Gorge tomorrow. Catawba Falls has been on my swimming hole radar for a while, but it hasn’t really been a high priority. I was never really enticed by the pictures, but everyone who talks about it, including North Carolina Waterfalls author Kevin Adams, seems to really like it. There are actually two major waterfalls in this area. The main Catawba Falls clearly has no swimming hole, but Upper Catawba Falls, which is about a half mile upstream, has a clear pool at the base. These waterfalls are not exactly viral on the internet, but they do have somewhat of a social media presence, and there is no mention of people swimming here. That usually is not a good sign, but the trailhead is right off the interstate, so I figured it would be a good place to go on a day when I would be arriving later in the afternoon after a long drive. Today was that day.

My friend Ty, who accompanied me to Yellow Fork Falls last month, was up for another hike, so we met up just off the interstate exit and drove to the trailhead. The parking area was pretty full, which wasn’t surprising given that the falls are easily accessible and pretty well known. Every time I approached what looked like an available parking spot, I saw that it had a handicap only sign in front of it, which was kind of puzzling given that this was a parking lot of a hiking trail. After we found some legit parking spaces, Ty suggested that this might be a wheelchair accessible trail, but it definitely wasn’t (unless you have crazy upper body strength, and mountain bike tires on your wheelchair). Tangent: after typing that last sentence, I did a google search, and all-terrain wheelchairs are actually a thing. Who knew? Anyway, getting back on topic, the trail to the falls was a pretty straight shot up the creek with a moderate grade. We first came to an old collapsed dam with a couple of cascades beneath it that totaled about 25 feet.

( Click here for the full trip report with pictures and videos )

In conclusion, while Catawba Falls are a nice set of waterfalls, the area comes up short from a swimming hole standpoint. I guess the pool at Upper Catawba Falls could pass with a C- for a legit swimming hole, since I’m guessing the average person wouldn’t be able to touch the bottom in all areas (I’m pretty tall and I had to stand on my tiptoes), and it’s not exactly displeasing from an aesthetic standpoint. I might be able to speak more highly of it if it were a little deeper or had a little something extra, like a rope swing or a safe jump. I wasn’t disappointed since I didn’t really have any expectations, and I sure was glad that the pool was there after working up the sweat required to access it.