Adventures of a swimming hole aficionado

Today, I went to DuPont State Recreational Forest. My original plan had been to check out the waterfalls and swimming holes of Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but the forecast had changed to a 60% chance of rain today (which in the mountains is usually a 100% chance). I decided DuPont would be a more rain-friendly excursion, since most of the “trails” there are gravel roads, and DuPont’s main allure is waterfall viewing rather than swimming. DuPont is immensely popular, which is why I saved it for a weekday. It features three popular waterfalls (Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, and High Falls) over about a mile stretch of the Little River, with Hooker Falls featuring a swimming hole. A fourth waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls, is about 1.5 miles upstream from High Falls. Two additional waterfalls, Grassy Creek Falls and Wintergreen Falls, are located on Grassy Creek, a tributary to the Little River. My main objective for the day was to see the four Little River waterfalls and Grassy Creek Falls. Wintergreen Falls didn’t look especially enticing, since it is small and doesn’t appear to have a swimming hole, but I figured I might check it out if I needed to kill time after seeing the others (spoiler alert: I didn't).

I headed out a little after 10 AM, and it took me about an hour to get there from Asheville. The weather in Asheville had been partly cloudy, but it was gray and overcast when I arrived at DuPont. I was hoping the fact that it was a gray weekday morning with rain in the forecast would deter the crowds, but no such luck. There was a parade of cars circling the Hooker Falls parking lot waiting for a space to clear up. After circling once, I thought I would try what appeared to be an overflow lot that I had passed coming in about a quarter mile up the road, but I decided to circle one more time and managed to nab a spot as someone was leaving. My plan had been to hike to Hooker and Triple Falls from here, and then go to the High Falls parking lot for the rest of the hikes. However, I was now afraid to relinquish my parking spot for fear that I would have to waste more time trolling the High Falls lot for a space, so I decided I would just hike to the other falls from here. Overall the distance would be about the same; I just wouldn’t be able to return to my car to pick stuff up and drop stuff off as needed between waterfalls.

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

In summary, DuPont State Forest doesn’t have it going on from a swimming hole standpoint, but it does have some impressive waterfalls and nice trails for mountain biking and horseback riding. So yeah, it’s mostly a waterfall viewing destination with a couple of opportunities for swimming. Hooker Falls is not what I would call a primo swimming hole, since it doesn’t have any extras (e.g., jumps, rope swing), and the current is somewhat concerning, but it will do for simply taking a dip. I also took a refreshing dip in Lake Julia, but I don't really consider lakes to be swimming holes. The crowds around the three main waterfalls were annoying, but the crowds thinned out once I got to the trails upstream of High Falls. From a waterfall viewing perspective, I would say the highlights were High Falls and Triple Falls. Bridal Veil was the one I was most looking forward to seeing, but I would rank it #3 of the ones I saw today. Grassy Creek had clean, clear water and looked like it had potential for a nice swimming hole, but I didn’t devote much time to exploring it since I mainly focused on the Little River waterfalls. Grassy Creek also features Wintergreen Falls, which I didn’t get to today, and one or two more cascades that the park doesn’t advertise (judging by Google Earth). I doubt I would return to DuPont unless I were vacationing with friends or family who wanted to go there, but if I did go back, I would probably make it a point to check out Wintergreen Falls and the other Grassy Creek cascades.