Douglas Falls (Lower Approach) Hike

This spectacular, 70 ft. falls is located in an old-growth forest. The lower approach to the falls is a walk on a gently sloped trail to its base. The hike is markedly changed from years past; though the hemlocks in the area are dead, you'll travel through an otherwise beautiful woodland and discover pleasant forest scenes along the way. Enjoy the falls from in front and from behind! The drive to the falls is an experience of its own, and along the way you'll pass many more scenic and interesting features.

At A Glance

Moderate 1 mi round-trip

Difficulty Rating: 1.59
Tread Condition: Moderately Rough
Climb: Climbs Gently
Lowest Elevation: 4200 ft
Highest Elevation: 4440 ft
Climb Total: 240 ft
Configuration: Out-and-back
Starting Point: Parking area at the end of FR 74

Trails Used: Douglas Falls

Hike Start Location

Directions

Note: FS 74 is closed and gated in winter (usually starting in late December thru early April), and possibly other times of the year due to weather. Another gate is near the parking area at the Laurel Gap intersection, which may be closed even if the bottom gate is open. In that case, you could still walk the final 1.1 mi of the road to the trailhead, adding 2.2 miles of fairly easy road walking to the overall hike. Call ahead to the Forest Service office to find out if it's open before you go!

From Asheville, take US 19-23 north/Future I-26 West for about 11 miles. Take Exit 15 for Jupiter/Barnardsville (NC 197). Turn right toward Barnardsville and follow NC 197 (2-lane highway) about 6 miles to the town of Barnardsville. Turn right onto Dillingham Road just past the fire station. From that junction, it's about 6 miles to the National Forest - stay on Dillingham Road the entire way (bearing left at Dillingham Presbyterian Church and Stoney Fork Road, and then right just past a one-lane bridge at Town Branch Road). Past the horse farms, bear left at Walker Creek Road and cross the one-lane bridge; the road will turn into gravel FS 74 with a National Forest sign for Big Ivy just beyond. Follow this gravel road for 8.7 miles until it ends in a parking lot. The trail starts at far end of the lot as you drive in.

Directions on Google Maps

Details

Hike Description

Start by taking the Douglas Falls trail at the back of the parking lot, which may be signed (if it is not vandalized, like all trail signs you encounter have the potential to be). The very popular trail is well-used, short, and slopes gently downhill all the way to the falls. From that perspective, it is easy.

Large Hemlocks near Douglas Falls
Large Hemlocks near Douglas Falls

However, the trail's surface condition has varied greatly over the last few years. From the mid 90's to the mid 2000's, it was in decent shape. Then, the trail got some needed repair work. Improvements were made in some of the rougher spots, making it in excellent condition. It stayed that way for a year or two. But over the next couple of years, fierce storms took their toll on this trail.

Some sections of the trail started having drainage problems, making it muddier and wetter than it should be. Several big trees fell onto the trail, making difficult climb-arounds necessary. The trail was in poor condition for a while before many of these problems were fixed, and it was in good shape again.

Recently, a fallen tree took out a section of the trail with it. But for this one location -where the hiker is forced to traverse a wet, sloped rock area which is downright treacherous - the trail is still in good shape.

All this is to say, trail conditions can vary greatly, and rapidly here. For this reason, and with all the dead hemlocks about to start falling on the trail, I've upped the difficulty of this hike to "moderate". It had originally been "easy".

The forest near the beginning of the trail was once logged, but has recovered nicely. Medium-sized oaks, maples, beeches and hickories make up this mixed hardwood forest. This area is prone to wind; hike here in the winter on a windy day and the trees will be swaying and howling as the air rushes through. It's a good idea to beware of loose or broken timber above you (called "widow makers") on days such as that. Most times, however, the hike is pleasant with the faint sound of a stream rushing far in the valley below.

Douglas Falls
Douglas Falls

About 2/3 of the way to the falls, the trail gets a bit wetter as several seeps cross the trail from the hillside above. Well-placed stepping stones help you get through some of them with dry feet. And in times past, you also noticed a sudden and dramatic change in the forest at this 2/3 point, as it became dominated by tall, dark hemlock trees looming over whatever understory could survive in this "deep, dark forest". That's what my parents would call it (with an air of doom and drama in their voices), hiking here when I was growing up to get a rise out of us kids. But it was actually pretty true, and even the little ones would have noticed it.

Unfortunately, the hemlocks are mostly dead now, thanks to the rapid progression of the devastating Hemlock Woolly Adelgid infestation in this forest:

  • As of July 2006, the hemlocks at Douglas Falls had been infested with the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid for a couple of seasons, but they were looking remarkably healthy and putting on plenty of new growth in the area around and above the falls. This could have coincided with a predator beetle release in the area that was used to fight the adelgids. That was to be the last sign of new growth, though - a worsening infestation combined with the record-breaking, excruciating drought of 2007 thru early 2009 did them in.
  • As of June 2009, virtually no new growth was occurring, even on the smaller trees, and most of the largest trees were completely dead. A few young ones still looked pretty green, but whatever treatments (including beetle releases) the forest service had done in this area were clearly an epic failure.
  • As of July 2013, there were very few signs of life in any hemlocks along the entire trail. Strangely, however, there was at least one small hemlock (a Carolina Hemlock) near the parking area that showed no signs of infestation at all and was growing vigorously.
  • As of 2017, the larger hemlocks are falling down, yet a few small ones miraculously cling to life. It appears the Carolina hemlocks are less affected by Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, so maybe they stand a chance.

Loss of the hemlocks is letting in a lot more light than ever before along the trail, and in all likelihood - once the hemlocks have fallen and decayed - the trail will eventually have a more homogeneous character from beginning to end, besides getting wetter near the falls. At that 2/3 point, you enter a virgin forest - one that has never been logged - albeit one vastly different from its ancient self due to the loss of the hemlocks. Still, some of the deciduous trees here are enormous as well.

Log under Douglas Falls
Log under Douglas Falls

You'll see the falls shortly after entering the zone of dead hemlocks. Luckily, perhaps, the area directly around the falls had already lost most of its hemlocks due to wind and old age in the 80's and 90's. One such log has been laying in the pool at the base of the falls getting pounded by the falling water for at least 20 years. So once you arrive at the falls, the impact will be much less obvious.

Enjoy exploring around the base of the falls. You can even easily and relatively safely walk behind the falls if you don't mind getting dripped on a bit. But be careful on the slippery rocks which lie all around the base! There is no safe way to get to the top of the falls.

Just before arriving at the falls, the trail veers left, uphill. It winds up in the cove far above the top of Douglas Falls, and eventually ends up at the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The trail crosses one other waterfall, Cascades Falls, on the way. However, that is a long, strenuous hike through a proposed wilderness area, and the trail is sometimes difficult to follow. If you're looking for a bigger adventure, some people do choose to visit Douglas Falls by hiking down from the Craggy Gardens area.

When you're finished soaking up the scenery and/or soaking your feet in the cold, clear water, return to your vehicle on the same path.

All Photos from This Hike

Gallery Permalink

Map

Green highlight indicates the route to follow within the trail network for this hike.

Tip: Printing this map? You can pan and zoom the map as desired before printing to show the area you need.

Map Information

Download GPS Data

Click on a route, trail, or point on the map and select the GPS Data tab to download its data.

Data Formats

KML (Google Earth)

KML is the main file type used by Google Earth. If you have Google Earth installed, clicking the KML link should open the trail or point directly in Google Earth for viewing. This is the native file format used by Google Earth, but many other map applications can use and understand KML as well, so if you're not sure which one to download, KML is a good bet.

GPX

The GPX format stands for GPS Exchange - a free, open, XML format for exchanging GPS and map data. GPX is compatible with Google Earth, many other mapping programs, and most GPS devices (such as Garmin). Load the file directly into your GPS to help find your way on your next trip!

GeoJSON

GeoJSON is a newer, lightweight data exchange format which can be used to quickly share map data and may have a smaller size than KML or GPX. Many professional mapping and GIS applications support the GeoJSON format.

About the Map

Copyright

Base Layers

Base layers provided by OpenStreetMap, the US Geological Survey, the US Forest Service, and NC OneMap. Base layer images are subject to the respective copyright policies of their owners. Base layers may not be available at all times due to system maintenance or outages.

WNCOutdoors Base Layer

The WNCOutdoors Base layer is provided by WNCOutdoors.info. It is licensed by Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

Trail and Marker Overlays

Trail layers and downloadable data are all original works created by WNCOutdoors with guidance from a variety of sources, including ensembles of our own GPS tracks, user contributed GPS tracks, official maps and GIS data from government agencies, and field observations. WNCOutdoors data is made freely available under the Open Database License - you are free to copy and use it for any purpose under the terms of that license (summary).

Tips

  • Hover over a trail to see it highlighted. Helps to see start and end points for an individual trail.
  • Scroll and zoom the map before printing, and that view will persist into the printed image.
  • Click a trail for more details and to download it individually.

Feedback

Ratings

Average Rating: 4.5 (rated 2 times)

Rate It Now:

Comments

William said: Thanks, but, the driving directions aren't very good. Followed them to a tee and didn't end up at the falls. The road splits with no sign and it's a 50/50 guess which direction to go. Keeping with my long history of bad luck, I went left, which seemed to be the main road, when in fact, you have to turn onto a completely different road that is actually still Dillingham.

Sunday, March 23 2014 2:10pm

Beth Bradshaw said: Just a word of warning, call the forest service before you go if you're hiking off-season. I just tried to go yesterday and FS 74-A was gated and locked about a .5 mile from the point where the road turns to gravel.

Sunday, March 23 2014 1:57pm

Rose said: Karen, the "campground" is not really a campground. There are many small campsites scattered along the way up the mountain. None of them are too close to each other so it is extremely secluded. its beautiful there and is a great place to camp as long as your ok with the primitive camping. It is well worth it and as the article says, even the drive up the mountain is worth the experience. Once you have gone a couple miles up you will start to see the little sites off the sides of the road. some are a little further back( I like those). Good luck, and hope you enjoy.

Monday, December 31 2012 4:39am

Bridget said: I have hiked and camped here on several occasions- it is so wonderful to camp there- you feel like you are alone in the woods and its relatively unknown so not many people are bothering you. The hike to the falls is beautiful- if you want a great trip where you can really collect yourself- this is it.

Wednesday, October 10 2012 3:27pm

leighann ponder said: went on hike today the trail was washed out in places and we had to wade through mud and around fallen trees but well worth the trouble.camping is available along the road to the falls but is 8 miles from civilization (but surprisingly we had cell service)and definitely in the wilderness with wild animals

Sunday, April 22 2012 1:18am

Karen said: I see the photo that says above the campgrounds. I'm hoping someone can tell me something about that. I'd like to take the family there to camp, hike and explore the waterfalls.

Wednesday, August 4 2010 3:15pm

David Braverman said: Nice hike. Short, easy and a very nice waterfall with cave at the end. Perfect spot for an overnight.

Sunday, April 27 2008 9:22pm
Add a Comment


Your email address will not be displayed, is kept completely private, and is only used to fight comment spam.


All fields are required.

Related Pages