Conasauga Falls is in the Coker Creek zone of the Cherokee National Forest. The falls drop a total of about 35 feet in three tiers. To reach the trailhead, drive south on state highway 68 from Tellico Plains, Tennessee for about two miles and turn right on Forest Service road 341. The pavement ends in about a mile. After another mile and one-third, turn right at the "T" intersection on to a dirt road possibly marked as FS341A. A small sign at this intersection pointed toward the falls when I visited in late July, 2013. Continue to the end of the dirt road in about ½ mile and park at the trailhead. The hike is only about ¾ of a mile and is rated moderately hard by most guidebooks. However, about 30 stone steps have recently been installed at the end of the trail to allow easy access to a viewing area beside the creek. I consider this trail to be moderate in difficulty, but I've included several pictures of the trail so you can decide for yourself.
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| Dirt parking area |
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| View from the trail head |
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| Rocks and roots begin to appear in the trail |
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| The grade gets steeper |
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| There is a trail through here |
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| The first switchback |
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| The second and final switchback |
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| Single-file along the ledge |
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| First glimpse of Conasauga Creek |
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| Rapids upstream of the falls |
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| Another view of the rapids |
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| Closeup of the rapids |
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| Looking back up the steep trail |
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| Stone steps leading to the creek |
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| Looking back up from the bottom |
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| Butterflies |
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| Conasauga Falls |
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| Closeup view of the falls |
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| Rapids downstream of the falls |
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| Wildflower along the trail |
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| Goblet mushrooms along the trail |
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| Shelf mushroom |
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| Another goblet mushroom |
The trail is in a no-fee area of the forest.
The forest service website is http://www.fs.usda.gov/cherokee.
That looks like a wonderful waterfall hike. Don't you just love how you have to navigate back roads to find the darned things? All part of the adventure. (Sorry, I'm a month behind on reading blogs.)
ReplyDeleteWe are major waterfall aficionados and look for them wherever we travel. Reading blogs gives us lots of places, falls especially, to put on our bucket list. We're not from the East Coast, so when we finally head that way, we have a good list of places to go.
If you ever want to know about waterfalls in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alberta, just ask us.
Susan & Bob
I'm always happy to find fellow waterfall enthusiasts. While my words and pictures cannot convey the sense of being at the falls, I hope they encourage you to make the trip yourself someday.
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