American Travel Journal: DeBord Falls and Emory Gap Falls

In early April 2016, I retraced my spring 2013 hike to DeBord Falls and Emory Gap Falls in Frozen Head State Park. I wrote about my previous hike here. Comparing the pictures, I noted that the entrance sign has been repaired and stained in the intervening years. Flat Fork Road, including the parking area at the end of the road has been repaved.

On the weekday that I visited the park, only a few cars were at the trailhead and I only saw about a half dozen people on the trail. I started and ended my hike at the Panther Creek Trail trailhead at the end of Flat Fork Road. After crossing North Prong Flat Fork on a concrete bridge, the wide trail follows the stream up the valley. The trail follows the route of a logging railroad that was built about a century ago. Although it isn't needed for the part of the trail that I hiked, the trail is marked with blue blazes. Just a couple hundred feet into the hike, an unnamed stream flows down from Bird Mountain and crosses the trail on its way to the North Prong.

At 0.1 miles the first of two unnamed streams flow down from Old Mac Mountain across the valley from the trail. This stream drops into North Prong Flat Fork by way of a 15 foot waterfall that is visible from the trail. A fence near the trail guards against falling down the bluff into the creek and provides for an excellent view of the intersecting stream. The second stream on the right is visible at 0.35 miles from the trailhead.

At 0.6 miles, a sign marks the junction of a hundred foot long spur leading to an overlook for DeBord Falls. The trail continues down 30 steps to the top of the falls before switching back to descend steeply to the base of the falls. A large rock splits this twelve foot drop in North Prong Flat Fork into twin falls that drop into a nice plunge pool.

After returning to the Panther Branch Trail, turn right to continue to head upstream. In another 100 yards, the trail crosses a bridge over another unnamed stream flowing down the flanks of Bird Mountain.

One quarter mile past DeBord Falls is the Emory Gap Trail junction. A right turn here will lead down to a pedestrian bridge over Emory Gap Branch with nice views of the stream. To continue to Emory Gap Falls, I retraced my steps from the bridge and headed up the white blazed Emory Gap Trail.

The narrower, one-half mile Emory Gap Trail follows Emory Gap Branch upstream for about 800 feet before switching back to gain altitude. After switching back again to head upstream, the trail ends at a jumble of boulders below Emory Gap Falls. While visible from the end of the trail, rock hopping or scrambling across boulders is required to get an unobstructed view of the 25 foot falls.

At 2.7 miles round-trip, this is a great spring-time hike to stretch your legs, see a couple of waterfalls, and enjoy the colors of the blooming spring ephemeral plants.