The Cascades Parking Overlook is at mile 271.9 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A 0.9 mile loop trail begins at the north end of the parking area and leads down to Cascade Falls. There are numerous stone stairs along the path. The trail leads to two overlooks of the cascades. Fall Creek descends 400 feet over an 800 foot run producing a series of cascades on its way to the Yadkin River.
The trailhead is between the closed restrooms and the portable toilets that have been provided in place of the restrooms. One hundred yards down the gravel path, the trail splits with the right side staying atop the ridge while the left side follows Fall Creek. I chose to take the route to the right. A marker at the junction denotes that the Mountain to Sea Trail (MST) takes the left fork. Five hundred feet from the trailhead, the right fork of the trail begins a descent of about 6% for the next one thousand feet. At 1/3 mile, the first set of stairs are encountered. A log footbridge crosses Fall Creek at 0.35 miles. The post for left handrail was broken when I was there. Immediately after crossing the bridge, the left loop rejoins the trail to head downstream. The trail surface after crossing the bridge is dirt and rock. The stone stairs are in good shape, but some of the wooden handrails along the trail have been destroyed when trees fell on them. The upper overlook is 0.42 miles from the trailhead and the lower is 0.46 miles. The descent from the upper to the lower overlook is by stairs as the path descends about 50 feet for a total descent of about 170 feet from the parking lot or an average grade of 7%.
Returning, I took the route beside the creek and coincident with the MST. There are no stairs on this leg of the loop trail.
I hiked the trail in June 2017.
Topographic map with GPS route |
Elevation profile |
Trailhead |
Gravel path |
Upper trail junction |
Typical trail conditions |
Stone steps at 1/3 mile |
More gravel path |
Lower footbridge with broken handrail |
Fall Creek from the lower bridge |
Dirt path |
First rocks and then broken handrails |
Flagstone steps and path |
Upper Overlook to the right and Lower Overlook to the left |
Upper portion of Cascade Falls |
A small landing... |
...before further descent |
Stairs... |
...and more stairs |
Approaching the lower overlook |
Drop and slide visible from the lower overlook |
A closer view |
Fall Creek near the lower bridge |
The upper bridge also has a broken handrail |
View upstream of Fall Creek |
Upper trail junction |
Entry to the parkway is free.
The parkway website is https://www.nps.gov/blri.
Any walk along a creek with waterfalls works for us. Thank you for documenting how to get to these. We've hiked mostly on the West Coast with a few forays into the east. It's nice when locals help you find the best way to get somewhere!
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