Cascade Falls - Blue Ridge Parkway

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.