9-26-04 - According to Jim Bob Tinsley's book, this falls was 1st called Upper Shoals, then changed to Grace Falls, named for the wife of the man that bought the property in 1973. The falls is just marked 'falls' on the topo map and Harry and I decided to see if we could find it. We 1st stopped at Catheys Creek Falls, then continued up FR471. Catheys Creek was on the left, but the road is above the creek and the view of the creek is mostly obscured by trees and brush. At one point about a mile up, a side road forked off to the left, headed down and appeared to cross the creek. We passed that and at a point maybe 1.5 miles from Catheys Creek Falls, we could see some cascades through the trees. We pulled over and parked at the 1st safe place, probably at least 1/4 mile farther up the road.
There's no trail down to the creek and the falls, so we just picked the least steep place we could find, then bushwhacked down the creek. When we got to the top of the falls, the only safe way down was on the opposite side of the creek as the road. We actually found a trail down to a good viewing area, then noticed a sign saying 'Barbara Falls', so I'm guessing there is a new land owner. It appeared we were now on private property, but there were no 'no trespassing' signs. The creek was up and the water was gushing over the 30-40' falls. I snapped of a few quickie pictures, then we decided to follow the trail down creek. It ended up in somebody's back yard, so we figured it was time to go. My guess is the creek is probably the boundary and the falls might actually be on Pisgah land, but the only good view is on the private property side. Here's another view.
