Rainbow Falls

6-8-10 update - Another person has lost her life at Rainbow Falls. Eleanor Dorman died from a fall from the top of the waterfall yesterday. My sincerest condolences to her family and friends. The paper is reporting that she was last seen wading in one of the pools between Turtleback and Rainbow Falls. I'm not sure if this is the case or what really happened, but do not swim or wade here for any reason! The river flows over solid bedrock at this point and it is very slippery. The river current is swifter than it looks and will sweep you down river and over the waterfall!

The Horsepasture River is where my passion for waterfalls began. It's popularity has increased tremendously since my first visit in 1998 and a lot has changed. You can no longer park along Hwy 281 and you can no longer slide down Drift (Bust Yer Butt) Falls. This has been true for several years now, but I still get emails from people that haven't been in a while asking if you can still slide. The former is for safety reasons and the latter is because it is now on private property. The boundary is right in front of Drift Falls, so you can still go to that point for a view and a picture. Gorges State Park had a temporary parking lot close to Hwy 281 and folks were parking there, walking up to 281, then down to the old trail to the top of Turtleback Falls. That lot closed over a year ago when Gorges began construction of it's permanent facilities and is no longer there. Remember that the Horsepasture River is NOT in Gorges State Park, it is in the Pisgah National Forest. It used to be in the Nantahala district, but the land was recently transferred to Pisgah. The National Forest does not provide a place to park for this heavily visited area of their forest, so if you don't like the new arrangements, call them and complain. It is my opinion that this stretch of the river would be better served by being a part of Gorges State Park.

Directions:   From Brevard, take Hwy 64 west for about 15 miles to the Lake Toxaway area. Pass the right turn for Hwy 281 north and continue up to the bridge across the top of Toxaway Falls. (Pull off on the right before the bridge and carefully cross Hwy 64 for a view.) Continue past the bridge for about 2 1/4 miles and turn left on Hwy 281 south. Drive 0.8 miles - passing the construction entrance for the park on the left - and turn left into the entrance to Gorges State Park. You can not park in the construction entrance at any time - even on week ends. You will be ticketed and towed without exception. You can not park along the road anywhere there are 'No Parking' signs. You will be ticketed and the area is patrolled often. You should not be parking on private property in the immediate area without permission. Yes, I know where people have been parking, but this may be stopped in the very near future.

Once you turn left into Gorges State Park, drive 1.6 miles to a paved parking lot on the right side. You will have passed a closed parking and cleared area on the right which will be the new visitor's center. You can not pull off anywhere at the first of this road and park thinking you can just walk back up to 281 and take the old way in. You will be ticketed and a ranger will probably be there waiting for you when you get back - if they haven't had your vehicle towed for being an idiot. Also, the old trail head is now blocked off and is marked as a restricted area, so you can't legally get in this way. Once you get in the correct parking lot, the trail begins at the information kiosk. At the time of my visit, there was a map in the kiosk, but none available to take. Also the only facilities is a port-o-john, so come prepared! Rest rooms are in a future phase of construction. A good thing is that you can park in this lot overnight for camping on the Horsepasture River. Just fill out the yellow (at the time) registration form at the kiosk and put it in your windshield. Just remember that the park closes and locks it's gates at night. Times are posted on a sign right after you enter the park or look on the official Gorges State Park web site.

The information kiosk lists the Rainbow Falls trail as 3 miles. It doesn't say, but this is round trip and I'm assuming that is to this viewing area. I timed the hike to this point at about 40 minutes which is longer than the old way in. The hike begins at the kiosk, just follow the orange tags nailed to the trees. In about 5 minutes the trail turns right. Going left just leads back up to a now closed section of Grassy Ridge Rd beyond the parking area. Continue down the marked trail, cross a small creek and get to the national forest boundary about 20 minutes from the parking lot. This is where the state park maintenance ends. In another 5 minutes you arrive at the river. You are now at a point on the river above Stairway Falls and below Rainbow Falls, but closer to Stairway Falls. Most people are heading to Rainbow and Turtleback Falls, so turn right and head up river to do this. Immediately cross a small creek and head into a very nice primitive camping area suitable for 2 or 3 small groups. These are on a first come basis and will probably stay occupied once word gets out about the new trail. Continue through the campsite and continue up river for about 10 minutes to an obvious place where people have been going down to the flat rock for a view up river to Hidden Falls pictured below. You'll see other smaller scramble paths before this which were probably made by fishermen over the years.

Hidden Falls 10-24-08   

That shot was during a drought period when water levels were low. This is a nice swimming hole and will become more popular as people use the new trail. From here the trail gets steep on the way up to the viewing area for Rainbow Falls. This may be the hardest part of the trail, but it's only another 5 to 10 minutes to the falls depending on your legs and lungs. The spectacular view of the falls you will have is the next picture below.

Rainbow Falls

 Rainbow Falls is 125' high and really is a must see if you have never been. If you go in the morning on a sunny day, you may see a rainbow. Even though the overlook isn't really close to the falls, if water levels are high, the spray from the falls will drench the viewing area. In winter this area might be covered by frozen mist. During normal water flow and warm weather, you will probably see people on the rocks below and maybe some folks swimming. Swimming anywhere in the national forests is allowed, but is at your own risk. To get down below, take the left fork of the trail ahead along the rail, then go down any of the scramble paths leading down to a lower viewing area before you get to the rocks. Do not climb over the railing at the overlook and go down those erosion paths. Once you get to the lower viewing area, look to the left for the eroded path down to the rocks. When these rocks are wet they are extremely slippery! They have a layer of algae or crud on them that makes them very dangerous when wet. If you can make it down, you'll have another excellent view of the waterfall.

Rainbow Falls

If you want to head up to the top of Rainbow Falls (you do) and on to Turtleback and up to Drift Falls, take the right fork in the trail at the upper overlook. This leads up past some more steep scramble paths down towards the falls that you don't want to take, then on to a small area near the top of the falls that has been used as a camp site. To get to the rocks at the top of Rainbow Falls, look to the left at this point for the skinny trail between 2 rocks that will lead out to the top. This is very safe when the rocks are dry as long as you use common sense. People have died falling from this waterfall and will probably continue to do so because they didn't use common sense. This is the view you will have of the river below.

top of Rainbow Falls

From the top of the falls you can look up river and see Turtleback Falls coming in from the left. The river between the 2 is a very pretty area. The bedrock is safe to go out on as long as it is dry and you will see several places to go out as you head up the trail towards the falls. Do not swim in this part of the river for any reason! The current is more powerful than it looks and you could be swept over Rainbow Falls - and people have, so don't think it can't happen to you. In 2003, 21 year old Sarah DiGiovenale and 19 year old Helen Mannweiler were both swept over the waterfall in separate incidents. These young ladies are only 2 of many that are now missed by their families and friends. The next pictures are from this section of the river.

 When you get directly in front of Turtleback Falls on the trail, you will notice a big rock you can get out on for an excellent view of the falls. If it's a warm summer day, there will more than likely be people sliding off of the waterfall. Again. it's slide and swim at your own risk. There are 2 ways to get out to the middle to slide, but for both ways you need to scoot out on your butt to get to the proper sliding area. The trail past this point turns to the left and comes up next to the waterfall on the right in the next photo. You can go out on the rock where those people are, then carefully scoot out towards the left side like that guy is doing. If you walk out, the current will probably sweep you off your feet, then you might crack your head open and die. The middle to right area of the falls will give you a very rough ride, so stay to the left for the best sliding. In that picture, the water is above normal and borderline dangerous. On the far left of the falls is a chug hole which is covered by water, so beware. The other way up is by getting in the water from the bedrock below the waterfall on the left, just out of the picture. There's a rope hanging down that people climb up, then come in from the left side. Click here for a video I shot of people demonstrating some safe sliding techniques where you can see the butt scooting and rope climbing.

If you stay on the trail heading up past Turtleback Falls, you will see it turns to the right and heads up an eroded gully. This was the trail in from Hwy 281 that was never maintained by the national forest. It's about 20 minutes from here back up to the highway just south of the Gorges State Park entrance. Drift Falls is up river from Turtleback Falls and is actually the first waterfall on the river down from Hwy 281. To get to it, look for the trail just past the gully and follow it up river for about 10-15 minutes. People used to slide down the 60-70ft incline and the falls was referred to as Bust Yer Butt Falls. The land that the falls is on traded hands a few years ago and the owner will prosecute trespassers. I was in there one time and there was actually a security guard on duty. The boundary is just this side of the pool at the base of the falls, so you can get to this view. If you are pushed for time or have small kids, I would skip this one.

Drift Falls

click here for directions to Stairway and Sidepocket Falls