There are 2 ways to access Greenland Creek from the Cold Mountain Rd parking area - check the map. The 1st is the trail from the beginning of the driveway for the parking area. It's one of the main trails and is suitable for mountain bikes. The other is to head down the main trail to the right of the gate at the far end of the parking area to the side trail to Schoolhouse Falls. Here I'll take you the 1st way. As you make the right turn into the parking area, pull off to the right and park in front of the log or anywhere you aren't blocking the drive. The trail head is on the left and is not marked. About 15-20 minutes down this trail, the area opens up. The trail to Greenland Creek Falls is to the left - if you continue straight you'll come to a creek and know you've gone too far. The trail to the falls twists and turns through the laurel and rhododendron and eventually comes out at the base of Greenland Creek Falls for this nice view.

The area to check out the falls is rather small, so hope no one else is there. A large pine has fallen across the creek below the falls blocking some of the rocks you used to be able to hang out on, but you can climb on the tree and cross to a boulder on the other side. On a dry day, you can climb the rocks at the left for some close up views of the upper section. Note the bands of quartz running through the rock.

The Kornegay map shows a falls above Greenland Creek Falls, and I finally headed up to check it out in late December '03. Click here to see it. To pick up the Greenland Creek Trail, backtrack to the main trail and check the trail map for the location of the trail that heads down creek. There's a lot of twisting and turning and ducking and climbing up and down on this trail - it's about a mile or so down to Schoolhouse Falls. If you are on this trail and hear some cascades, look for side trails down to the creek. We have and this is what we have seen, in order, before arriving at Schoolhouse Falls:

This next little falls is really cool - the rock forms kind of a funnel, then the water slides down an area of smooth rock. The trail comes out below the falls, then picks up further down the bedrock on the same side. It'll be slippery on a wet day!

Just a little farther down the trail is Schoolhouse Falls. This falls is a bit more popular and on a sunny warm day, you may see folks hanging out on the little beach area or swimming in the pool. You can go behind these falls - the 2nd photo is taken beside the falls on a day with more water flow than the 1st photo. To get to Schoolhouse from the parking area, take the trail to the right of the gate at the end of the parking area. This trail connects onto the road where you took a left at Canaan Land. Turn left and in a few minutes you'll come to a remote weather station (I think that's what it is). Take the trail straight ahead - the road takes a sharp left at this point. In a short distance, the trail splits - take the right fork. This connects back on to the road you were previously on and is a main trail through Panthertown. Turn right and continue for a short distance. Until recently, there were 2 trails to Schoolhouse Falls. The 1st was before the bridge over Greenland Creek and took you behind the waterfall. On my trip in (Feb '06) there was 4-6 inches of snow on the ground and I looked and looked for this trail. It appeared that the forest service has tried to do away with this trail by cutting rhodos and covering the trail with them. Harry and I were still able to follow the trail, but with some difficulty. The trail to the front of the falls is still there. On my most recent trip in August '06, work had started on repairing the bridge over Greenland Creek. You can still cross through the creek over stones, but in high water it may be a wet crossing. If you make it across, take the trail to the left. The huge sections of boardwalks that were washed away during the floods of 2004 have been repaired and the trail takes you to the area in front of the falls. From here, you can cross the creek to the left and head behind the falls. If you have the map, these directions will make more sense. Also from here, you can take a trail off to the right that leads up to some awesome views from Little Green Mountain.