Harry and I finally got around to exploring the Devil's Elbow area of Panthertown Valley in mid April '04. I've been debating whether or not to tell you about this area and I've decided on a compromise. I'm going to give you general directions and it will be up to you to use the Kornegay map and your trail finding skills to get there. The day we went was sunny and beautiful - good for wading and hanging out, bad for picture taking. I hope to get back down there soon for better photos.

First, find Devil's Elbow in the Tuckasegee River gorge on the map. The shortest route is from the east parking area up Cold Mountain Road. Look for and take the last little trail down to the river before you get to Devil's Elbow. You'll want to be very observant while heading down this trail. It will take you to this small falls and very cool hanging out area.

From this area there's a faint trail that isn't on the map that heads down river. You could try to bushwhack down the river, but there are some very deep places. When we were there, the leaves were just beginning to come out and I expect that when they are out fully, the trail will be less obvious. This trail follows fairly close to the river and comes out at the top of a 200' slide area. The river flows down the right side of the bedrock and on a dry day with normal water flow, you can safely wade across to get to the dry part. You have to get your feet wet at this point. Here's a view from this point -

It appears like a big drop off, but it's actually a fairly gentle grade. Just be careful! The slide is in 2 parts and ends in a small falls that empties into a nice swimming hole. It's a perfect place to spend a warm summer day!

The point in going down here in the 1st place was to find the unnamed waterfall marked on the map on the stream that feeds into the river. This area was just a bonus! From here we didn't notice a trail heading further down river, so we started wading and rock hopping. The water was chilly, but bearable and we only came across a few areas that got the bottom of my shorts wet. The river was really pretty along this section and it wasn't too long before we reached the waterfall. It's a nice 25 footer, but I couldn't get a good shot because of that darn sun. Here's one anyway -

We didn't go any farther down river than this but hope to on a future trip.