1-23-06 - I learned about this beautiful 20-25' waterfall on Laurel Fork Creek from Jack and JC in the Carolinas Adventures hiking forum. Thanks guys! This one is a perfect example of a waterfall not having to be big to be awesome. It's located in the Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve in the Jocassee Gorges area of Pickens County off of Hwy 178. The waterfall was known as Double Falls until late 2004 when the Foothills Trail Conference named the falls for Virginia Hawkins, long time executive secretary of the FTC.

Directions - If you are coming from the NC side, take Hwy 178 south from Hwy 64 in Rosman to the South Carolina state line. From there, drive a little under 2.5 miles to a right hand "Y" type turn on to the gravel Horsepasture Rd (the upper road when you make the turn. If you are coming from south, the left hand turn on to Horsepasture Rd is about 8 miles north of Hwy 11 off of Hwy 178. The parking area is about 3.2 miles up Horsepasture Rd at Laurel Gap.

The first part of Horsepasture Rd can be a little rough on a passenger vehicle, but it gets better. Still, it's a forest road, narrow in places, and you should drive slowly in case you meet a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. You will almost immediately pass a parking area on the left for access to the Foothills Trail.. If you want to make the hike to the waterfall a 10 mile round trip hike, park here and follow the Foothills Trail west for 4.7 miles. I haven't done it, so I can't comment on the difficulty, but I'm sure you'll see some nice scenery along the way. Virginia Hawkins Falls will be on the left - you can't miss it. If you want the hike to be a 2 mile round trip, continue driving on Horsepasture Rd to Laurel Gap, passing Eastatoe Creek Heritage Preserve which is also a very nice hike. You'll know you've reached Laurel Gap when the road forks. The left fork is the parking area and dead ends after a short distance. Pull in here and park. Horsepasture Rd is the right fork and continues up and a green gated road turns to the right. The trail to the waterfall begins up here. Horsepasture Rd is green gated beyond this point. Green gates are open to the public at certain times of the year. Jumping Off Rock is another 6 miles up Horsepasture Rd and offers an excellent view of part of Lake Jocassee.

From the parking area at Laurel Gap, walk up Horsepasture Rd to the trail head for the Preserve. In a short distance, the trail descends to the left to a closed logging road. Follow this road down and around for about a mile to Laurel Fork Creek. Just before you reach the creek will be primitive camping on the right in the trees. Head into the camp site and take the bridge on the right across Laurel Fork Creek. Walk up the Foothills Trail for a very short distance to the waterfall on the right. It's probably best to see this waterfall after some decent rainfall like in the above picture.

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