Gorges State Park

Yes, it really is a rainforest

Background:

In an area south of Brevard on the North/South Carolina border lies the only (temperate) rainforest in the United States east of the Rockies. This area receives roughly double the amount of rainfall of Charlotte and Raleigh, sometimes in upward of 100 inches but usually in the neighborhood of 90. To a hiker this means gorges of waterfalls, exotic plant/wildlife, and adventure. I've always had a good vibe about the place and finally got a chance to make it out there with Clif & Sean on Friday.

Lake Jocassee and western North Carolina 

Hike Report: 

We set out by 9am and after a few stops we eventually got to the state park and first checked out the visitor center. Clif was on a leash outside being patient and a good boy.

Now, most of the time you go to the visitor center of a North Carolina State Park, you get a free black-and-white map with trails and attractions of the park. Gorges State Park had one of these black-and-white maps as well as a map on sale for $12.99. The map on sale had significantly more trails than the free map.

This heightened my curiosity. I questioned the park office associate about this and she assured me that those are "camping trails" and not for hiking. She then went on to tell me about the park's most popular hike to Rainbow Falls, only a 3 mile out-and-back. I pushed a bit more, asking about the "camping trail" (referred to as the "Raymond Fisher" trail) and how it looked like it led to some waterfalls. I was then assured by a more senior associate that the trails weren't complete and it's really not worth it to hike in there. I left it at that and we set out to the "Rainbow Falls" trailhead.

One of the nicest Visitor Center's I've ever been to in North Carolina. Stunning views of the state park out back and very nice exhibits inside, a fireplace, replica waterfalls, etc. 

So we parked and set out to the "Rainbow Falls" trailhead. The parking lot was at capacity, as we were directed to park along the side of the road. A very busy Friday, I can imagine on a busy weekend this place is packed.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love enjoying nature with other people, but I also come to the woods for solitude and it always kills my vibe at least in the slightest when that solitude is interrupted by hordes of people going to see the big waterfall after a short hike. But hey, everyone enjoys nature differently and I can appreciate that. I just happen to be the kind of guy who likes the risk and thrill of hiking way out there, which leads us to the direction we ended up going on the hike...

So after a half mile or so, we get to a split in the trail. To the left is the "Raymond Fisher" trail (the trail I was curious about in the visitor center) and to the right is "Rainbow Falls" trail. After pausing, watching hiker after hiker go right to the waterfall, I instinctively pulled left. I was still very curious to see just how much of this trail was passable and a big part of me wanted our adventure to be our own.

So that's what we did, using the map and key geographical features, I led us to where I thought the trail would be, eventually we get to the campsites, and we follow an old fire road up a hill. We ended up seeing some cool stuff, including a gravestone dating back to 1876!

The trail was very passable and we eventually figured that the trail was "blazed" with blue flags on trees and bushes along the way. After a mile or two, we hear water off in the distance. This is never a bad sign on a hike. The trail actually narrowed to single track as we wondered down a gorge, Rhododendrons forming a tunneling trail corridor. Everything is green and lush, moss is seemingly on every hard surface. To our delight, the trail seems to lead directly to the sound of flowing water.

And we hit water! We were a little disappointed at first as it seemed to be just a creek crossing. We decided that it would be a good idea to rock-hop upstream and we were rewarded with a small, but beautiful waterfall!

Clif & I in front of the waterfall that we found. Sean taking the picture. Very nice swimming hole, a refreshing break from the humid forest. As you can see, the place is so lush and green. Even more-so than the nearby Pisgah. I never quite got full-on tropical rainforest vibes (of course not), but the intense amount of water EVERYWHERE and unique vegetation that is spawned by it left me awestruck nonetheless. 

We climbed up the waterfall (which was, of course, covered in lots of moss) and waded upstream to see if there were any other cool water-features. It mellowed out and we head back towards the trail. Who knows what was down-stream, but that is fit for another Gorges adventure!

We decided to see where the trail would end up on the other side, but it got to a point where there was so much growth the trail corridor was getting hard to keep up with at a decent pace, so we headed back towards Rainbow Falls.

Now, thunderstorms were in the forecast for the day at around 4pm and it was about 2pm when we decided to hike back towards Rainbow. As we walked that way, we began to hear periodic sounds of thunder in the far distance. Of course, our pace increased!

We eventually get back to the original split in the trail and I mention to Sean about how different an experience it is as a hiker. We just ventured off into the remote and unknown, by ourselves, by all means a private experience. Next thing we know, we are greeting hikers as we pass in a relatively social and public setting. People want to pet Clif, some are resting on the side of the trail drinking coca-cola (don't get me started).

Anyways, we haven't heard thunder in a while and are making our way up and down the hills on the way to the waterfall. We set a very good pace and end up passing a good amount of hikers. About 30-45 minutes later, we get to the viewing area!

At almost 200 feet high, "Rainbow Falls" is one of if not the most beautiful waterfall I've seen in the state. There were even kids scaling the rock face to cliff jump from what looked like 30-40 feet. 

As soon as we get to the top of the hill, we see very ominous clouds begin to roll in. We would have loved to stay, swim, but we decided to come back another time for it.

We made the right decision, as it began to POUR when we were about a half mile from the car. We booked it through the rain, I've never had Clif pull so hard on the leash! Of course I don't have power locks on my car, so I have to unlock each door individually. I unlock the drivers side door first and that little shit Clif hops in to save himself from the rain! Sean is waiting as he is getting absolutely drenched by the downpour. I get Clif in the back hatch and get in the car.

We definitely got the full rainforest experience! We ended up hiking around 7 miles total from 1pm until around 4:30pm. Definitely a very cool place and I will definitely be back when the opportunity arises.