Harper Creek Falls and South Harper Creek Falls - Pisgah National Forest, NC
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- Опубликовано: 21 апр 2017
- Tackled the Harper Creek Trail/Raider Camp Trail lollipop hike in the Harper Creek Wilderness Study Area on a hazy Sunday to see Harper Creek Falls and South Harper Creek Falls. The wilderness study area is part of the large Wilson Creek watershed in the Grandfather Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest. Beginning at the Harper Creek Trailhead on SR 1328 the trail passes beside a long stretch of excellent campsites in a wide floodplain beside Harper Creek.
A long side trail leads to Harper Creek Falls. First I scrambled down the bank and used the old climbing rope to get to the base of the falls, which is an awesome swimming hole but not the best view. The main side trail ends at a viewpoint of the upper drops. Then I climbed down the steep rock face beside the middle pool using the comically thick boat rope. This is not for the faint of heart. Next the trail closely follows Harper Creek with many great views. Once the Harper Creek Trail branches from the Mountains-to-Sea Trail it takes on a true wilderness feel, with lots of undergrowth and many confusing creek crossings. In total there were 14 creek crossings on this hike, 12 of them wet, ankle to knee-deep.
I spied a relatively easy scramble down to the base of South Harper Creek Falls, heading upstream mostly dry close to the base. The trail to the top of the waterfall was heavily eroded with almost impassable blowdowns. A side trail takes you to the middle of the waterfall on flat bedrock, which is awesome but looks scary in pictures. Above South Harper Creek Falls is another 25-foot waterfall with many small drops which I didn't show here because the waterfall is on private property. Then the trail swings around high to a cliff overlooking South Harper Creek Falls. The rest of the Raider Camp Trail is easy but boring compared to earlier, overall a great water-feature loop. Combine this with Gragg Prong/Lost Cove and that's a perfect weekend of waterfalls.
Hike was 10.9 miles in 6 hours and 35 minutes.
Hike location
goo.gl/maps/182WmyUKL8Aa3Xaj7
Hike report
www.hikingupward.com/PNF/Harpe...
Wow hiking very nice n healthy takecare
Newfrend here gb
Harper's Falls has always been 1 of my favorite hikes!
This is a cool video, you describe everything well. Looks beautiful too 
Thanks!
Really enjoyed your video!! I used to backpack weekends all through Harpers Creek Trails in the mid 1980's. Still one of my favorite places to hike & fish.
Thanks Jeff, it is a perfect area for a weekend trip in the summer.
Been here too the falls great hidden camp site just off the trail about 30 yrds love to see this another good one
I hiked in & camped there as part of a Project Learning Tree class from CCC & TI (local community college) in Spring of 1988. Our whole class went. I've hiked (& swam, lol) to the top of the falls. AMAZING
Love your videos. They inspire me to get out more. I'm actually going to Flat Creek Falls in Panthertown tomorrow.
Thanks Josh, have fun
That is an awesome swimming hole at the base of that upper drop. Very cool falls. When I saw the view from the overlook I actually said "Whoa!" out loud. lol
Yeah they're both cool falls
Found this while doing some planning/scouting for an upcoming spring trip; great video and info, Zach, thanks!
Thanks, glad it helped
Great video of the trail and the falls. I appreciate all the good info you put in the video description--thanks for that.
Thanks for watching. With popular waterfalls like these there's a lot that guide books leave out in the details, particularly if the main trail provides the best view. These infos are basically the preliminary descriptions I use for Hiking Upward, since I always post the pictures and video first.
Thanks for this video, my dude! As well as for all your videos on Hiking Upwards. Your forward scouting is appreciated for all us weekend warriors :)
I'm glad you appreciate them
I'm going there this weekend.
Have fun!
That view from the middle of S Harper falls makes me sweat a bit. Though I may have to go check it out. Thanks for the video.
If the water isn't high, like it would be today, then it is pretty safe. It's large and flat, hard to show it well with my phone camera.
Trust me, the big rope climb down and back up to the middle of Harper Creek Falls was much more dangerous. A fisherman far below stopped and watched me do it, probably readying himself to rescue me.
Did the loop, used your info from hiking upward... literally turn by turn directions for the loop. I still used my map/GPS, but could have navigated the whole thing from your write -up. Enjoy your channel/hikes, and your compilation of data is well organized and presented in a very useful manner... Hike on!
I'm glad the writeup worked well, sometimes people complain and I assume they must be terrible with navigation.
Do you have a link to these directions?
I just did the Gragg Prong / Lost Cove loop a few weeks ago. I've been eyeing this on the map. Looking forward to going.
The waterfalls are better here, but the water and trails are better around Gragg Prong
Hey, I have come across with your videos only recently. Thanks for the great videos and very useful info! Do you camp out there and hike or just make day trips?
I mostly day hike but I car camp and backpack too. It depends on my goals and whether I have other weekend plans.
I should have watched this before hitting this section. We did two shuttle hikes on two separate weekends; Beacon to Harper Falls and then Harper Falls to 181 (all MST). This loop makes a lot of sense... may go back and do this in the Spring.
This wouldn't have been feasible if you are trying to complete all of the MST miles in this section, but it is a great loop otherwise.
Great video! ...As usual! Will be up there in a couple weeks doing the same loop. Did you notice any camping areas on the Raider Camp trail coming back out..? Hike on!!
Not great spots, and only close to where it meets Harper Creek. You should check this link for where I point out the best campsites. www.hikingupward.com/PNF/HarperCreekFalls/
Thanks Zach! I enjoy your channel, and really like that you have an accompanying blog/website for more details about the trips you take. I live in Weaverville, and use your channel/videos to not only pre-scout trips, but as a guide to things that may be missed by just looking at a map. Well done sir! If you ever need a shuttle or anything of that nature while you're around these parts, don't hesitate to hit me up....
I will keep that in mind, sometimes I do 20+ mile hikes because I never line up shuttles lol.
Just back from backpacking this loop in an overnighter. Amazing place. Had a bear sighting at camp. The section of trail near South Harper Creek falls is definitely most difficult but the rest of loop I would rate moderate difficult at best. I believe creek a little deeper for me. I’m 5’9” and it came close to my crotch. Nice vid
It is time of the year and recent rain dependent. I am the same height, but did it in April with no recent rain so the highest it got was just above the knees.
@@bigzach322 ruclips.net/video/gIsc3AL8SNE/видео.html
Check out this guys hike. He didn’t have fun
@@lovinglifewithdogmanscout200 Looks like a guy who wants to be a RUclips hiking influencer but isn't that great at the hiking part.
@@bigzach322 lol. Make good educational video on how not to navigate trails
Harper Creek Falls is probably my favorite swimming hole in Wilson Creek area, although Upper Creek Falls pulls a close second.
The size of the swimming hole is impressive, I would compare it to Hunt Fish Falls in that sense
Hunt Fish Falls ranks pretty high aesthetically for me, although the swimming hole there is fairly shallow despite the large surface area. What I like about Harper Creek Falls is that it has two fairly large, deep pools, a natural water slide, and safe(ish) places to jump all in one gorgeous spot. Also, those warm sloping rocks feel amazing after getting out of that chilly water. Upper Creek is probably my favorite creek overall (it's basically a continuous playground of cascades, slides, and pools for miles), but it doesn't have any stand-alone swimming holes that quite equal Harper Creek Falls.
Didn't realize it was shallow, looked too deep to wade in
It's still deep enough to swim around in, but I could touch the bottom in most places when I went. It's still a nice spot, but jumping and diving would be pretty sketchy. I actually tried jumping off the lower fall at Hunt Fish because I saw someone else do it, and he said the water was deep, so I jumped in the same spot and ended up jamming my foot on the bottom. I wasn't injured, but it was not pleasant. I actually swam down to the bottom of the upper pool at Harper with a diving mask, and it was a good 10-12 feet deep. Not surprisingly, I found a few beer cans and a cigarette lighter while I was down there.
That's some in-depth exploration lol
Have you been back in the last couple months by chance? Wondering how the trail conditions are? Great video!
No I haven't, I have too much wanderlust typically to revisit trails that frequently. I'm sure they're fine, I monitor all updates on area-specific Facebook groups.
I did see yesterday there's a huge bald face hornet's nest hanging above the trail below South Harper Creek Falls.
Where did you get the map for this trail?
REI or Great Outdoor Provision usually have it
Is there are camp sites in that loop?
A ton, this loop has some of the best camping in the state.
I have a lot of other hikes on the agenda before I make a return to Harper Creek
Somewhere in the Mt. Mitchell area, I'm working on finishing a challenge. I use Windows Movie Maker, have not tried any other software.
Yes?
Probably not until next May