DEEP CREEK NATIONAL PARK WATERFALLS

THREE WATERFALLS ON ONE HIKE

 Any trip to Bryson City, North Carolina should include a ride on the Great Smokey Mountain Railway, a tube ride down Deep Creek and a visit to three wonderful waterfalls.  We only had time for one of the three, so we chose to chase waterfalls!

Located just a few miles from downtown Bryson City, North Carolina is the Deep Creek National Park.  Too visit all three waterfalls is a 2.5 mile moderately easy trail.  Nearest the trailhead is the unusually name Juney Whanks waterfall, along the Deep Creek tubing trek is the Tom Branch Falls and at the head of the Deep Creek rapids is the majestic Indian Creek Falls.  The map at the trailhead is helpful but only if you modify it a bit for comfort and convenience, something the Fat Bald White Guy is pretty good at.

 JUNEY WHANKS WATER FALL:

The trailhead for the Juney Whanks waterfall is located right beside the trailhead map. It is a surprisingly steep hike to start the day.  The trail switches back to join the horse trail that loops around the park. It is a well maintained and well marked trek of no more than a third of a mile.

A small bridge takes you across in front of the Juney Whanks falls allowing the Fat Bald White Guy to get close to the waterfall.  It is a relatively small waterfall but a waterfall nonetheless. 

 The falls are named for Junaluska Whanks who was a settler who is thought to be buried nearby. Or perhaps it is really named for the Cherokee phrase "juney whank" which means "where the bear passes".  Who knows? It is a narrow fast moving cascade of about 30 feet in height.  Cool spray greets you as you cross the bridge at its mid point.

 

                          

 Leaving the waterfall, the trail leads down to the banks of the Deep Creek to a wide gravel path just a few hundred yards from the second waterfall of the day the Tom Branch Falls.

 

TOM BRANCH WATERFALL:

The Tom Branch waterfall is located adjacent to Deep Creek.  Several trail benches are arrayed for the enjoyment of all. Sit and watch the falls when it is quiet or enjoy the passing tubers.  When we arrived, there were no tubers, so we enjoyed the quiet view.

The falls are framed by a large tree on the opposite bank.  No matter where I moved this tree or its limbs were a part of every photograph.  Then it dawned on me that this waterfall existed when this tree was but an acorn.  Now the tree is a silent sentinel to the beauty of the waterfall.  So I decided to make the tree part of the picture.

 INDIAN CREEK WATERFALL:

The last waterfall of our trip was the Indian Creek Waterfall.  It is located about a mile from the Tom Branch Waterfall.  The trail is wonderfully alongside the fast flowing Deep Creek which increasingly becomes alive with tubers carrying orange, blue, red and yellow tubes, eagerly jumping in a floating happily down the river.

 Most tubers will put in at the first bridge which is about halfway between the Tom Branch Falls and the Indian Creek Falls.  But the experienced tubers will trudge up the trail almost all the way to Indian Falls to get the fastest and longest rides.

 

 The Indian Creek Falls is by far the best waterfall of Deep Creek National Park. It is over forty feet tall with active multiple cascades.  When we arrived a family was spending extra time swimming at the base of the falls and lest I disturb them I moved up the trail to get some pictures above the falls.  About 300 yards is a bridge that crosses Indian Creek.  The upstream view above the falls was nice and calm.

 

 Returning downstream to the falls, I discovered the family still playing in the water and pointing to the top of the falls.  There stood one of their own, a teenaged girl trying her best either to be a river nymph or a member of the Darwin Awards for 2020.  Oblivious to the danger she walked along the top of the falls posing for her adoring family. Thankfully, she left no worse for her indiscretions.  

 Soon she climbed down and the family left and the Fat Bald White Guy had the falls to himself! I took several pictures and a couple of selfies.  This is a great waterfall and one I could see inspiring lots of play in the water at its base. I was even told that back in the day a friend of mine slid down the slick side of the falls..."wearing jeans" he noted!

 

Before we left we ran into a couple visiting the North Carolina mountains for the first time.  Jim and Kelly were from Corpus Christi Texas.  When I told them I was the Fat Bald White Guy and wanted to make them famous, they eagerly posed for a picture! Great folks from a great state...glad to have met them!

 

 What a great hike?!  We put in a pretty easy 2.5 miles and got to see three great waterfalls and enjoy the bankside hike along a mountain river.  Got to come back and do some tubing and ride the Great Smokey Mountain Railway. The trail was a 9, well marked and maintained, trail head was easy to find, even though finding the park proved to be a bit of challenge due to lack of cell service for Waze App. Scenery is a solid 9.  Cumulatively three waterfalls in 2.5 miles is a real find.  Effort to view was about right.  Overall a solid grade 9 hike and one most everyone can easily manage.