Harper Creek Falls Best Hike

• Difficulty: Most Difficult
• Total Length: 8.5 mi
• Trail Tread Condition: Very Rough
• Climb: Hilly
• Lowest Elevation: 1480 ft
• Highest Elevation: 2440 ft
• Total Elevation Gain: 1100 ft
• Trails/Roads Used: Raider Camp, Harper Creek, Mountains to Sea, unnamed trails
• Hike Configuration: Loop with out-and-back extension

South Harper Creek Falls, one of your destinations on this hike.

To begin this hike, you need to park somewhere and climb to the gap where Harper Creek trail (#260) intersects Yellow Buck trail (#265). There are now two trailheads, each with drawbacks. Harper Creek trail joins with SR 1328 just south of Mortimer. This is the old main trailhead, but parking here is extremely limited (with space for maybe for 3 small vehicles squeezed between the road and creek bank). The trail from here climbs moderately on an old logging road bed and is easy to follow and well-blazed. Just south of the main trailhead about 0.2 miles, the Forest Service has expanded an old parking area to make a much more obvious and comfortable place to park. A new trail appears from the back of the parking area, and this is said to be the future Harper Creek trailhead. However, it is badly built, and at least for the time being it climbs straight up the extremely steep slope in places, and will soon be atrociously eroded. This new section of trail then joins another old logging road which is already very, very eroded and climbs up to the gap to meet with the main blazed trail. You can go either way, but it may well be worth parking in the new parking area but hiking up the road to the old trailhead due to the extremely poor design of the new trail. Go figure.

Anyway, reach the gap, bear left on Harper Creek trail, and descend on an old logging road on a much gentler grade. The orange-blazed trail is mostly wide and smooth, easy to follow, with a few sandy, muddy, or wet spots and a crossing of a couple of small branches. You will come to a point that is about 30 feet almost vertically above the creek, then the trail moves into an area with lots of campsites. Several side paths lead left; stay straight on the blazed trail. The trail will travel through a flat area, move away from Harper Creek and get closer to it again; at a large campsite, you reach the first intersection. It is signed. Both signs list the trails as "440", which corresponds to neither. The Mountains to Sea Trail comes in from the left and goes uphill, right. This begins the loop portion of the hike. Bear left onto the yellow-blazed Raider Camp trail and immediately come to the first crossing of Harper Creek.

Here, you'll need to make a judgement call. This is the furthest downstream crossing you'll make on this hike, but it's also one of the easiest. If the water is so high that crossing looks difficult or dangerous, you want to turn around and come back to hike this another day. I was able to rockhop this on my last visit, but it may well be a wade. The creek is wide and threaded at this point, with many smaller channels, gravel bars, stepping stones and large boulders interspersed with clumps of grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers. Once across, the trail heads downstream a bit, then climbs the bank on the right side. The trail at this point is blazed yellow and white (for the Mountains to Sea Trail).

The trail heads upstream along the modest Raider Camp creek. It's a steady climb, moderately steep, and it doesn't let up much, but trust me - it's the easiest part of this hike. Enjoy the rich woods and notice how frighteningly eroded the trail gets. In places, the gully has walls head-high on either side and it looks like it will keep on eroding as long as there is a trail and soft soil underneath. The water has nowhere to go but directly down the trail. This is a problem the Forest Service shouldn't have overlooked 20 years ago - it is literally too entrenched to fix now!

The trail will pull away from the creek up the mountainside somewhat, then return to it at a small, hard-to-see waterfall before pulling away for good yet again. Along the hike, there are two primary types of evergreen trees: Eastern Hemlock and Eastern White Pine. The Hemlocks are more prevalent on lower parts of the trail and in coves, while the White Pines take over more at higher elevations on dry ridges. A mix of the two exists in some areas. The trail reaches the ridgeline, then swings left of it again in a patch of young woods. Most of the short, straight trees here are tuliptree. You'll climb a bit further to the next intersection, where you want to proceed straight. The climb lets up from here and you'll enter another rich forest. As the trail swings around a ridge, the forest used to be full of pines - but the Southern Pine Beetle wiped these out several years ago and it's largely shrub and sourwood trees now. The trail crosses some wet-weather seeps before coming to the next obvious intersection. This is where the easy hiking ends - prepare to use your map and route-finding skills extensively!

Here, the Mountains to Sea trail goes straight. Turn right onto the un-blazed, threaded path leading downhill along a ridge. This is a spur trail to an overlook. (On my last visit, there were some very faint, small, red blazes but these were placed for a trail-running event and are not meant to be permanent). This trail descends moderately through a dry ridgetop forest and gets quite a bit steeper near the end. There are a couple of forks; keep left and continue downhill on the most heavily used gully toward open sky. You should be able to hear South Harper Creek Falls off to your left. The path comes out at a rocky, high cliff point where you have a spectacular view of South Harper Creek Falls. The creek slides down a very long rock face 300 feet below you, and the low ridges of the surrounding mountains rise steeply on either side. Ironically, this waterfall is not on South Harper Creek - just Harper Creek. Its name is presumably to distinguish it from the falls on North Harper Creek and the plan 'old Harper Creek Falls downstream from where both merge, which you will see later on this hike. To your right, far in the distance, lies the craggy peak of Grandfather Mountain. Enjoy the view, but be extremely cautious (it is not a smooth platform all the way up to the edge) and stay well back from the cliff's edge.

Climb back up the gully path, keeping right this time. You are looking for a level, well-built trail that heads right from the overlook spur. Trouble is, the trail is fairly overgrown and hard to spot and you probably won't see it on the way down (but if you do, take note of it). Once you are on the trail, push your way through the laurel and if the path keeps going, you have found the right one. There is a fork after 100 feet or so; both come back together shortly and you'll climb up and over a couple of rocky crags. This trail is for the most part well-built and in great shape, save for overgrown laurel and rhododendron. It begins descending the slope on several swithcbacked segments, and once you know what to look for it's fairly easy to follow. Consider bringing a machete and making it easier for the next person when you come!

The path will descend into a small side cove which empties into Harper Creek at the top of South Harper Creek falls. The last few feet descend over a large rock with natural stair-steps carved into it. You'll come to the creek at a point where a small tributary empties into Harper Creek. An old tire was leaning against the shrubs to the right last time I was here, but don't count on seeing it. About 100 feet upstream is another nice waterfall, but this one may be on private property. Across Harper Creek is a large, angled rock and you will want to cross here. You may be able to rock-hop, but it may also be a wade. The trail picks up at the top of the angled rock and leeds a very short distance to the main, blazed trail, which joins from the left.

Bear right (straight, really) onto the orange blazed trail heading downstream. You'll pass the top of the falls and the trail switches back several times as it descends toward the base through a hemlock forest. The path is rather steep and rough at this point - some sections are steeply off-camber and very slippery. As you descend, several side paths head toward the falls, but these are not recommended. Continue downstream where you will come out at the creek below the falls once it settles down a bit. This will be your first of 10 crossings on this section of trail (for a total of 12, including the very first one on the Raider Camp trail and the one just upstream from the falls).

The creek crossings are your main obstacle from here down to Harper Creek Falls. Each crossing has a bit more water than the one before. I was able to rock-hop 7 out of 10 of them last time I hiked this, but the last 2 were a bit dicey in terms of staying dry. You may have to wade a majority of them. You'll have to look carefully for the orange blazes on rocks at crossings - especially on the other side so you know where to emerge from the water. The rushing water and blaring sun tends to make blazes on rocks fade quickly, and blazes on stream side trees may be gone when trees get washed out by their roots. Only one of the crossings has no blaze at all, as of last time I hiked this. In addition to the crossings, this is an area under study to become wilderness, and it is very much like wilderness travel.

The trail is made difficult by the fact that it is sparsely blazed and very little traveled. It gets heavily overgrown in places, it is very narrow, there are lots of side paths almost as well worn as the main one, and it is tight and twisty with short ups and downs. The path will come out on the rocks at the edge of the stream without crossing a couple of times as well, so look for those blazes. Overall, it's not terribly difficult from a physical standpoint, but the crossings and constant hunting for the right trail will take its toll. If you're used to wilderness travel, it will be no big deal. After all, true wilderness trails have no blazes at all! For those who haven't had much wilderness experience, this wouldn't be a bad place to start experimenting with wilderness travel since it's not terribly long or difficult and the few blazes that are there do help, but your first trip through on a trail such as this will likely be taxing.

For all the trouble, why even hike this trail? The scenery along the bottom of the gorge here is fantastic. The forest is lush and dense; the streamside areas are vibrant and healthy. Look for numerous signs of past flooding on this wild, free-flowing stream such as piles of leaves and sticks stuck in the forks of rhododendron bushes waist-high. Sandbars, gravel bars, log jams, and natural rock levees attest to the power of the water during flooding. Large boulders force side streams into small waterfalls as they trickle into the main creek. You may be lucky enough to see some beaver dams near the lower portions of the trail. And if you're even luckier, you'll see a beaver, but the chances of this are pretty slim.

Keep in mind that if you are caught here during a thunderstorm, or if one happens upstream, flash flooding isn't out of the question and it may be a long time before the water receeds enough to safely cross. You are far from help here, so be prepared. Do you have enough clothing, water, and supplies to spend the night in an emergency if you should become flooded out, injured, or tired? If not - don't hike this trail!

After the 8th crossing, you'll come to the intersection with the Mountains to Sea Trail. Remember how the trail turned right back at the signed intersection at the campsite? This is where it ends up. Bear right, continuing downstream. The trail is a bit smoother, wider, and more well traveled from here on. Incidentally, the Mountains to Sea Trail follows North Harper Creek so a lot more water empties into Harper Creek here too, making your chances of rock-hopping the next two crossings almost nil unless the water is very low.

Eventually, you'll come to the final crossing which is not far above Harper Creek Falls. The trail gets a bit steeper and rougher and climbs some to pass around the falls. Continue on the trail a ways beyond the falls where it joins an old logging road (the main trail) at an angle. Turn right and take one of several ridiculously steep and eroded paths downhill to reach the base. This is one of the finest swimming holes anywhere, but the ropes that are sometimes strung up the slopes are not attractive. Don't encourage this - if you go for a swim, just enjoy the bottom pool and don't try to climb up the falls. Some people slide down the lower drop, but this is not recommended. No photographs can capture the true enormity of the scene, but you can sure try, and on a well-lit or overcast day, it's a fine opportunity to take a shot. Once you've seen enough, return to the main path and head downstream.

The falls is where most turn around, so the path is wide and relatively easy from here. It's a short distance back to the intersection at the campsite - which will probably be a welcome sight. Turn left, and return to your vehicle on the same trail to end the hike.