Twin Falls

Driving directions**: From the college, drive right on Broad Street for several miles until you get to the Pisgah Forest intersection (near the Wal-Mart store). Turn left into Pisgah Forest (Route 276N). Continue for 2.2 miles and turn right onto 477 toward the riding stables. It’s 2.3 miles from this turn-off (about a mile past the stables). Pull of at the wide place in the road (only room for 2-3 cars). To begin the hike, follow the trail on the right side of the road (Lower Avery Creek Trail with a blue blaze) down the trail.

Hiking directions - Twin Falls: The trail is about 4.4 miles (round trip), and follows along the stream and is pretty level for much of the way. If you don’t have 2-4 hours, you can always just hike for a while and turn around. To get to the Twin Falls follow these directions. By the way, I saw tons of mushrooms on the trail when I hiked it a few times this summer. At the end there are 2 waterfalls that are about 100 feet high. The trail isn’t too hilly, you go back and forth across the stream many times (maybe 15 or more). It can be muddy and rocky in places, and there are plenty of wooden rails to step on as you cross the creek. At the beginning of the trail you go down a fairly short steep hill (Blue blaze), then you level out and follow the blue blazes for about 1.2 miles (maybe 30-45 min.) Its called Lower Avery Creek Trail. It joins an orange blaze (Buckhorn Gap Trail) for while, then the 2 trails split and you now follow the orange blaze as you head along the stream going upstream, for about another ½ hour (.7 miles). Then you should see a sign for Upper Falls Trail (which may be a light blue or white blaze). Follow it for about 15 minutes (.3 miles). The last part is up a rocky stair climb. When you get to the falls it is quite pretty (rated 8 on a 1-10 scale by Kevin Adams), but it’s hard to find a good place to sit comfortably to relax or soak in the water. Continue through the water of the first falls that you come to so that you don’t miss the other falls. The first time I was there I missed the 2^nd (twin) falls and didn’t see it at all. This falls is a tall one, as well, and feeds from a different creek. Retrace your path to return to your car. As you do that remember to catch the orange blaze and to go right over the creek when you come back (it might be easy to go straight on the wrong path). Then you’ll follow the double orange and blue blaze, before finally catching the blue blaze (Lower Avery Creek trail) back to your car. As you near the end of the hike, you might notice activity of some beavers that are creating some pools of stagnant water through their activity. I’ve done this hike in a little over 2 hours, and have also taken 4 hours plus with a small group who liked to look at every mushroom and interesting object.

• *As always, when hiking you should always:
• Hike with someone
• Let others know where you are going and when you expect to return
• Wear appropriate footwear and clothing (carry rain gear)
• Carry water (and snacks)
• Have a map of the area (available downtown at the Forest Place or at Dolly’s ice cream shop (at the corner of 64, 276 and 280, near Wal-Mart)

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