Scotsman Creek Falls is a 55-foot waterfall near Cashiers, North Carolina. The creek flows into the Chattooga River downstream. Much like nearby Andrew Ramey Falls and Lower Bearwallow Falls, this is more of a bushwack than a trail. There are no signs or blazes or any other indicators that you are near a waterfall. There is no official trail at all. I happened to visit this location after very heavy rainfall (flooding, really) and the muddy conditions and myriad blowdowns made this trek almost impassable.
Use the map below to navigate to the trailhead. I use the term trailhead loosely. There is no cell signal in the area, so get your navigation app up and running while you’re still in civilization. Stop exactly where your GPS tells you to stop. The only indication that you have arrived is a slightly wider bit of gravel road on the left. Park there. You should hear the waterfall.
If you look closely, you’ll see a bit of trampled ground. follow that over, under, and around many downed trees to the bottom. It’s not a long hike—maybe 50 yards to the bottom. Trekking poles are very useful here.
Scotsman Creek Falls features a great cascade and a better swimming hole below the falls. This would be a great place to spend a hot August day if you can make it safely to the bottom. I think that in dry weather, it wouldn’t be too difficult. I did not visit in dry weather.
Visiting waterfalls after heavy rains is a mixed bag. The cascades are heavy and gorgeous, but the hiking conditions are usually very bad. This was no exception. Scotsman Falls was a meat grinder on the day I visited. I didn’t manage to get all the way down to the creekside because the conditions were too perilous. Well, if I wasn’t getting over a broken leg, maybe I would have made it down. But it seemed too dangerous with unsure footing and a more unsure ankle on this day.
Still, it was an impressive waterfall and you’re almost certain to have it all to yourself if you visit.
I should add that there are a couple of primitive campsites with room for parking, bear poles, and campfire rings just before the waterfall. You could make a weekend of this attraction.
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This area is filled with waterfalls. Some have proper trailheads with parking lots and others are hidden gems just off forestry roads like this one. I own and use this book to plan multi-site trips. The waterfalls are broken down by region, so it makes planning easy. I highly recommend it.
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