North CarolinaNC Waterfalls

Quick Glance

Follow dirt road 1 mile to fork and turn left. Ford creek at 0.3 miles and enter fields. Walk to far right end of fields (0.4 miles from creek crossing) and enter woods on path. Walk 200 yards to point near creek, then follow winding, makeshift path upstream 0.45 miles to Milton Bradley Falls. Climb path on river-right side of falls to top, then creekwalk about 0.25 miles upstream to Bradley Cooper Falls. Marilou Bradley is on the tributary joining from river right. An obvious path ascends steeply between Bradley cooper and Marilou Bradley, then swings left and goes to the top of Marilou Bradley. From here, continue creekwalking upstream another 0.3 miles.

Detailed Look

Follow the dirt road 1 mile to a fork. An old barn once stood in the corner, but it's now gone. Off the road to the right is an old shack. Turn left at the fork and hike the sandy road 0.3 miles to the Cove Creek crossing. Expect to wade. After crossing, the old road follows the creek upstream a short distance before turning sharply left and ascending to fields.

In summer, the route through the fields can be hard to follow. Basically, you want to work your way through to the far-right corner, which is 0.4 miles from the creek crossing. A path enters the woods here and leads 200 yards to a point close to Little Cove Creek. GPS for this point is 35.285661, -82.284931.

From this point, a winding makeshift path leads 0.45 miles upstream to Marilou Bradley Falls. The idea is just to follow the route of least resistance. At one point, you’ll likely need to walk in the creekbed for a short distance.

You must climb to the top of Milton Bradley. You may see a rope on the river-left side of the falls, but I no longer consider that an acceptable route. Now, there is an obvious path ascending the river-right side of the falls which provides a safer route to the top. However, that route comes out very close to the brink of the falls and you must be extremely careful.

Once at the top of Milton Bradley Falls, follow the creek about a quarter mile upstream to Bradley Cooper Falls. The rocks are extremely slippery. Just below Bradley Cooper, a tributary enters Little Cove Creek on river right. Marilou Bradley is a short distance upstream on the trib.

To reach Cavern Falls, take the obvious path that climbs up the steep slope between Bradly Cooper and Marilou Bradley. It tops out and swings left towards Marilou Bradley, coming right to the brink. This is a dicey section, requiring close attention to every step.

Once you are above Marilou Bradley, it’s another 0.3 miles of creekwalking to reach Cavern. Go slow and watch your steps. This is not a place you want to break a leg unless you have a thing for helicopter evacs.