The waterfall is on Jacob's Fork Creek; near the Visitor Center, the creek is placid and mostly level. But way up the trail, where the falls are, the creek, after flowing over a large rock outcropping to form the falls, continues over a series of cascades for a half mile downstream, where it loses about 300 ft. in elevation. Along this route were many small waterfalls, and lots of places where the creek tumbled over boulders on its way down.

As you can see on the aerial view, the trail follows the creek from the parking area to a point where a smaller creek comes into it. Then the trail continues through the woods for a ways until it gets into the bed of the creek itself. From there on up to the falls, the trail goes over rocks, across bridges, up and down stairs and past numerous small cascades.

Eventually, as we were climbing over some of the boulders making our way up the trail, we could see High Shoals Falls up ahead at the end of the canyon.

Although we took more pictures of the part of Jacob Creek below the falls on the way back, we did get some good ones on the way up- even though we were dodging raindrops to do it. If you'll click on the thumbnails below, you can see some of the pictures that Fred, Ted and I took on the way up:

Just Below the Falls As we were climbing over some of the boulders in the watercourse of the creek, following the trail across it and up further, we could see High Shoals Falls ahead.

At the Base of High Shoals Falls

Our trail had started out very easy, and got a little more strenuous as we climbed alongside boulders and up and down stairways and across bridges. But the trail got steeper as we made the final climb up to the viewing platform.

High Shoals Falls

One of the first things we did when we got to the viewing platform was to prevail on another hiker (the only other couple we saw on the trail until our return trip) to take a picture of the three of us on the viewing platform. Of course, all three of us were taking multiple pictures of the falls from the vantage point of the viewing platform, and we all seemed to have the same idea of what shots to compose. In reviewing these pictures, it was remarkable how many shots we all took that were practically identical (well, maybe not so surprising). Rather than bore you with picture after picture, I've selected the best few pictures of each type that we took between us. First, if you will click on the thumbnail images below, you can see the best of the "whole falls, top to bottom" pictures that we took:

Another common composition was to zoom in on the very top of the cascade, to catch the water coming over the edge. Click on the thumbnails below for the best of these pictures:

The third most common view of the falls was to zero in on the main cascade; in these pictures, the focus was on the falling water, and the rocks below at the base of the falls. You can click on the thumbnails below to see the best of these pictures:

While he was below the falls, Fred used the capability of his camera to stitch pictures together to create a panoramic view of High Shoals Falls, and you can see the result below:

High Shoals Falls As with many water features that we see, it is hard to appreciate it simply by looking at pictures; the sound is a big part of the attraction of such sites. So watch this movie of High Shoals Falls.

Above High Shoals Falls

The trail continued up to the top of High Shoals Falls via some stairs and a path at the left side of the falls themselves, so that was the next place we went to.

We went off to the left of the falls themselves and found the stairs up to the top of the falls. We began climbing, and Fred stopped near the top to take a couple of pictures looking back down; you can see those pictures here and here. The trail came over the crest of a ridge, and then descended down to the top of the falls.

Climbing to the Top of High Shoals Falls This movie, which I took while walking up the stairs to the top of the falls, will show you just what part of our hike was like.

When we descended down to the top of the falls, we found that the trail wound around the left side of Jacob Creek which, at the top of the falls, was a fairly wide, fairly level stream.

At the Top of High Shoals Falls

When we got to the overlook for the area at the top of the falls, I made a movie to show you the various features here. Of course, I begin with the point where the creek tumbles over the precipice, but then I'll pan back from that to show you the multi-level small cascades in the middle of the rock streambed and then continue to pan upstream to a footbridge that has been built to take the trail across to the other side and on through the park.

After I hung out by the railing for a while, I continued along the trail upstream until I came to and crossed the wooden footbridge to the other side. I wanted to work my way down through the woods to the top of the falls on the far side, where I thought I might get the best view. So I didn't know that both Fred and Ted had also walked up to and crossed the bridge. Ted stopped in the middle of it to photograph Jacob Creek looking towards the falls. Fred, too, came to the other side and, looking back, took this picture of the footbridge. I continued along the trail for just a ways, and then made my way through the dripping foliage to get down to and then along the shore of the creek. I came out in a small clear area, and from here I could get a pretty good view of Jacob Creek going over the cliff.

At the Top of High Shoals Falls

From my vantage point at the other side of the creek, I made a movie of the water flowing over the precipice. It was a bit slippery here though, and while I might have tried to jump the narrow creek here and get back to the other side without going back to the bridge, I thought that should I lose my footing, the rocks would be slick enough that I might not be able to recover. So I eventually returned via the bridge.

In the Streambed Above High Shoals Falls I walked out onto the rock and from a point near (but not too close to) the precipice, I made a movie looking upstream at the cascades (and Ted taking his own pictures).

The Upstream Cascade One of the small waterfalls here was very picturesque and very restful to watch and listen to. So I made a movie featuring this cascade, and if you are in the mood for a few seconds of relaxation, you should watch it.

Our Return Hike

Being at the top of High Shoals Falls was one of those activities that you could do for a long period of time, but the afternoon was getting on and with the early dusk this time of year we decided to head back.

On the return trip, we recrossed the wood bridges, of course, but this time it wasn't raining and so our pictures were better. And all the way down we paralleled (and in many cases went over) the boulder avalanche streambed. Because the weather was better (at least for now) we took rather more good pictures. Click on the thumbnail images below and you can have a look at some of them:

As we got back nearer to the parking area, the rain began again- but still lightly. I'll end our hike with one more movie.

Crossing Jacob Creek About a quarter mile from the parking area is the place where the trail crosses Jacob Creek for the first time, and I made a movie of the creek flowing down from the falls, under a footbridge, and on down towards the Visitor Center.

We had a really great time on the hike, and we thank Ted for showing it to us. We piled in his car and headed back to Charlotte, this time taking a different route through a number of small, picturesque North Carolina towns.

We Head to Judy's

When we got back to Ted's house, we stopped to visit for a while, but since we'd be seeing both he and Jeffie in another day anyway, we decided to head on up to Judy's house in Elon, there to have some supper with her and find our hotel.

We followed the familiar route up I-85 to the familiar exit for her house, and went directly there. We did indeed have some supper and hang out for a while.

While at Judy's house, I made reservations at the Microtel over in Burlington, and we headed back over to I-40 and west the few exits to find it. I think this was the second or third time we'd stayed there. I also made a reservation for Jeffie and Michael who would be coming up tomorrow night for Thanksgiving.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	November 24, 2010: Greyfield Farms (Elon, NC)
	November 22, 2010: Amicalola State Park (GA)
	Return to the Index for Our Thanksgiving Trip