RATtreks

Hell Hollow Falls and Small Falls 4-2-2010

Can you believe it’s April already ? Another hot, record breaking day so my son Tyler and I decided to head to Clark’s Creek to check out some of the many waterfalls found there. It was Good Friday so he was out of school but since I worked late the morning before we got our usual late start of nearly 4 pm. We decided to take the Hell Hollow trail up to the waterfalls there.

Hell Hollow Falls

It had been many years since I had been there and I did not have any pics of them so it was a good choice. It is a short hike up the hill to them however there is some storm damage that one has to negotiate in order to see them and they are somewhat secluded behind the now fallen laurels and growth but hey, getting the good waterfall pics require some work right? There are technically 3 small falls here where two creeks come together. The first two can be seen below:

Hell Hollow Falls

Then there is a larger set just above the right side:

Hell Hollow Falls (upper right)

It was definitely worth it because the water levels are still fairly high so we captured some decent pics to share with you waterfall lovers out there.

Hell Hollow Falls (left)

Hell Hollow Falls (right)

There are also some very nice cascades just below these falls:

Hell Hollow Cascades

For more pics of these falls, please visit the Photo Gallery.

After making it back to the vehicle, we then drove out to the end of Clark’s Creek  road and started again. This time heading further up the Clark’s Creek valley until we reached the trail to what is known as ‘Small Falls’. This of course requires crossing the creek 5 times (one way) which was still swollen with recent rains and melting snow so hopping rocks and crossing logs was the order for the rest of the day. It is at least a mile or more to the turn off and then you have to go up the hill a ways through a couple blow-downs until you finally reach the falls.

Small Falls

These were also very worth the trouble as they were flowing well and after some work removing the downed trees and laurels that were blocking them, we managed to get some really nice images.

Small Falls

We spent some time here before heading back downhill through all the creeks back to the vehicle. I burned some calories and hopefully this was a warm up for the all day trip we had planned the next day to see all the Simmons Branch falls.

To See more pics of the Small Falls, please visit our Photo Gallery.