Laurel Fork Falls

The sound before the sight

You hear it before you see it.

The trail to Laurel Fork Falls comes in along the top of a small gorge and for the first mile you can’t see any water at all. Then about fifteen minutes in the sound starts, a low constant roar that gets louder as you walk. You round a bend, you drop down some rocky steps, and the falls open up in front of you.

It’s not the tallest waterfall in Tennessee. It’s just the one we send people to when they want a short hike with a real payoff.

What it actually is

Laurel Fork Falls is about 50 feet of water dropping into a green pool inside a small gorge in the Pond Mountain Wilderness. The wilderness is federally protected, so the falls and the area around them feel undeveloped, no railings, no observation deck, no gift shop. Just the falls and a few flat rocks to sit on.

The walk from the Dennis Cove trailhead is short, around 2.6 miles round trip, with a small but real climb on the way out. It is the most popular hike in this part of the wilderness for a reason, the effort-to-payoff ratio is hard to beat.

Getting there

About 25 minutes from the property. The route is the same as for Pond Mountain, out Highway 67 to Hampton, then up Dennis Cove Road (USFS 50). The road is paved at first, then good gravel, with switchbacks. Drive slowly, especially if you’re not used to mountain roads.

The Dennis Cove parking area is on the left, about four miles in from Hampton. There’s a small gravel lot with maybe ten spaces. On a Saturday in spring or peak fall it can fill up, so try to be there by 9 a.m. The Appalachian Trail crosses the road right at the lot. You want the white blazes heading west, which will be on the right side of the road as you face downhill.

What the trail is like

The first mile is the gift. It follows an old rail bed along the creek, mostly flat, with three small wooden bridges where the trail crosses feeder streams. Footing is soft, root-covered in places, easy. You can hear the creek below you most of the way.

Then the trail turns sharply left and you start to descend. This is where the trail earns its moderate rating. The next quarter mile is steep rocky steps, some natural, some built. One section has a chain bolted to the rock as a handrail. Take your time. Three points of contact on the wet rocks if it’s been raining.

At the bottom, the gorge opens up. You’re at the base of the falls.

What to do at the bottom

Sit. Don’t try to walk up to the lip, the rocks above the falls are slick and people have died from that mistake at waterfalls all over Appalachia. The view from the flat rocks at the base is the view.

There’s a footbridge below the falls if you want to cross to the other side. The pool is deep enough to swim, cold enough that you won’t stay in long, and the rocks around it are mossy. If you do go in, take your shoes off and walk in slow, the entry rocks are slippery.

The light is best in late morning. The gorge faces in a way that lets the sun reach the falls from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Photographers, this is your window.

What the trail is really like

Spring is when the falls are spectacular. April and early May after a rainy stretch the water is loud and full and you can feel the mist from twenty feet away. By August in a dry year the falls are thinner, more of a curtain than a waterfall. Still pretty, but smaller.

The trail can be muddy in spring. Boots help. Tennis shoes will get destroyed.

There is no water on the trail and no facilities at the trailhead. Bring water, take it with you when you leave.

Black bears live here. The wilderness is rugged and they have plenty of cover. We tell guests to make a little noise on the trail and not to leave a backpack unattended at the falls.

The hike out is the harder direction because of the climb back up the rocky steps. Allow at least 90 minutes for the round trip, two hours if you want to enjoy yourself at the bottom.

Combining it with other things

This is the easiest pairing on the lake. Drive up to Dennis Cove in the morning, walk to the falls and back, you’ll be done by lunch. From there you can:

• Drive back to Shook Branch for a swim, about 20 minutes
• Stop in Hampton at the Hampton Trail Days mural and grab lunch at one of the small spots in town
• Continue up Dennis Cove Road and try Pond Mountain in the afternoon if you have the legs left for it (we don’t recommend this on the same day for most guests)
• Head 10 minutes the other way to walk the AT across the dam for an entirely different kind of view

We tell most guests to make this a half-day hike, not a full one. Save the afternoon for the lake.

When to go

April and May after rain — the falls at their best. June through August — green, lush, fewer crowds on weekdays. October — fall color in the gorge. Winter — the falls sometimes partially freeze into ice columns, which is beautiful but the trail is dangerous when icy. Don’t go without microspikes.

Weekday mornings any time of year are the best window. Weekend afternoons in summer the parking lot can be full and the falls can have ten or twelve people at the base.

Related

• Pond Mountain — same trailhead road, much harder, way bigger view
• The Watauga Lake Trail — the flat alternative if your group includes someone who can’t do steps
• The Appalachian Trail at Watauga Lake — the trail this hike is technically part of
• Cherokee National Forest — the bigger picture
• Shook Branch Recreation Area — for the post-hike swim
• The property — where the kettle is on

Related on the lake

• Pond Mountain — same trailhead
• Cherokee NF overview
• Spring is the best time for waterfalls