July 12, 2022
Blue Ridge Railroad Historical Trail/Palmetto Loop
near Walhalla, SC
All-in-all this was an easy to moderately difficult hike combining two trails into a loop. We began with a short hike to Issaqueena Falls using a path below the viewing platform. This path is tricky, being quite steep over loose dirt, roots and large rocks, not a path to take when wet. However, it is worth the effort and provided a much better view. The Blue Ridge Railroad Historical Trail is marked as the "Yellow Trail, not a loop," but it can be done. It begins near the Issaqueena Falls Trail. It is fairly short, not terribly rocky or rooty, but steep in places. It joins the well established and maintained Palmetto Trail via a short trail to the NW for the return to the trailhead. Overall the trail is in good condition with only one blowdown across the trail which was easily climbed over. While not a lot to see along the trail as far as views or wildflowers, the recent rains have brought out quite a number of attractive fungi. Lots of poison ivy though! We did pass along the Walhalla Reservoir followed by what appeared to be a former reservoir on Cane Creek. There was one small falls on Cane Creek labelled as Pollack Falls. It is not well seen from the trail and we chose not to scramble off the trail to get a better view.
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The route
5.6 mi · 784 ft climbing · 4h 25m out, 3h 20m walking · 1.7 mph moving
Elevation
Hover over the profile to see the elevation and steepness. Your position will be shown on the map.
- Steepness
- Gentle under 5%
- Moderate 5–10%
- Steep 10–15%
- Very steep over 15%
21 photos are shown on the map where they were taken — click one to see it full size.
Photos (27)
Isaaqueena Falls seen from just below the falls. Worth the hike to the bottom. Today's hikers: Mike, Edwin, Jenny, Gary, Beth, John, Renee, Glenda, Bob & Vic. Some of us must have gotten the "Blue Memo!" Getting started to first visit Issaqueena Falls A nice view of the foothills to the east of the falls. In the summer, it's tough to get a really good view of the Issaqueena Falls from the overlook platform. If not wet, it's best to scramble down to the base of the falls as our ladies did. Vic spotted this hornet's nest high in the trees in front of the falls. Is the sky really falling? It was a bit of a scramble to climb up from the base of the falls. Beth spotted this very large, late season Jack-in-the-pulpit along the old railroad trail. It was a big day for fungus! We were a bit surprised a hiker two days before cut her hike short for this downed tree. Seed pods of Carolina silverbells. We did see numerous examples of these eye-catching large leaved Frasier Magnolias. These aerial roots from a partially downed Muscadine vine created a curtain across the trail. Toward the end of the historical railroad trail we came upon the large run of rock rubble. We speculated it was some of the old railroad bed. An interesting tree with tree trunks, two of which had grown together near the base. Renee and Beth demonstrating the wide girth of this tree. There were other sporadic clumps of wildflowers along the trail. This was a really nice example of Downy rattlesnake plantain. Finally! St. Andrew's cross is in bloom! We finally crossed over onto the return leg of the hike on the Palmetto Trail. We hiked along the Walhalla Reservoir on the way back. Pollack Falls, a small falls not well viewed from the trail, but also not easy to get a better view this time of the year. Lunch time for this trail creature! Always a big smile from Bob Magee! What's up?