November 22, 2022
Panthertown Trails from the West
near Cashiers, NC
A very cool and mostly cloudy day on a new trail for some of us. This trail features four waterfalls, Schoolhouse, Granny Burrell, Frolictown and Wilderness Falls. It also has two great overlooks, Salt Rock Gap and Tranquility Point on Little Green Mountain. It's hard to find many trails with waterfalls and overlooks so accessible. The trails are nicely maintained by "The Friends of Panthertown."However,the trail has quite a range of trail conditions from easy pine straw beds,to packed gravel, to rooty, and some muddy sections. The trail requires one somewhat wet crossing over Frolictown Creek. How wet you get depends on how well you use the available stones in the creek and the water level. Today the creek was low so we were able to cross and only get our boots slightly wet. This is a mostly easy hike with two short, fairly steep climbs: one up Little Green Mountain and the other on the Wilderness Trail out of the valley floor. There are quite a number of other trails in this valley worth exploring.
The route
7.0 mi · 971 ft climbing · 5h 11m out, 3h 58m walking · 1.8 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%
Photos (26)
A view of Panther Valley from Tranquility Point. Today's hikers (L-R): John, Mike, Ray & Jenny Just a thought Headed down the trail. A view to the north from Salt Rock Gap overlook near the start of the hike. All sorts of trail conditions on the hike today. . . . most pretty good. A curious survey marker in the middle of the trail. An interesting water feature along the trail. A sheet of water flowing over a solid rock face into a clear pool. Lots of really clear water along along our path. Sandy Pool Beach. Apparently a favorite swimming spot in the summer. Schoolhouse Falls, our first falls of the day. Break time at Schoolhouse Falls. Ray was honing his photo skills with his new phone. Got ice? We saw quite a bit of it. Quite a bit of Ground Pine, some with bloom heads. Really??? A panoramic view of Panthertown Valley seen from Tranquillity Point on Little Green Mountain at the east end of the valley. John Cape as he heads across Little Green Mountain. And if you elect me President . . . on Tranquility Point. Jenny and Ray also along the path down Little Green Mountain. The second falls of the day, Granny Burrell Falls. Panthertown Creek just above Granny Burrell Falls. The only wet, if you are not careful, crossing today across Panthertown Creek, a little bit past Granny Burrell Falls. Frolictown Falls. We had to climb down a short side trail to see this one. We met this handsome couple at Frolictown Falls. Looks like this large tree was trying to get off the trail for us. The 60-foot Wilderness Falls towards the end of the hike. Not a lot of water today. It would be something to see just after a good rain. Are we there yet? The last 0.7 mile is mostly uphill.