Long Creek Falls Hike, SC -- 11.2018

There comes a point in things we do even though we enjoy them, we find ourselves getting a bit jaded and passive.  I don't know about you, but I personally almost get dismissive too (which is a really bad habit).  When I look back at this, I get disappointed in myself for allowing me to get this way.  However, these things happen is such small little unnoticeable steps, that by the time we are away from where we started, we didn't even realize how far deviated we've gone.  I'm sure you can relate.

This happened to me most recently with hiking and waterfall chasing at the beautiful Long Creek Falls in Oconee State Park, South Carolina just a bit past Clemson.

Gus and I had just completed a great challenging hike watching the leaves change at Table Rock State Park and we were pretty much counting the hiking season as "done".  However, for some reason I kept coming back to Long Creek Falls on my AllTrails "Favorites" app.  The hike didn't seem difficult, but the photos that were loaded of the falls didn't really "pop" to me either.  I started to get a bit cynical.  I recall thinking that I didn't want to travel to the falls, hike there and have them be sub par.  I argued with myself that the falls looked small and uneventful.

As fate my have it though, Gus was starting to get a TON of pent up energy, so it was time for an adventure to help him exercise.  The obvious choice was Long Creek Falls at that point.

We set out on an evening hike to our destination about 45 minutes outside of Greenville towards the Georgia border.  The air was crisp with a fantastic autumn chill.

The parking lot was empty when we got there except for one other lonely car.  We quickly got our gear and headed down the wide trail.  There were a few branches off the trail headed to other destinations, however I believe that most of these were for either hunting or camping spots.  As we continued down, we came to an abrupt dead end of the section of our trail.  I will warn that the next section was not very clearly marked, so if you venture this way, please make note.

After finding our direction back to the trail, it was adorned with the most beautiful floral arrangements of fern and tall trees.  It was like stepping back in time to a land that the clocks forgot.  Heading forward, we kicked around several lazy turns then finally came to a pretty steep downward section.  At this point, you could hear the roar of the falls and even see the Chattooga River water.  The trip down the loose trail was precarious, but cautiously approached as the sun started to slip away from the day.

We opened up to a great view of the Chattooga River.  If you have never been to this part of the US, the river was approximately 50 yards wide and appeared at this point to be a maximum of 5 foot deep with mostly shallow spots that gave magnificent views of the colored river rocks just below the surface.  It is a decently quick moving river and is used for floating in the summer time.  The Chattooga twists through the Blue Ridge Mountains and provides the border separating South Carolina and Georgia.  I took a few shots and videos here, then turned to the east to take in the Falls from a far vantage point.

The falls were much more than my cynical mind had prepared me for.  The two main falls were separated by about 10-12 feet between them and the brightly colored green moss was adorning the rocks in the middle.  Being it was still Fall, the tree leaves around were in the late stages of turning, but still offered a colorful display.  Long Creek Falls were gorgeous!

Gus and I sat around for a bit taking in the large falls, letting the cool mist get a nice thin layer of musk on us as we were quickly reminded to stop judging hikes based solely on other peoples photographs and reviews.  We planned some video and photo shots, snapped them and started heading back.

My take away from this experience it to not judge sights until my eyes gaze upon them.  It is VERY easy to discount and make excuses of why you SHOULDN'T do something, rather than find reasons why you SHOULD do something.  Life Lesson Learned!

If you are near the South Carolina or North Georgia boarder outside of Clemson, I would highly recommend Long Creek Falls.  They went from sub par in photos to becoming one of my favorite waterfalls I've visited thus far!

Today I leave you with one of my favorite quotes about complacency from Tyler Knott Gregson:

If I do not follow you

out of this zone of comfort,

I've lived safely inside,
Push me, pull me, or 
throw me from that
circle.  If my wander loses
its lust, if the soles of my feet
begin to rust, if I forget
the way to adventure,
force it upon me until I
remember; demand a life
five thousand shades
from ordinary.

Stats from the Long Creek Falls Hike:

Distance:  3.3 miles
Vertical:  610 vert ft
Time: 3 hours (w/ breaks)
Fun Factor:  Humbling

AllTrails Link

Video from our hike to Long Creek Falls: