Upper Catawba Falls, Old Fort

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/4/2025	4.2 miles	2 hours 13 minutes	955'	2.1 mph	39.6 miles

Parking: 

• Catawba Falls Trailhead, Catawba River Road, Old Fort

Map:

• At kiosk

Directions:

• Take Catawba Falls Ridge Trail to Upper Catawba Falls. Return the same way

Hip pain was bad last night, but popped 2 Tylenol in the morning so I could hike. Glen and I haven't been to Catawba Falls since they re-opened. Normally this isn't a great hike to do with Krumm, because it tends to be very crowded with tons of people and dogs. But today, the parking lot wasn't too full. We stopped at the trail kiosk to look at the map. It has changed since we last have hiked here. There was a sign saying that the Upper Catawba Falls platform is closed due to hurricane damage. We took the new Catawba Falls Ridge Trail, which is a wide dirt/gravel road. This leads up to Upper Catawba Falls, where we had the falls to ourselves for a while. The pool beneath the falls was shallow enough that we let Krumm have a swim. We saw the broken platform. You can actually get around to the other side if you are careful. Glen checked it out, while I headed back down the Ridge Trail. A nice hike, with not too many people. This is one I definitely recommend as a weekday hike, as it can be a madhouse on weekends.

Upper Catawba Falls

Hurricane damage - the platform is gone

Happy to be swimming in February!

Cold but worth it!