On the last Saturday morning before the Forest service closed the trail to Catawba Falls until spring 2023, I am so glad I was able to make one more trek to this spectacular place. They will be working to make viewing the falls safer for the public “by building retaining walls, boardwalks, staircases, and overlooks along the trail from the second bridge to the base of Lower Catawba falls along the creek to Upper Catawba falls.” (Quoted from Forest Service signage) If you have been following the blog or posts about my adventures, you have probably seen that I have visited these awe-inspiring falls several times lately since my first visit not long ago. This visit was the first time I made the climb to Upper Catawba Falls. This was only possible with the help of some new friends I met on the trail; we helped encourage each other to continue as none of us had been to the upper falls before. So grateful we met when we did! It was quite the climb, scaling rocks and using roots to scramble up the mountain. There is no question that it was totally worth it to see this magical place.
I am not sure how I timed it on a weekend to catch this place just before being closed perfectly. I parked with 4 other cars in the lot and a few hours later, walked out to big crowds and not a single spot in the lot – cars parked anywhere they could be squeezed. I am truly over the moon that I went and saw the falls before the structures are built, glad I made that climb, but most grateful that I somehow had quiet moments with no other people at both sets of falls. It was insanely busy with visitors everywhere when I climbed down. People wanted to say goodbye to what they have known these falls as for so long and had gathered en masse to do so. I understand that the closure and repairs are needed to make it safe with so many people flocking to these sites; I can only hope that the magic of the place is somehow left intact after all the construction. If you haven’t been, you will have to wait until it reopens, hopefully by spring 2023. Forest service site with updates is linked below.
I will go visit when it reopens as I cannot wait to see these beautiful falls again. Hope you enjoy seeing a bit of this adventure. I still wonder how on earth I ended up there on a beautiful weekend with time before all the other people arrived (kismet!). Wading in the pool of upper Catawba and finding a rainbow in the mist of the falls has to have been one of my favorite moments of zen lately. Truly a special place. Ecstatic to share these.