Sunday, May 1, 2011

Wildcat Branch Falls

Wildcat Branch Falls
Greenville County, SC
Saturday, April 30th, 2011

Wildcat Branch Falls is a scenic little roadside waterfall located on Hwy11/US276 in Greenville County, SC.  It is a few mile north of Cleveland, SC just before the two highways split (Hwy11 going to Table Rock and US276 going to Caesars Head).

Wildcat Branch Falls

Since it is right along the main route to many of my favorite hiking destinations I have drivin by hundreds of times.  I rarely stop, but I always take a quick peak out the car window as it is an excellent gauge to what the water levels in the area will be.  During dry conditions, Wildcat Branch drys up to barely a trickles, but after some good rains this little falls can be raging.

Today was about average, and since I had a little bit of spare time before meeting my hiking group and the waterfall was still completely in the morning shade, I decided to stop and snap a few photos.


The Lower Drop of Wildcat Branch Falls

The lower drop is about a 20-foot sliding cascade that drops into a shallow pool.  It is not deep enough to really be a swimming hole, but on a hot summer day you will find plenty of people splashing around in it.  Also, if you like Hot Boiled Peanuts (I personally think they are nasty), there is almost always someone cooking them up and selling them in the pull-off area.


The upper drop is about a 10-foot tall free fall. 


The Upper Drop of Wildcat Branch Falls
The Upper Drop of Wildcat Branch Falls
The Upper Drop of Wildcat Branch Falls
From the road, you can see both drops together, but up close you have to check them out individually.

A quarter mile trail heads upstream to some additional cascades and an even taller waterfall.  However, these are much less scenic and I didn't have enough time to check them out.

In addition, here are a couple of wildflowers that were blooming near the waterfall

Spiderwort

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I visited there yesterday and it was beautiful. But, what is the spot where the rock fire place and floor area are located? I noticed a few other man made rock formations. Do you have any history on those?

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