Tumblin' Fun Falls on Mill Creek
and High Falls on the Thompson River
with Brenda Wiley
Transylvania County, NC
Thursday, June 18th, 2020
Brenda and Me at Tumblin' Fun Falls on Mill Creek
I have known about Tumblin' Fun Falls for years. Yet despite many visits to the Thompson river area, I have never made it to Tumblin' Fun Falls. One time Andy Kunkle and I even signed up for a Conserving Carolina (CMLC at the time) hike that we thought would take us there, but it turned out to be to a different Tumbling Fun Falls.
There is an easy way to get to the Tumblin' Fun Falls that Kevin Adam's mentions on page 287 of his North Carolina Waterfall Bible (Third Edition), but it requires crossing private property. I was never comfortable with the trespassing route and the legal route did not sound very pleasant!
Brenda recently found a route to Tumblin' Fun that avoids the worst of the bushwhack yet still stays entirely on National Forest property. I had a GPS glitch (aka user error), that prevented me from getting a full track of our hike, but here is the route we took from the Main Trail to the base of Tumblin' Fun Falls.
The little detour to the summit just above the 3,000 feet elevation line took us to a boulder field that Brenda found!
From the boulder field we descended down towards the Thompson River eventually connecting to the High Falls Trail. We saved High Falls for later and continued on towards Tumblin Fun. The High Falls trail continues on to a crossing of the Thompson Rive well upstream from High Falls.
Once across, it is tempting to stick to the trail, but that will take you into private property! To stay legal we bushwhacked up and over a small ridge and then descended down towards Mill Creek just upstream from the private property.
From this point, it is a fairly short and easy creekwalk to the base of Tumblin' Fun Falls!
Brenda creek walking up Mill Creek
Tumblin' Fun Falls
Tumblin' Fun Falls
There is also a small tributary that enters Mill Creek just below the base of Tumblin' Fun Falls. I wasn't expecting to see a waterfall there, so I am calling this one Surprise Falls! This one is very difficult to photograph!
Brenda at Surprise Falls (aka Tumblin' Fun's Little Friend)
Surprise Falls (aka Tumblin' Fun's Little Friend)
After Tumblin' Fun, we did a little more exploring and eventually made our way to the trail to High Falls.
Brenda and Me at High Falls
Brenda going for a swim at the base of High Falls
High Falls on the Thompson River
Me at High Falls
Brenda at High Falls
It was a very enjoyable day! Thanks Brenda for showing me the way to Tumblin' Fun!
On the drive home, I made a stop at Kyle and Anelina's Feather Creek Farmstead to pick up some fresh produce and meet the newest member of the Team Waterfall Family!
Sampson
Kyle and Angelina at their Feather Creek Farmstead!
Angelina relocating a barn visitor
Selfie with my new friend Sampson!
My complete set of photos is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157714783567273
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