Laurel fork falls is one of the trails that has been on the bucket list since we moved to the tricities area. But for some reason or the other we had not gotten around to doing it. It is one of those things that is so easily done,that you just keep saying that you will do it but you never do, because it can be so easily done. (phew that was a complicated sentence). Anyway we finally decided to do it this Friday. It is a not-so-far 45 minute drive through Elizabethton and the sleepy town of Hampton.There are two routes to reach the falls. From the North side the falls can be reached by the 5.5 mile Hampton Blueline / Laurel Falls trail combined with Appalachian trail. The trail head for this route is along TN-67 E / US-321 S just past Hampton downtown. The other much shorter, around 2 miles, route is from Dennis cove via the Appalachian trail northbound. To get to the trail head turn right on TN-67E/ US 321 S towards Dennis Cove and drive for around 3.5 miles to reach the trail head on the left. Since we reached Hampton around 3 pm we decided to take the shorter route so that we could enjoy the falls without worrying much about getting back on the trail.
The trail itself is very relaxed. Once we started following the trail in about 1 mile we reached a fork. The falls can be reached by both trails at the fork. The trail at the right is the high water trail which we chose to take. This trail passes along a shelter and has a fork immediately after the shelter. Be careful not to take the spur on the right as that is not the trail but only leads to a small stream and a dead end. Once we went down the left side there is a trail marker which indicates the falls are on the left (via the low water trail) and the North bound Appalachian trail on the right. We continued on this trail for around 15 mins to reach the falls. There was a minor confusion as at one point as we hit a dead end on our way. But after a helpful fellow hiker showed us the way around a few rocks / stream crossing we were back on the trail.
The falls are pretty and relaxing. There was not much of a swimming area as the water seemed to be shallow but I can imagine this to be a nice swimming area when the water levels are higher. We had a good time relaxing and taking some pictures. The crowd was not much so we could enjoy the quiet time. The hike back was quick as we completed the loop by coming back via the low water trail. This is a easy hike and can be completed within 2-3 hours based on how much time you spend at the falls. We were planning to have a look at the twisting falls which are about 40 mins away from Dennis Cove after this hike, but that was not to be as we reached a little later than we would have liked to. So that's a story for another day and hopefully the day will come sooner than later :)
Please check the following link for the hike gpx and stats.
-Koustubh
