Description: A moderately difficult, 30-minute hike will deposit you into a pristine wilderness setting where you won’t mind exchanging a dramatic drop for the slanting lurch that more aptly fits the term cascade than waterfall. This hidden treasure rushes 75 feet down a narrow gap and into a beautiful blue pool that gives the area its name.

Height: 75 feet

Length of hike: 0.5 mile (from FS 744C)

Time to hike: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Moderate

Creek or river: Cedar Creek

USGS Quadrangle: Whetstone

Directions to the falls:

1. From Walhalla drive west on SC 28 for 6.6 miles and turn left onto Whetstone Road (Oconee County S-37-193) just before the Mountain Top Trading Post.

2. Drive approximately 0.8 mile and turn left onto Cassidy Bridge Road (Oconee County S-37-290).

3. Drive 0.9 mile and turn left onto Rich Mountain Road (FS 744, which is gravel).

4. Drive 3.3 miles and turn right onto Cedar Creek Road (FS 744C).

5. Drive 2.5 miles to FS 2658 (right side of the road) and park by an earth mound, which partially blocks access to FS 2658.

6. Hike 0.3 mile down FS 2658 to a “T” intersection and turn right.

7. Hike 0.2 mile to a short steep path that leads down to the creek (100 feet before the road ends).

8. Cross the creek and follow the faint path downstream to the waterfall.

9. This poorly defined path becomes more evident as it skirts the right side of the pool at the base of the waterfall. Be careful: the sides of the pool are steep, and the path is very narrow.

Information: Sumter National Forest, Andrew Pickens Ranger District, 112 Andrew Pickens Circle, Mountain Rest, SC, 29664. Telephone: 864-638-9568