Description: This moderately difficult out-and-back trail leads you to the base of a spectacular 50-foot vertical cascade. Starting from the parking area, you will hike approximately .2 mile on the Yellow Branch Nature Trail, before you come to the junction with the Yellow Branch Falls Trail. You will pass through groves of dignified hardwoods and cross meandering creek bottoms before turning to circumnavigate the steep terrain. In the winter when the trees are bare, you can see the Walhalla vicinity as you hike. Wear sturdy shoes and use extra caution during wet conditions as this trail skirts the edges of deep ravines. Conversely, if it hasn’t rained for some time, the falls may be just a trickle of water over a series of ledges.

Height: 50 feet

Length of hike: 1.3 miles in addition to the 0.2 mile on the Nature Trail (either direction)

Time to hike: 1 hour

Difficulty: Moderate

Creek or river: Yellow Branch

USGS Quadrangle: Whetstone

Directions to the falls:

1. From Walhalla drive west on SC 28 for 6.8 miles and left turn into Yellow Branch Picnic Ground (open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. year round).

2. Hike in 0.2 mile on the Nature Trail (from either end) to the Yellow Branch Falls Trail.

3. Hike 1.3 miles to the falls.

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