Labor Day Hiking Trip - Day 2:
Sunset Rock / North Shoal Falls
(Tennessee / North Carolina / Georgia)
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to another blog post of this series of Labor Day Hiking Trip.
After spending a whole day visiting the two main waterfalls it was time to go to our campground.
On our itinerary we had Shellmound Campground as our designated campground for this night,
we wanted to spend the night was close to the lake with a great view, however,
upon our arrival to this campground it was fully booked, this was bad news!
For the next hour or two we were driving around town calling campgrounds
and other lodges to spend the night but everything was fully booked.
We came across R&R RV Campground and spoke directly with the owner
which was a lifesaver and saved us one last spot on his campground, could you believe it!
Spending the night at R&R RV Campground was a big relief and comfort after spending
the last couple of hours calling and finding a campground around the area.
The next morning we set out to visit Rock City Lookout Mountain which
it is located between the border of Georgia and Tennessee.
While trying to make the line for the entrance we noticed that due to Covid
they were only letting certain crowds first and others at a specific time,
this was a big blow for us because we didn't have the time to spare as
we had other hiking places to visit so we decided not go in.
Out next on our itinerary we had Sunset Rock located in Chattanooga.
This hike consisted of 3.6-miles roundtrip to get to the top of the rock,
it is easily one of the most popular and iconic hikes as it is located inside the
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park with a great scenic view.
The important history behind this hike is back in 1863 the Battle of Lookout Mountain took place,
this lookout was a spot that was used for battle strategy and somehow helped won this battle,
the Union was defeated by the Confederacy at the Battle of Chickamauga, and coming back
Union forces routed the Confederate army in what it is called the Battle Above The Clouds,
this is all a pretty interesting historic ground and great to know if you are hiking this sacred trail.
Along the trail you'll find beautiful and impressive rock walls on one of the sides,
with spectacular views of the Lookout Valley and other sceneries.
If you walk inside one of these rock walls you'll see how often they look like caves,
it is so stunning and captivated you feel in another world.
Arriving to the top of the Lookout Mountain is a moment of indescribable feeling!
The view was stunning and incredible, you'll get this great scenery
of the Chattanooga Valley and some part of the town as well.
Here we spent about 30-minutes of our times eating our snacks,
taking pictures and enjoying the great view of the lookout,
great thing about this hike is that you'll see a few hikers here and there along the trail
but not a vast majority of people coming through here which it is always a good thing!
This is a must visit and hike here at Chattanooga especially with the influential history behind it,
not only the history but the great and amazing trail and scenery on this Lookout Mountain.
Later on during the day we moved to our next hiking destination
North Shoal Falls somewhere in Murphy, North Carolina.
This is another waterfall we had included on our list of places to visit and had done
some research on it before we drove there, however, this was not the case this time.
Apparently this waterfall is located on a very secluded and private area,
this is one of the main reasons why we couldn't find a trailhead and the information
that we read on our research was completely wrong and misguided us.
For a few minutes we drove around back and forth trying to find this trail to the point
that we were so close to give up and head back to the main highway to leave.
It was difficult to spot the trailhead of this waterfall as it doesn't have any signs or stops
but after reading other comments on a blog I was able to find the right directions.
I will be posting them here as well for you guys it goes like this.
Directions to Shoal Creek Falls: Driving from Murphy, North Carolina,
take 64 West to a right on Highway 294, take a right on Hiwassee Dam Access Road.
Here's where the paved road can be a little tricky and you'll have to drive very slow
and careful but continue several more miles to a left on Morrow Road,
then left on Prospect Road and right about here you should be able to listen
to the sound of the waterfall going around and to spot the
an empty road down this is it, this is the trail!
At first you might be able to miss it but if you come back you'll be able to see the empty road.
Here we parked our truck and geared up to hike down the trail to the waterfall,
I can't remember much how many miles to reach the waterfall but it is surely a short hike.
I can't remember much how many miles to reach the waterfall but it is surely a short hike.
After hiking a few branches and downed trees you'll spot Shoal Creek Falls right away.
Shoal Creek Falls is a hidden gem of a waterfall, a radiant and beautiful 30 feet tall with
water rushing down the cascades across multiple rock and other small sections, just majestic!
As you can see on the photos above I got a closer view at this waterfall and just
incredible the scenery and tranquility this waterfall offers.
There were no hikers around, no big crowds, nobody in sight, this waterfall was all ours,
no wonder how this precious gem is so hidden and secluded because it is really worth it!
We decided to explore a bit more by hiking down the creek but there's not assigned trail available
for this hike we just ended jumping from one big rock to another until we reached a point
where we couldn't hike anymore, all of that for nothing but it was a fun moment.
This is one of those hiking destinations that I was thrilled to have discovered and visited
and I couldn't recommend enough checking out this mysterious waterfall.
Ending up this blog post on a good note and excited to share with you
guys all my photos and content on this two hiking places.
Hope you guys can visit one day and make sure to follow the right directions.
For now I'll catch on the next blog post of this series.
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