Rocky Fork Backpacking

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Overall
Recommendation:
Advanced backpack with good fitness and good navigational skills. Winter or early spring hike to avoid excess underbrush growth and to have good views through the trees.

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Outstanding
Features:
Three Waterfalls. High elevation lake.  Vista from Buzzard Rock.

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Difficulty:
Very Difficult. More than 3000 feet of elevation gain on Day #1.

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Driving:
We left one car at the Higgins Creek Trailhead:  From Johnson City, take I-26 toward Erwin, and go on past Erwin to exit #43 (Temple Hill). Turn left at the stop sign at the bottom of the exit (your only option). At the next stop sign turn right onto 19W (19/23). After .75 mile, turn right onto Lower Higgins Creek Road. Follow this road for approximately 1.5 miles until it dead-ends. Park in the wide spot on the left. 

We left a second car at the end of our hike at the Rocky Fork Main Gate:  Take the Flag Pond exit off of I-26 (exit #50).  At the stop sign turn left onto Higgins Creek Road. Drive ½ mile until you reach Rt. 23.  Turn right and travel 2¼ mi. thru Flag Pond, then turn left on Rocky Fork Road. After ¾ mi. you will see a gravel pull-off to the left. Park here (out of the way of the gate) and follow the gravel lane into the Rocky Fork Tract.

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Trails (please refer to the maps… mileages are also estimates:
From the parking area, you will see an old, rickety bridge in the upstream direction. Be careful crossing this bridge, but some work has been done to it since my last visit. After crossing the bridge, just stay on this trail, basically following Higgins Creek in the upstream direction. In approximately 0.9 miles you will see the 100′ Lower Higgins Falls down in the ravine to your right. It’s worth the trouble to climb down into this ravine to view the falls. After climbing back out continue on upstream for a few hundred feet, and you will come to your first ford across Higgins Creek. This will be a shin-deep ford in wet conditions. After crossing, continue for approximately 500 more feet and you will see a wide spot in the trail with an ascending valley off to your left. This is the junction of Birchfield Camp Branch and Higgins Creek. At this point, go left and leave the Higgins Creek trail, and ford the stream again (another shin-deep) to follow Birchfield Camp Branch. I stopped counting fords at this point because sometimes you are simply walking up the middle of the stream. However, just keep working your way upstream as best possible. The lower sections of Birchfield Camp Branch trail are the most rugged and it won’t give your feet a chance to dry out for walking in the stream, but just keep going upstream. Soon, you’ll end up on a decent trail that follows up the right side of Birchfield Camp Branch, however the trail gets quite steep at this point. But after approximately 2.2 miles into the hike you will pop out of the rhododendrons and arrive at the lake.  From here you will have the choice of going either right or left on the forest road, which is the Hidden Lake Trail.  Both directions will wind up in the same place, but we took the trail to the left.  After about .25 miles you will have climbed up out of the lake area to a junction where there is a small open field.  Take a right on the forest road here (you could go left here too and end up in the same place, but going right is more level).  After about 1.0 mile of level hiking (and after passing by another old road off to your right that goes back down into Higgins Creek) you will come to another junction.  This is the High Country Trail (also an old forest road).  Take a right here.  You will stay on this trail for the next ~5.0 more miles.  At one point, soon after passing the a road off the left that goes up to Wilson Knob, the High Country Trail descends sleeply down into a valley.  You will see a stream on your left as you descend here.  This is your last water source on the High Country Trail.  Continue and eventually you’ll come to another road off to your left, which is the Headwaters Trail.  Pass by the Headwaters Trail and soon you will begin your steep climb up to Buzzard Rock.  Buzzard Rock is about .75 mile from the junction of the Headwaters Trail, in one of the switchbacks.  We camped just a few feet from Buzzard Rock in the Rhododendron thicket.  On Day #2, retrace your steps back down the mountain on the High Country Trail until you get the Headwaters Trail.  Take a right on the Headwaters Trail.  It is almost all down here from here for the next 6.5 miles.  There are some more road junctions but just refer to your map to stay on the Headwaters Trail.  It’s fairly straightforward as long as you have the map.  You will have to make about 5 or 6 difficult stream crossing on day #2 so be prepared to possibly get wet.  Eventually, you will come out at the main gate of Rocky Fork.

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Needed
Gear & Tips:
Trekking poles are basically a requirement to assist in the tough creek crossings. You will need them for stability in the quickly flowing stream and to help stabilize you as you move from rock to rock. Take a waterproof bag for electronic equipment and some dry clothes and socks in case you slip and get wet.

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Distance:
Approximately 15.3 miles.

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Time
Allotment:
2 Days

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Type:
Continuous.

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Vista
Rating (1-5):

4.0 – Nice views north through the trees from the High Country Trail. Tremendous 180 degree southerly views from Buzzard Rock.

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Waterfall
Rating (based on a 1-50 scale):

Lower Higgins Falls: H(9) + F(5) + V(3) + W(3) + G(2+4+5) = 31

Birchfield Camp Falls: H(1) + F(3) + V(3) + W(1) + G(3+4+2) = 17

Rocky Fork Trio: H(1) + F(6) + V(1) + W(2) + G(3+3+6) = 22–

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Water
Crossings (one way):
Seven or eight (very difficult), numerous (moderate to easy)
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Scrambling/Climbing:
Steep scramble down into the ravine to view Higgins Falls.

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Hazards:
Be careful on the old, rickety bridge at the trailhead. Extreme slippery slopes and steep areas, especially at Higgins Falls. Eight difficult stream crossings, which could cause you to get wet if you fall. Take precautions to avoid hypothermia especially in cool conditions.

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Maps/GPS
info:

This is the map with Trail Names that I used, however my route up from Higgins Creek/Birchfield Camp Branch is not shown on this map:  Rocky Fork map

My route up Higgins Creek can be seen on my map at the bottom of this page.

(right click on link, and chose “Save Target As” or Save As”. Download to your hard-drive and then upload to your GPS unit)

Birchfield Camp Lake and Higgins Falls Waypoints
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More
Information: