Foothills trail Laurel Valley access 4/14 to Virginia Hawkins Falls

[Gyp-C]

How's the hanging out there? I'm trying to plan an overnighter for next Friday. Any suggestions?

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[Cabmanhang]

Can't say for the hanging conditions, but here is a picture about the hiking conditions from the foothills trail guidebook. Hope it's helpful.

[zukiguy]

We just went from Table Rock to Bad Creek last week. There was plenty of water and no shortage of trees. The Laurel Valley area was very nice. The falls are much less impressive than when we were there 3 years ago (symptom of the continued drought). Instead of a solid cascade of water most of the way across it was maybe 3 or 4 smaller streams with big gaps between.

The only "bad" campsite we stayed at I thought was near Bear Creek. The hanging sites were few and far between due to a lot of trees blown down and heavy underbrush. The Laurel Valley access is very popular with folks riding 4wheelers on Horsepasture Road so keep a look out for some potential heavy traffic over the weekend. They stay far enough away from the trail though it won't cause you any problems.

Enjoy the trip!!

[Wkerber]

Depending on what time you get started and how much energy you have, once you get to Virginia Hawkins you're about half way to Laurel Fork Falls, which is a better falls to view IMO. You've already done the hardest part of the hike getting to Virginia Hawkins and it's pretty easy from there to Laurel Fork (pretty flat along a creek bottom). There's a nice camping area above Laurel Fork falls with 4 or 5 campsites. It's across a suspension bridge and along the creek that feeds that falls. When I was there I had it to myself. I started at 8 am and was at the campsite by 3 pm. I ate lunch at Virginia Hawkins. The foothills is a well maintained trail. I was amazed at the bridges that they have built out there. You won't get your shoes wet at all.

[DelayedNeutron]

Depending on what time you get started and how much energy you have, once you get to Virginia Hawkins you're about half way to Laurel Fork Falls, which is a better falls to view IMO. You've already done the hardest part of the hike getting to Virginia Hawkins and it's pretty easy from there to Laurel Fork (pretty flat along a creek bottom). There's a nice camping area above Laurel Fork falls with 4 or 5 campsites. It's across a suspension bridge and along the creek that feeds that falls. When I was there I had it to myself. I started at 8 am and was at the campsite by 3 pm. I ate lunch at Virginia Hawkins. The foothills is a well maintained trail. I was amazed at the bridges that they have built out there. You won't get your shoes wet at all.

Have stayed at this exact site on several hikes, right at the top of the falls.

Beautiful place to sit for a while. I was tenting at the time but I do recall there being plenty of trees. You can see in the background of my shot with the dog (who was completely uninterested in picture time) the site is well equipped for hanging.

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[Gyp-C]

Thanks for all the info guys! It's been a couple months since I backpacked so I thought it would be good to have 2 destination points to strive for so it's not a complete disappointment if I can't make it all the way to Laurel Falls.

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[Str1der]

I've hiked that segment twice. I agree with others that if you can push on to Laurel Fall, you should. The most difficult part of the hike is cresting the high point between Laurel Valley Access and VH Falls. Once there, it's a fairly gentle downgrade to Laurel Falls. It's 4.7 miles one way from Access to VHF and an additional 2.8 miles to LF. Once you get over the hump and descend down into Laurel Valley, there is plenty of water and a ton of trees. I recall most sites being good for 2-4 hammocks. The site right above Laurel Falls is excellent, but another good one that I always stayed at is just 0.1 miles past Virginia Hawkins Falls. If you visit in the summer, there's a rock face right in front of Laurel Falls where people jump into Lake Jocassee!