12/20/2016 – Yellow Branch Falls Trail and Blueridge Railroad Trail

Hikingsouth Hike of the Week

Yellow Branch Falls Trail and Blueridge Railroad Trail – SC

December 20, 2016

Today’s hike was near Walhalla, SC at Yellow Branch Falls Trail followed by nearby Stumphouse Tunnel Park and Issaqueena Falls and the Blueridge Railroad Trail..

HIKERS – John Anderson, Joe Collins, Bob Magee, Beth McDonald, Dick Metzgar, Dave Norton, Mary Lu Norton, Bill Peay, Tony Presley and Vic Robson.

TRAIL INFORMATION – Our first trail today was Yellow Branch Falls Trail. This is a beautiful trail leading to a very pretty and unique waterfall. Next, we hiked at nearby Stumphouse Tunnel Park. We walked in the tunnel and then down to Issaqueena Falls and finally the Blueridge Railroad Trail. We rate the hike mostly easy but very beautiful! If you do all of the trails you will have around 5 or 6 miles.

Directions: From Walhalla SC, take Hwy. 28 north for about 7 miles and look for the Yellow Branch Falls sign and turn left into the parking lot. Stumphouse Park is across the highway just beyond the Yellow Branch Sign turn right.

Another great day for a hike! Mostly cloudy and cool with temperatures ranging from 38-42 degrees F.

BIRDS IDENTIFIED: White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay.

The trailhead for today.

The trail to the falls is a beautiful woodland trail with orange trail blazes.

This bridge was almost a victim of a large tree fall.

There are a couple of creek crossings.

A bird sighting.

Yellow Branch Falls

The water level is very low but it is still a beautiful and unique multiple cascading waterfall.

Exploring the giant boulders at the bottom of the falls.

Our next trail started at nearby Stumphouse Tunnel Park.

We did a short excursion into the tunnel then hiked down to Issaqueena Falls and the Blueride Railroad Trail.

The start of the Railroad Trail.

Walking through the giant cut in the mountain for the railroad.

The planned railroad had many tunnels. This old tunnel has a gate
to block human entry in order to protect the fragile bat habitat.

The OFHC gang for today’s hike. (l-r) Tony Presley, Dick Metzgar, Bill Peay, Dave Norton, Vic Robson, Beth McDonald, Mary Lu Norton, Bob Magee, Joe Collins and John Anderson.

SEE VIDEO OF THE HIKE BELOW!

</p> </p> <p><center> </p> </p> <p><center> </p> <p/> <p></center></center></td> </tr> </table> <p></center></td> </tr> </table> <p></center></center></center></p> </div> </div> </article> <nav class="navigation post-navigation" role="navigation" aria-label="Post navigation"> <span class="screen-reader-text">Post navigation</span> <div class="nav-links"><div class="nav-previous"><a title="12/13/2016 - Tallulah Gorge State Park Trails - GA"href="https://neghiking.com/2016hike39/" rel="prev"><span class="ast-left-arrow">←</span> Previous Post</a></div><div class="nav-next"><a title="12/27/2016 - Unicoi/Helen Trail and Bottoms Loop Trail - GA"href="https://neghiking.com/2016hike41/" rel="next">Next Post <span class="ast-right-arrow">→</span></a></div></div> </nav> </main> </div> </div>  </div> <footer class="site-footer" id="colophon" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPFooter" itemscope="itemscope" itemid="#colophon"> <div class="site-primary-footer-wrap ast-builder-grid-row-container site-footer-focus-item ast-builder-grid-row-full ast-builder-grid-row-tablet-full ast-builder-grid-row-mobile-full ast-footer-row-stack ast-footer-row-tablet-stack ast-footer-row-mobile-stack" data-section="section-primary-footer-builder"> <div class="ast-builder-grid-row-container-inner"> <div class="ast-builder-footer-grid-columns site-primary-footer-inner-wrap ast-builder-grid-row"> <div class="site-footer-primary-section-1 site-footer-section site-footer-section-1"> <aside class="footer-widget-area widget-area site-footer-focus-item" data-section="sidebar-widgets-footer-widget-1" aria-label="Footer Widget 1" > <div class="footer-widget-area-inner site-info-inner"><section id="block-10" class="widget widget_block widget_text"> <p class="has-text-align-center"></p> </section></div> </aside> <div class="footer-widget-area widget-area site-footer-focus-item" data-section="section-footer-menu"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="site-below-footer-wrap ast-builder-grid-row-container site-footer-focus-item ast-builder-grid-row-full ast-builder-grid-row-tablet-full ast-builder-grid-row-mobile-full ast-footer-row-stack ast-footer-row-tablet-stack ast-footer-row-mobile-stack" data-section="section-below-footer-builder"> <div class="ast-builder-grid-row-container-inner"> <div class="ast-builder-footer-grid-columns site-below-footer-inner-wrap ast-builder-grid-row"> <div class="site-footer-below-section-1 site-footer-section site-footer-section-1"> <div class="ast-builder-layout-element ast-flex site-footer-focus-item ast-footer-copyright" data-section="section-footer-builder"> <div class="ast-footer-copyright"><p><a href="https://neghiking.com/hiking-log/ofhc-hikes-2/">Click Here to View 2003-2020 OFHC Hike Reports</a></p> <p>Copyright © 2024 </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </footer> </div> <script type='text/javascript'> const lazyloadRunObserver = () => { const lazyloadBackgrounds = document.querySelectorAll( `.e-con.e-parent:not(.e-lazyloaded)` ); const lazyloadBackgroundObserver = new IntersectionObserver( ( entries ) => { entries.forEach( ( entry ) => { if ( entry.isIntersecting ) { let lazyloadBackground = entry.target; if( lazyloadBackground ) { lazyloadBackground.classList.add( 'e-lazyloaded' ); } lazyloadBackgroundObserver.unobserve( entry.target ); } }); }, { rootMargin: '200px 0px 200px 0px' } ); lazyloadBackgrounds.forEach( ( lazyloadBackground ) => { lazyloadBackgroundObserver.observe( lazyloadBackground ); } ); }; const events = [ 'DOMContentLoaded', 'elementor/lazyload/observe', ]; events.forEach( ( event ) => { document.addEventListener( event, lazyloadRunObserver ); } ); </script> <script id="astra-theme-js-js-extra"> var astra = {"break_point":"921","isRtl":"","is_scroll_to_id":"","is_scroll_to_top":"","is_header_footer_builder_active":"1"}; </script> <script src="https://neghiking.com/wp-content/themes/astra/assets/js/minified/frontend.min.js?ver=4.6.3" id="astra-theme-js-js"></script> <script src="https://neghiking.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/ui/core.min.js?ver=1.13.3" id="jquery-ui-core-js"></script> <script src="https://neghiking.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/ui/tabs.min.js?ver=1.13.3" id="jquery-ui-tabs-js"></script> <script src="https://neghiking.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/ui/accordion.min.js?ver=1.13.3" id="jquery-ui-accordion-js"></script> <script> /(trident|msie)/i.test(navigator.userAgent)&&document.getElementById&&window.addEventListener&&window.addEventListener("hashchange",function(){var t,e=location.hash.substring(1);/^[A-z0-9_-]+$/.test(e)&&(t=document.getElementById(e))&&(/^(?:a|select|input|button|textarea)$/i.test(t.tagName)||(t.tabIndex=-1),t.focus())},!1); </script> </body> </html>