I hiked this trail on Friday, June 4th, 2021 with my brother.

As a preface: I'll go ahead and give a shoutout to the folks at Hiking Upward, whose trail guide really knocked it out of the park. It's really clear and easy to follow, and covers every detail you could need. I will also bedrudgingly praise UNC for their DocSouth page on the history of the Caudill Cabin, which is at the summit of this hike.

Finding this trail is a bit of a challenge. If you're coming from the direction of either Halls Mills or Laurel Springs (north or south, respectively, on NC 18), turn onto SR 1728 (Longbottom Road) and follow the road north and east for 6.3 miles. If you're comming from the direction of Abshers (east along SR 1730, also called Longbottom Road), follow SR 1730 for 8.1, starting at its intersection with SR 1002 (Traphill Road).

After some time, you'll come upon a dirt parking lot, which can be seen below.

While there are a couple dirt or gravel roads which lead out of here, you'll instead want to turn back towards the way you entered with your car and cross the street. You'll be following the Grassy Gap Fire Road for the first 2 miles. Though there are no blazes on the trail, it should be easy to follow.

After just under 2 miles of hiking, you'll cross a large wooden bridge* and be placed in a well-equipped campsite, complete with bear-proof food storage boxes, poles to hang your pack, and fire rings. There were also several fire rings with chopped up longs to sit on around them, but while we were there a man was actively gathering up those makeshift stools and turning them into firewood, so no promises any are left.

* Note that this picture of the bridge is looking back across the water, in the opposite direction of how you'd see it hiking in. The sun was cooperating better from that side.

Hike straight through the camping area and continue straight, picking up a trail blazed orange and blue. You'll be more or less following Basin Creek for a good chunk of the remainder of the hike. After passing through a small thicket of rhodedendron, you'll start climbing the hill.

Along the way, you'll run into three intact chimneys, remnants of the once-thriving Basin Cove community; the entire area was swept away. You can read more about the flood at Our State. This is a picture of the first ruins, which is found at about 2.5 miles in on your left. A walk a little farther along the river reveals an old mill stone in the sands of the river on your right.

After 3.3 miles of hiking, you'll encounter the second chimney remnants; there are actually two chimeys remaining in this location. There is also a small waterfall which I failed to take a picture of.

After 4 miles of hiking, you'll come across the third chimney.

A half mile later, you'll come upon the fourth and final chimney remnants, which have mostly collapsed by now. Along the way, you'll get some more good views of the water.

After a tenth of a mile, you'll pass your final major landmark before finally reaching the Caudill Cabin; this is a waterfall which has been given the beautiful name of "Waterfall #2 on Basin Creek." Sometimes words can capture nature's majesty.

After 5.5 miles total of hiking, you'll reach Caudill Cabin, which sits stoically at the top of a clearing.

You can feel free to enter the cabin from either of the side doors. Be warned, though: the cabin hass fairly low-clearance. Once inside, you can find a sign-in log, a portrait of the Martin Caudill family, and a book detailing the family's history and genealogy. Unfortunately, the genealogy book in particular has been damaged a bit by the elements.

Once you've reached the cabin, you've reached the end of the trail. Re-trace your steps back down to the campsite.

The only downside to this entire hike for me was that a tree fell on my brother's car overnight, knocking off one of the mirrors and denting the hood. We're fortunate, though, that the damage was not more significant. We also happened upon the folks at Gilbert General Store, an awesome store in McGrady with a great atmosphere and some very friendly dogs. The owners helped helped us tape the mirror back on, and told us that several members of the Caudill family still live in the area.

For more pictures from my hike, click here.

For a map of the park, click here, and for a good writeup of the trail by others, click here. Remember that this trail follows Grassy Gap Fire Road and Basin Creek Trail.