I hiked this trail on Friday, July 3rd, 2020 with my brother, mom, dad, and our dog.

The Courthouse Falls Trail is in and of itself a short and easy trail (about 3/4 of a mile round-trip), but, while the hike up the forest access road is a similarly-doable hike, it is much longer. Despite its length, it offers some enjoyable scenery. This detour is often required because the gate at the bottom is periodically closed, and because there is limited parking at the trailhead of the falls. To add some difficulty to your hike, park at the base and hike up the gravel Forest Route 140 (FR 140) which allows you to drive to the trail itself. When the gate is open, expect the trail to be fairly busy; even while it was closed, we encountered 4-5 groups who also did the hike.

Find FR 140 by heading north on NC 215 from US 64 W. Follow NC 215 for 10.4 miles through the winding Transylvania County mountainside, just outside the small community of Balsam Grove. Just before crossing a short and narrow bridge, you'll come up on a section of the road with a gravel parking lot on either side and a gravel trail which heads up to the right. Park at the base of the gravel road (making sure not to block the gate) and start your hike.

The road itself can be fairly rough to drive on and washed out at several points, but that doesn't matter, since we're following it on foot. While following FS 140, make sure to take some time and appreciate the several views of the scenic Courthouse Creek. About 1.5 miles into your hike, you'll come upon a former campground with some abandoned-looking construction equipment and a sign which says not to camp there. This former campsite gives a nice access point to the creek.

After roughly 1/2 mile more of hiking, you'll come upon a steep U-shaped turn in the road which presented itself to us as the perfect place for a lunch break. While we stopped for lunch, a large truck laden with logs came driving by--probably related to the ongoing trail maintenance.

After another 1/2 mile of hiking, you'll reach a branch in the gravel roads. Take the one to the left. After that, it's just another 1/2 mile to the trailhead of Courthouse Falls Trail. The Courthouse Falls Trail itself is pretty easy to follow and clearly marked, with the only section presenting any challenge at all being some somewhat-steep stairs right at the base of the falls.

The water at the base of the falls is well over 5 feet deep, giving easy swimming, and a small rock ledge just to the left of this picture offers an ideal place to get close-up pictures, or jump into the cool water.

For a map of the trail, click here. This map has both possible routes; this one uses the route marked by "140."

For additional pictures from the hike, click here.