We had quite
a bit of rain the last couple days so I’m thinking it should be a good day to see some
waterfalls. I have a couple in mind that
I’ve been meaning to go check out and end up in Sand Gap deciding on Native
American Falls. The parking area is on
the west side of Highway 7 south of Highway 123, the ‘Piney Creek WMA’ sign
that once stood at this spot is gone.
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first falls encountered along Indian Creek
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Out the back heading west is a very
visible trail, well-worn, obvious and easy to follow. All the colorful ribbon and flagging hanging
everywhere is completely unnecessary.
The trail starts downhill right away, first gently but seems to get
steeper the farther I go and soon I can hear running water. Now the trail is following a little side
stream as it continues down to Indian Creek. |
Tumbling Cascade
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This is way up near the top of the
Indian Creek drainage, I’m surprised at the amount of flow in the creek which up
here is about ten feet wide on average.
The trail crosses on some flat rocks that are almost dry, then follows pretty close to the creek up on
the west bank. There are a bunch of
small, scenic water features through this area including small falls, short
cascades and a little spring just to the west of the trail.
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Native American Falls from the top
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About a hundred yards further where
a side drainage spills in from the east is a rocky tumbling cascade/waterfall
about twenty feet high. Another 100 feet
I arrive at the top of Native American Falls, I scramble down the steep bank
about ten feet to a flat rock hoping to get a picture, but the angle is all
wrong plus too many small tree branches obstructing the view not to mention I
just don’t feel comfortable here so close to the edge. |
the falls from the vista rock
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Back upstream maybe 50 feet from the
top of the falls I find a spot to cross keeping my feet dry and soon pick up
the trail again. Not far is a faint
trail intersection with the right fork going down onto the large rock crag that
overhangs above Indian Creek just below Native American Falls. A great vista point, I get a few shots of the
fall before continuing downstream another hundred feet or less to a rope. |
under the vista rock
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The yellow rope is tied to trees
heading down steeply and slightly back to the north, although steep, with the
aid of the rope this climb down is really pretty easy. I reach bottom and continue upstream a short
way to a huge flat-topped boulder in Indian Creek 50-60 feet below the base of
Native American Falls. Tim Ernst lists
Native American as 41 feet tall, and today with the recent rains it looks
fantastic, I linger a while enjoying the waterfall and taking pictures. |
Native American Falls
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The climb back out is also easy with
the assistance of the yellow rope, without which I would never have attempted
this climb. Above the rock crag vista, I
leave the trail and bushwhack up the hill to the northeast. The woods are fairly clean, so bushwhacking isn’t bad, I soon reach the side
drainage near the top of the Tumbling
Cascade mentioned above, crossing here above the falls I continue east up
through the woods. |
little slot falls
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Not very far is another little side
creek which I follow upstream passing first a nice little ledge waterfall about
5 feet tall. Then it’s a series of small
pretty waterfalls and short cascades going upstream as this side canyon get
steadily tighter and rockier. It gets so
tight and cluttered with downed trees that I’m forced back up on the hillside
for a while before crossing over to the north side of the creek above a little
grotto. |
Hidden Grotto Falls
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After crossing I make my way back
downstream and down the steep slippery hillside, down to some big rocks in and
around the creek at the grotto. This is Hidden Grotto Falls, appropriately named
as it is well hidden in a tight little twist
in the creek. The waterfall while not
very tall at about ten feet drops through a slot between some large sharp rocks then plunges off a short ledge before
disappearing in the back of the little grotto.
The creek then curves around in the darkness of the grotto behind a huge
rock before re-emerging out of the grotto into the light of day. A very pretty place although small and
rugged, I’m glad I made the effort to see Hidden Grotto Falls. |
near the headwaters of Indian Creek
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Back up above Hidden Grotto is a
creek confluence where I take the left
branch upstream to the north and the last few little cascades before topping
out. I circle around to the north
maintaining this elevation until reaching the well flagged Native American Trail, turning right it’s a short hike
up to the parking area where I meet a couple friendly hikers whom I saw earlier
across Indian Creek from where I was set up photographing Native American
Falls.
I had a great time today hiking a
total of just 1.7 miles with 370 feet of elevation gain. You could visit Native American Falls and
return the way you came for a total distance of 1.5 miles, but if the creeks
have water flow, I recommend the loop hike including Hidden Grotto and lots of
little water features all along the way.
It doesn’t add much to the distance and is well worth it on an early spring day.
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| base map before fair use alterations is property of USFS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License |
Native American Falls couldn't be easier to get to (unless they re-install the WMA sign), just go south on Scenic Highway 7 about 0.4 miles from Pelsor (Sand Gap) at the highways 7/123 intersection and park on the west side of the road in the good-sized parking area.
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