Bushwhacking The South Caney Fork
This adventure was inspired by Michael Doyle's page titled
Day Hike. The directions are good on Michael's page, follow them. This is a trip report rather than a guide, no need to duplicate his guide.Thursday, December 2nd 1999
I headed out at about 6 AM today, made it to Natural Bridge Recreation Area somewhat before 8. It was under thirty in the wilderness. For a warm up I did that trail, there was not water flowing from either of the usual places, although there was a little seeping down the stream under the bridge. I love the woods in the morning, silent and crisp. So, I finished this hike in 10 minutes, and headed out for the forest road that leads to South Caney.
I took county road 2 up from highway 278 to find the trailhead. As indicated it was just under 4 miles past 33. About a quarter mile after a brick house on the right. I parked beside the forest road gate and headed out. The temp was maybe 35 degrees. The forest road was covered with down pine trees, although there was a visible path where others had been through. The road makes a sharp left a quarter of a mile or so from the gate. I followed the trail for a short ways along a ridge, it gradually starts going down. Where it dissipates I could hear the falls. There is a faint trail that leads towards the creek, and at the creek there is a good trail that goes down to the falls. There is kind of a magical feeling when you see the falls ahead through the trees. I was surprised by the size of the falls, and another neat thing about this falls is that you can walk behind it without getting wet. There is also quite a large pool at the base that would provide great swimming in warm weather. A tree at the bottom of the falls there was a fallen tree on which the mist had frozen. It was quite beautiful, perhaps the pictures will come out. It was around 9:00 at this point, but the sun hadn't reached this cove yet.
After exploring around the falls I headed downstream. I found myself crossing over the stream many times to find the easiest path, it was good to have my waterproof boots on. The canyon is for the most part not deep, the walls are generally 10 to 20 feet high. At places they are hung over and provide a nice place to walk. At other places they make bushwhacking very difficult. Again, there are a lot of trees down that made for difficult going in a lot of places. I stopped and took off my fleece jacket, checked the maps, and eat a granola bar not too far down from the waterfall. I then made the second water falls, about 30 to 45 minutes after the first one. The going wasn't easy, but it wasn't terribly hard either.
The second falls isn't nearly as tall as the first one, but it has an advantage of having a nice rock shelf where you can sit in the sun. There is also a pool at the bottom of this falls that would be suitable for swimming. The only sign of humans I saw there was a pair of used panties and a t-top hanging in a tree, I guess someone else found it a good place for a swim, wonder what they hiked back in. This falls and the whole stream apparently get pretty high at times, you can see signs of water 8 - 10 feet above the current water level. I rested for a while, took a few pictures of the falls, and then headed on down stream.
Down from the second falls the going gets even worse. There seem to be more trees down, and the canyon is at places deeper. It took me over an hour to get to the intersection with North Caney Creek, crossing the creek many times in the process. Sections are very pretty, other sections are less pretty. I was somewhat disappointed by the description of this hike as going through a walled canyon. I guess Dark Canyon with 1500' walls and spires towering above you for 40 miles kind of set the standard for walled canyons for me. However, this place is enchanting. And below the second falls there is no sign of people at all, not footprint or anything. I saw lots of deer print, and some fresh coyote prints too I think.
Now, Doyle's page suggests that from the intersection you climb up to a forest service road which will take you basically back to the first falls. I attempted this. The area containing the forest service road was logged and contains dense underbrush and thorns. Three times I tried to get into the heart of the area and ended up turning around. I then went down and think I found the road, it was in horrid shape and unfollowable in the dense logged areas. In the end after tearing my arms to pieces, I headed back into the canyon and followed the trail back up the falls. From the falls the car is just a short hike.
So, that was the end of this adventure. I thought it was a fun adventure, most of it was well worth it. Although I might try cutting off some of the end and I certainly would not try hiking back on top of the ridge. According to the map one could follow the North Fork up to County Road 60 that boarders the Sipsey, so this might be another option.
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