Local Falls II - Clear Branch Falls, Power Line Falls, Falling Water Falls

Lora and I again headed out to find waterfalls on our mountain.  We headed to Soddy Daisy to start our adventure.

Just South of the North Chickamauga Creek on Dayton Hwy, there is a trail that heads along the creek.  As you look from the road you can see the falls on the left side of the power lines.  This is the 140 foot Power Line Falls.  The trail is a four wheeler path and it follows the creek.  There are a few splits on this trail so when it splits and goes uphill, go uphill.  It will get farther from the creek as it goes and then crosses under the power lines and ends at Clear Creek where you will see the 40 foot Clear Branch Falls.  We got to see a flock of twelve turkeys walking up the side of the mountain.  From here the falls are on your Left and you will see the creek coming down the Mountain side from Power Line Falls on your right which flow into Clear Creek.

You are on your own from Clear Creek as you will have to climb the side of the mountain up to the Falls.  It is steep and will work you good.  There is no trail.  At the top you will find Power Line Falls.  To your right from the falls is the bottom of the Power Line Overlook.  You will see a blue pickup and an older car that made the flight from the overlook and neither made it very well.  If you turn around you will get an aerial view of Soddy Daisy from the base of the falls through the trees.

We ate our lunch on a flat rock up there and then started our steep decent back to Clear Creek.  On the way down I hear a high pitch scream and turn around to see Lora doing the log roll down the side of the mountain.  Luckily, I was close enough to grab her by the leg and stop her.  She doesn't know how she got turned sideways on the slope.  You will walk up and down this descent on the side of your feet grabbing anything that you can both ways.  Anyway, you will know you did some climbing by the time you get back to your car.  We headed off for our next adventure.

Our next water fall was the 110 foot Falling Water Falls which is further South.  We took the Pickett Gulf Road off Dayton Hwy to the dead end and parked in a guys driveway who gave us permission.

There is no trail but there is an old roadbed which starts at the South end corner of the clearing at the bottom.  Follow the old roadbed as far as you can until you get to the valley of the boulders.  The higher you go the easier.  We followed Falling Water Creek up to the first branch coming in from the left, Little Falling Water Creek, and started climbing up from there.  It was really a rock and boulder climb.  Almost to the top you will see the lower falls and from here you can start to see the upper falls.  This is a very strenuous climb and very dangerous as the rocks are slippery.  When you get to the base of the falls it will be worth the work.

For the trip back we just headed East to get out of the boulder field as soon as we could and then headed back down hill to catch the old road bed.

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