We visited Raven Cliff Falls of Georgia around this time last year, and in searching for information I also found there was a Raven Cliff Falls in South Carolina. It took us a year to make it around to visiting the waterfall, but this waterfall is definitely one to put on the hike list if you haven’t yet. While the end journey of the hike leads to only an overlook of the waterfall the hike is one of my favorites. The trail sprawls over scenic views of the surrounding Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area of South Carolina, and the waterfall is scenic at the end. I brought some binoculars though for a closer look.
Raven Cliff Falls states it’s 2.2 miles one way on a sign, but it says this once in the parking lot across the road too. The trail starts on a gravel road, before the trail meandered though the woods. The trail is moderately difficult. There are lots of up hill and then down hill, but overall we didn’t find the trail to be too difficult. It’s a well maintained trail, and it’ll give a workout. By the time we finished the hike we had walked around 4.4 miles round trip.
The trail is red blazed. Several other trails branch off from the Raven Cliff Falls trail around halfway through, but keep walking because they lead to longer trails., which we would love to have the time to do sometime. As we neared the final stretch toward Raven Cliff Falls there is a trail not maintained to the left of Raven Cliff Falls overlook Trail, and we saw two hikers who had accidentally hiked the wrong way on this trail, and they were still looking for the overlook. So don’t veer to the left when you see an unmarked trail branch off, but instead keep to the right.
The platform overlooking Raven Cliff Falls is a welcoming sight for the view we’re about to catch. This is a newer platform though. The older one had a tree fall on it several years ago, and everyone seems unsure of why it wasn’t rebuilt because it did have a much better view of Raven Cliff Falls. This one is roomy for the more crowded times to visit the waterfall.
Walking down the stairs we got a peek of the waterfall as we walked down. Hopefully this puts into perspective the view of the waterfall from the platform. I brought my Canon 60D for this waterfall, so I could use my zoom lens for a closer view.
Raven Cliff Falls still gives a great view of the waterfall, and I recommend visiting when leaves haven’t come back to conceal more of the view. The sun was setting, so the lighting was a tad easier to work with than when it’s higher in the sky.
I don’t believe the lens was fully zoomed back for this photo, but it gives an idea of Raven Cliff Falls height at 420 feet as it falls from Raven Cliff Mountain on Matthews Creek.
Before this waterfall was acquired by James P. Moore and Otis P. Moore in 1981 to become more accessible to South Carolina citizens the waterfall was preserved by the Mills and Moore Families for several generations.
Raven Cliff Falls is apart of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area in South Carolina. The trail is near Casears Head State Park, and it’s $2 per person at parking. It’s open daily till one hour before dusk.
An Innovative Pursuit 