My first trip to both the Lower and Upper Dick Creek Falls was on 2-May-2010. It was mostly sunny (bad for picture-taking), temps in the mid 80's with high humidity (bad for hiking), and the wind was blowing badly, which did keep the bugs at bay but made photographing the wildflowers a generally frustrating affair.
Total hiking distance was about 7.7 miles.
It's uphill both ways !
Dick Creek Falls (22-ft high)
36 deg 09.114N, 82 deg 19.632W, 2600 ft
Begin at Rock Creek Park in Erwin. Drive through the picnic area and park near the bath house just before you enter the campground. From here, walk towards the campground and you'll see the trail head for the hiking/biking trail that follows Rock Creek. After a ten minute walk, you'll reach a footbridge; cross it and you will soon come to a fork with a sign pointing left to Rattlesnake Ridge, that’s the trail you want to take. You will follow it approximately 3/4 of a mile through a few easy creek crossings and some steep parts to reach Dick Creek Gap.
As you enter Dick Creek Gap, you'll reach a clearing that contains the intersection of three trails and two roads: one is the trail you just came from; the trail on your right continues on to Rattlesnake Ridge, I’m not sure where the third trail (to your left) goes. Straight ahead are the two roads. The road to the left is marked 'Dark Hollow', but it’s the unmarked logging road to the right that you want to take.
Follow that road down the hill for about 3/4 of a mile where you'll cross over Dick Creek. Just a bit further and you'll come to an intersection with yet another unmarked logging road; turn right on that unmarked logging road.
From here it is roughly 1/3 of a mile to an unmarked pullout on your right. It's the second such pullout on the right. There’s a similar pullout a few hundred yards sooner, but you’ll know this is the correct one because you can see a grassy clearing about a hundred yards farther up the road. If you listen closely, you should be able to hear the falls. There’s a faint trail out the back of the pullout which will lead to the falls, which are only about 30 yards off the road.
The waterfall is hidden in a little grotto. You can view the falls from above and then carefully climb down to the base of the falls for a better view. If you’re through here in early May you may also see some pink lady slippers along the sides of the logging road.
Upper Dick Creek Falls (~30-ft high)
located at 36 deg 08.686N, 82 deg 19.265W, 3060 ft
Get back on the logging road from the lower falls, and proceed upstream through the clearing to another creek crossing. Just across the creek is another small clearing with a rock fire ring. Cross the creek and the clearing and continue on the trail through the ditch until it comes out in a relatively flat spot about 100 ft ahead. There’s a faint trail that angles uphill and to the left, back toward the creek.
The trail is not always obvious, but proceeds through woods with almost no undergrowth. Some kind soul has blazed a portion of the trail with pieces of white and yellow plastic hanging from the trees. Follow this uphill until it intersects with another old logging road - 'road' is a bit of a stretch, more like a really wide path).
Go left on this path about 300 yards and you’ll see and hear the upper falls. The total distance from the lower to the upper falls is about 3/4 mile. If you’re through here in late April or early May keep an eye out for painted trillium.
These falls are located along a wall that curves around to the left. The best photo opportunities are from the sides and directly in front of the falls, but you’ll have to cross the creek above the falls and circle around below the falls to get there.
Be very careful as you will cross the creek only a few feet upstream from the precipice. Circle around the far side and scramble down to the base of the falls, it's steep, but manageable.
There are four distinct flows over the face of the falls, each separated by a big rock. It puts you in the mind of water flowing out of a turret on an old castle. In wet weather there are two smaller falls on the trail side of the wall.
I went back to Lower Higgins Creek south of Erwin this afternoon, hoping to hike to the upper falls ... but ... the creek was up so much I couldn't make it across anywhere without getting wet, not today.
I was a bit restless after a week of working to get our downstairs den finished in time for a birthday party, so, when the first snowy Sunday of the winter season presented a few hours of walkabout time I was on it.
This picture is a cascade about half-way back. It's a three-exposure HDR. I passed over several other small falls and cascades that were equally photogenic to get to back to this particular one. The sun was getting up and the clouds were getting thin, so the good light was getting away from me, and the snow was melting.
The picture in the upper left is a waterfall just a little ways up the road on the right, it's easily visible from the road, you can't miss it. Take your time driving up this road as the creek is a constant 'stream' of amazing cascades and waterfalls. Get it, 'stream' of ..., oh bother.
The gravel forest service road is in great shape, and it's not steep at all. It follows the creek but there were no creek crossings in the mile or so that I walked. There is a seemingly endless number of cascades, riffles, and waterfalls to shoot.
Like this cascade that swoops around a rock then rolls and over a shelf and makes some swirlies. Or this long skinny chute that has some cool swirlies to it's inside.
It was mid-afternoon when I decided to make a quick scouting trip to see Lower Higgins Creek Falls in Unicoi Co.. I was hoping to see some falls colors still hanging around and maybe some decent reflections in the pools, the results were so-so on both counts.
The rickety bridge that crosses the creek from the parking area to the trail didn't make a good first impression, and the squishy wet trail for the next 50 ft didn't help either, but after that initially weak start, the trail turned into a standard east tennessee waterfall trail. Like most other waterfall trails in our area, this trail is an old logging road that generally follows the creek as it climbs up a ravine toward the top of the mountain. The creek itself is replete (how's that for a $10 word) with small falls and cascades that are quite photogenic themselves, but time was getting away and I wanted to get to the main attraction.
After huffing and puffing my way to the falls, I was met with an incredibly steep 100 foot descent over rocks, roots and vines down to the base of the falls. You have to go down there because that's the only place you can get any unobstructed views of the falls. I snapped away for about 30 minutes at the edge of the plunge pool which is behind some large moss-covered logs. The fall itself is about 100 ft high and has three distinct tiers, only one of which is visible from the bottom.
So after climbing back up the cliff to the trail I followed the trail on up the mountain to see the two upper tiers. the middle tier is obscured by rhododendron but I made it down to the upper tier. And that's where I snapped this long exposure shot in which the leaves made some swirlies! I like swirlies. It was getting dark so they are not especially good swirlies, but they are definitely there.
After the first of these crossings you'll come upon a good sized clearing, follow the tree-line down the left side of the clearing and you'll find the trailhead marker for Laurel Fork Trail and another, more challenging creek crossing. Laurel Fork Trail is easy to follow, and is in very good shape, with only a few muddy spots, but did I mention the creek crossings? There are two more of them to negotiate over the next .4 miles before you get to the falls. You'll definitely hear the falls as you approach them. There's a small trail down to the base of the falls, but it is very steep, and wet, and slippery, and steep, and rocky, and wet. It's one time I definitely wish I had brought some rope. I have a nice rope in the truck, about 25 feet long with a knot about every foot, but it's only useful if you remember to bring it.
The falls face away from the trail, so to get some good pictures you'd have to negotiate the mudslide trail to the pool, then cross the creek at the base of the falls, something I wasn't prepared to do on this day. Instead I took the second side trail to the top of the falls. There's simply no way to get a good shot of the falls from up top, but there was a beautiful cascade at the top which is where this picture was made.
I snapped this picture of the creek on the walk back out to the truck.
About 1.5 miles round trip, each way with less than 200ft in elevation gain, only one creek crossing, all in all it was a really easy hike.
I've read that Josiah Falls is located about .5 miles upstream Pine Ridge Falls. The only way to get there is to scale the right side of Pine Rodge Falls. Well it rained the night before so the rock face to be climbed was wetter and more slippery than normal. So once I surveyed the situation and compared the pleasure of getting to Josiah Falls against potentially falling and crashing and breaking something - like my face or my camera - I decided to wait for a drier day to give Josiah a go. 
The short half-mile hike is extremely steep and very slippery. Many people have been seriously injured attempting to view these falls. You don't so much hike to the falls as you actually climb down along side them, and there's no steps, just rocks and tree stumps to hold onto. It's definitely a beautiful waterfall but this hike isn't for everyone. Take your time, use caution, use a hiking stick, and make sure to wear shoes with ankle support and good tread. Oh, and stay away from the slippery rocks near the water!
Begin at Rock Creek Park in Erwin. Drive through the picnic area and park near the bath house just before you enter the campground. From here, walk towards the campground and you'll see the trail head for the hiking/biking trail that follows Rock Creek. After a ten minute walk, you'll reach a footbridge; cross it and you will soon come to a fork with a sign pointing left to Rattlesnake Ridge, that’s the trail you want to take. You will follow it approximately 3/4 of a mile through a few easy creek crossings and some steep parts to reach Dick Creek Gap.
Get back on the logging road from the lower falls, and proceed upstream through the clearing to another creek crossing. Just across the creek is another small clearing with a rock fire ring. Cross the creek and the clearing and continue on the trail through the ditch until it comes out in a relatively flat spot about 100 ft ahead. There’s a faint trail that angles uphill and to the left, back toward the creek.