TRAILS USED: Eastatoe Creek, The Narrows Side Trail
TRAIL TRAFFIC: Light
TRIP TYPE: Day or Overnight Hike
MANAGEMENT: Eastatoe Creek Heritage Preserve
HIGHLIGHTS: Eastatoe Creek Heritage Preserve is a 373-acre wilderness west of Rocky Bottom, S.C. which protects a five-mile stretch of Eastatoe Creek and three of its tributaries. The stream lies in a gorge surrounded by rocky cliff faces that is accessed via an old logging road which descends gradually toward the ravine. The final mile of the hike is a steep descent that passes through an old-growth hardwood forest, and arrives at a self-sustaining rainbow trout stream. It is said that Eastatoe Gorge has rare species of moss that occur nowhere else in the world.
The Eastatoe Creek trail is blazed in yellow and is well marked. When you reach the stream, follow signs to The Narrows for access to a platform that overlooks a waterfall. The creek has cut a narrow path through the surrounding stone and the water drops dramatically in to a small pool then continues over a series of two additional waterfalls which are spectacular after a heavy rain. The lower falls require some off-trail hiking – and are not for the weary.
