Talk:Margarette Falls

February 20, 2010
Tim Schaefer reporting
Due to a threat of snow/ice/rain for the original date I pushed this back two weeks and attempted the trip to Margarette Falls near Greeneville on the 20th. Who knew a short hike, 1.4 miles from the parking lot, 0.7miles after leaving the Forest Service road, could take so long and be so difficult? After several stream crossings, wet kid’s feet and pants, muddy trails, and an impressive drop in temperature, we decided to cut our losses and turn back. After getting back, I looked up the GPS coordinates of the falls and saw that we were ~700 feet short of the destination. Determined, I returned the next day with a backpack to carry Jamie and warmer clothes. Sunday was worse since the warm Saturday melted a lot of the snow only to refreeze overnight and then beginning to thaw again. The trails were quite a bit more slippery, but we made it, took in the sights, and quickly headed back down trail to the warmer weather. Overall it was barely frozen and compared to pictures I have seen of these falls completely frozen as recent as this past January, I will have to move up my frozen waterfall hikes next year. Attending Saturday were Chris Garrett and son Paul, my daughter Jamie and dog Zoinks! Sunday was me and Jamie and our other dog Scooba.

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4/23/2011 Visit

Someone (thank you!) has has done a ton of trail work since the last time I was here. There is a new bridge and large portions of the trail have been relocated. 12/2010 was written into the concrete pylons of the bridge. Now there's really only a single creek crossing and as long as the water isn't up too much, it's possible to get across on rocks people have arranged in the water. This popular falls is considerably easier to get to now. The trail work is top notch...

My Recent Photos

April 7, 2012

Joe DeLoach reporting

The most frequent question I received on this hike was "How far ahead did you plan it?" as it turned out to be a gorgeous day with lots of water and 17 species of wildflowers in bloom. Although the warm winter and spring resulted in the early spring flowers having already bloomed and gone, later spring flowers including vernal and crested dwarf iris, erect trilliums, foamflower, and a particularly nice patch of bleeding heart made for a very nice display. Seven of us hiked together up the 1.3-mile trail, which had been improved by the Forest Service with three of the former stream crossings removed by relocations and a new bridge. Everyone navigated the one remaining crossing without incident. The crossing of Dry Creek to reach the rough Phillips Hollow Trail at the former parking area is no longer evident. While having lunch at the falls, Ken Weakley and his family arrived; they had other plans which kept them from going with us, but used the route from the Trail Wiki to find the trail and us. Hikers included Donna Ashby, Rhoda Bliese, Alan Gamble, Chris Neglia and his 7-year old son Joe, Monika Wiedmann, and Joe DeLoach.