Lohr’s Falls

GPS for waterfall:  34.79732, -83.13634

Water source:  Unnamed tributary

Height:  Approximately 35 feet visible from base

Dan Goodwin tells the story of how Lohr’s Falls received its name:

“In Thomas King’s book on upstate South Carolina waterfalls, you will find a listing for Lohr’s Falls. In his write-up, you find out that Norm Arnold named the falls for the family who found them…

It was a Sunday, December 18, 1994, when Stu and Kathy Lohr, along with their springer spaniel, Misty, took the old Yellow Branch Trail down to visit Yellow Branch Falls. On their return, they followed the trail back to where a feeder stream joins Yellow Branch. The trail crosses the branch at that point. In making the crossing, they got confused with the two streams and began following the left stream instead of the right (Yellow Branch). By the time it was clear they were probably following the wrong stream, it was late in the day. Plus, they were not sure where they went wrong, so their best bet was to continue on. It wasn’t long before they found the waterfall that would bear their name. As exciting as that was, it would have been more exciting to know the way out since it continued to get colder as it got closer to the end of the day.

Stu was familiar enough with the terrain to know there were roads that boxed in the area so he continued to follow the stream, knowing he would eventually find a road. He said he remembers ‘the elation of seeing a trash-littered bank, which gave us confidence that we wouldn’t have to spend the night in the woods.’ That trash-littered bank was the road he was looking for. Given the topo of the stream, this was probably Cassidy Bridge Road. Stu, Kathy, and Misty began to walk the road when a South Carolina State Trooper came by. Stu asked him how to get back to the Yellow Branch parking lot. Turned out to be about a 2 mile walk. Oddly enough, the trooper didn’t offer them a ride.
Stu told Norm Arnold, who named the falls and put it in his book, which was cited by Tom King for his book.”

Above the main falls is this fascinating corkscrew falls, about 15 feet high:

And above the corkscrew sits this nice little 10-foot drop:

Parking:  Going north on Highway 28, turn left into the Yellow Branch Recreational Area and park in the parking area at the end of the road, GPS 34.80579, -83.12870.  This is also the parking for Yellow Branch Falls.

Hike:  The hike to Lohr’s Falls begins at the Yellow Branch trailhead.  Follow the trail until you reach the old Yellow Branch trail, which branches off to the right, GPS 34.80036, -83.12954.  Continue to follow this old trail until you reach Yellow Branch.  Instead of crossing here, go to the right, near GPS 34.79592, -83.13390.  From this point it is a short bushwhack upstream to Lohr’s Falls. There is a very faint path that has been flagged at some point, though I wouldn’t count on the flags still being there.  The hike to Lohr’s Falls is approximately 2.4 miles round trip.

**As of June 2018, the old trail to Yellow Branch is nearly impassible due to huge, fallen trees.  The trail was impossible to see in places, and any flags that had once been there were now gone.  Map reading skills and off-trail hiking experience are necessary to reach Lohr’s.  While it is possible to bushwhack to Lohr’s from Yellow Branch, I can’t encourage that route, since it does follow the old trail up beside the falls, and there is a sign clearly stating that trail is closed and not to be used.**