Hike to White Rock Falls
Vesuvius, Virginia
Details
Distance
2.4 miles
Route Type
Out-and-Back
Description
Added by Ben Groski
A short hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway leads to some spectacular waterfalls and a small swimming hole for cooling off.
Park in The Slacks Overlook parking lot on the Blue Ridge Parkway, around milepost 20. From there exit the parking lot back onto the road and head left. About 300 feet from the parking lot there is the trail entrance. It isn't too hard to find if you are looking for it, but there aren't any markings along the road indicating that it is there. Continue onto the trail and follow the yellow markers. There is a point where you will start to head up on to some rock outcroppings, you can stop and take picture here but the trail continues and loops down around the cliffs. At the end of this trail is the bottom of the main falls. To the left is another falls that can range from a trickle to a full stream of water depending on time of year and recent weather. There are also smaller falls below the main falls you can also travel too. To leave simply follow the trail back out to the road.
This section of the Blue Ridge Parkway has some other amazing overlooks to view. After this hike I recommend going to the 20-Minute Cliff Overlook at milepost 19 to watch the sunset.
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Hike to White Rock Falls Reviews
This is an amazing waterfall trail in the north end of the BRP that is blazed yellow, I was there yesterday. It is hard to find the trail from the lot at mm 20. You have to cross the road and walk to the left (take the road north) about 50 yards. There are multiple falls, but the directions above do not tell you how to get to the base of the double waterfall. After the overlooks and a few switchbacks, you come to a fork in the trail (approximately 3/4 mile from the trailhead). The trail to the right is the main trail. The trail that leads forward is double blazed yellow and follows the cliff wall to the base of the double waterfall (this is the best part of the hike!), then you have to go back along that same trail to the main trail. You can either head back to your car the same way you came from or you can continue on the main trail (now to your left) that goes down along the creek. Then, you see multiple other falls from a distance, so it’s better to go when there are no leaves on the trees. Once you arrive back at the BRP, you can also hike the Slacks trail back to where you parked your car or the BRP. However, if I’m doing the whole White Rock Falls Trail, I actually like to do it in the opposite direction by parking at the lot at mm 18, hiking the trail, and then walking the parkway back to my car because the parkway goes downhill from mm 20 to 18 and the views are amazing! If you do it this way, you come to the fork after about 1.5 miles. To get to the trail from the lot at mm 18, cross the road at the south end of the lot.
5.0
The trail is not blazed at all, there are a few markings done in black spray paint that are hard to follow. Got lost af and didn’t even find the falls, beautiful views but no clear trail to follow at all
2.0
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