Cherokee National Forest · Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina

Jeffery's Hell Trail

1.8 mi of trail, end to end · Falls Branch Falls Hike: 2.6 mi round trip in the Service's write-up · trail No. 196 · the forest publishes the line only

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 35.3627, -84.0503 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

Falls Branch Falls Hike 2.6 mi round trip · the Forest Service's write-up

View of Falls Branch Falls in Cherokee National Forest
Photo: US Forest Service

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act by taking a day hike to Falls Branch Falls located in the Citico Creek Wilderness.

To help visitors plan their adventure and enjoy this featured day hike, Johnny Molloy, Outdoor Writer & Board Member of Partners of the Cherokee National Forest, has provided an excerpt from his book, Waterfall Hiking Tennessee , Falls Branch Falls Hike .

The Falls Branch Trail #87 is a 1.3-mile trail (2.6-mile round trip) that leads to Falls Branch Falls, a 70-foot waterfall. Please note that this trail is located within congressionally designated Wilderness, a primitive area where trail signing and blazing are minimal.

The majority of the trail follows an old roadbed, but it eventually leaves the roadbed and becomes narrow, steep, and rocky closer to the waterfall.

This hike on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Cherokee National Forest

All 185 trails in Cherokee National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.