Easy hikes and walks in Polk County

Great hike and fairly easy

Pearson's Falls is located near Saluda, North Carolina, and is noted as having one of the best maintained trails in the area. There is a fee area at the parking area that goes towards the construction and maintenance of the steps, bridges, and fences you see along the trail. With over 30,000 visitors each year, this trail can be crowded at times; there is an overflow parking area on Pearson Falls Road.

Melrose Falls is a 60-foot waterfall just outside Tryon, North Carolina. It is a nearly vertical rock wall with a stream of sorts tumbling down the rock face. This viewpoint is from a giant rock face down a steep embankment. Be careful following the social trails here at the falls overlook because the footing can be really slick, and a fall could be costly.

There are a lot of waterfalls in the Green River Game Lands, and Little Bradley Falls happens to be the most visited of all of them. It is less than a mile from the trailhead to the waterfall, and there are rapids, cascades, and tiny falls all along the trail, which follows a branch of Cove Creek running down from the falls. The falls, themselves, are a three-step set of falls flowing into a large pool at the bottom. It's likely there will be other people on the trail while you are out hiking.

The trail leading to Big Bradley Falls Overlook passes a couple smaller waterfalls and cascades of its own. There is one main water crossing when you pass through Cove Creek, but it isn't a dangerous crossing at all. The view at the overlook is underwhelming when the trees are in bloom and getting in the way, but the trail follows the river the whole time and offers a wilderness feeling and waterfall views all along the way anyways.

Big Bradley Falls is a 75-foot waterfall in the Green River Game Lands. The falls have a lower access trail to this spot, or you can take the upper trail that offers an overlook from a distance away. The trail to the lower falls is less maintained and is washed away in areas once you get to the creek bed. Be aware that the trail to the falls has been known to close in the past due to safety issues.

The Green River Narrows Spur Trail leads from the Pulliam Creek Trail past a couple smaller waterfalls to the rushing narrows of the Green River. Pulliam Creek Falls dumps right into the river here, helping to create a wild cascade of rapids in the tight river drainage.

This waterfall access trail is wide (double track at times) and follows the Green River while traveling through the Green River Game Land. A lot of trails in this area of North Carolina are completely tree covered and don't offer continuous views, but this section of trail travels through primarily meadows and offers views of the river valley and mountain surrounding it.