Benton Falls Hike Plus Silvermine Creek Falls and Elora Falls

Benton Falls Hike Plus Silvermine Creek Falls and Elora Falls

Saturday March 8, 2025 

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Photos are Here 

Directions are HERE 

   We had been lax on our hiking and were both eager to get outside and take a walk.  We decided that it had been too long since we visited Benton Falls.  The forecast was for mild weather and a sunny day which was in our favor.    I made a list some time back of places I'd visited, but had no video on my channel.   One of those was Benton Falls so this would give me a chance to correct that.  We'd had some good rain and new it would be running wonderfully.  It also meant that the climb down to see other waterfalls past it would be worthwhile today.   Last of all I wanted to visit Sugarloaf Mountain Park.

It sits along the Ocoee and we'd driven past it many times never realizing it was there.  Today we'd fix that too.

Below:  a photo of the trail to Benton Falls 

          We always enjoy the drive down highway 411. The scenery is lovely.  We stopped and ate lunch at Bert's then headed on down the road to hike.   We arrived around 1 pm.   We saw plenty of people, but it was not crowded. We had no trouble finding parking. We encountered lots of people on the hike, but it is nothing like the crowds in the Smokies.   We don't mind seeing people and dogs as long as they are nice.   One thing that is worth mentioning about the hike today?  The restrooms at the trailhead were locked. They are not open when the campground is not operational I guess. 

    The hike to Benton Falls is on a wide, gentle grade on a dirt track.  It winds through a forest with lots of evergreens.   The skies above were brilliant blue with a few puffy clouds.   It was a bluebird day for sure.    It seemed like no time until we arrived at the turn to take us down to the falls.   

 We were both a little surprised. It had been so long between trips we'd forgotten how steep the stairs are on the way down.  The falls was crowded with people. I resigned myself to the fact I'd not get a photo of the falls today minus people.   It was worth it. Everyone there was in a good mood. Families with kids of all ages playing together. The only people on screens were using phones to snap a quick photo.

It was a great vibe for the day.  Dogs playing around with one another and their owners. 

No one was climbing the falls today trying to get their killing done.  

Below is a photo of the falls with all the people. It also illustrates well how steep the stone stairs are.

   

Below is a photo of the stream flowing downstream under  Benton Falls. 

Below is one of the best photos I got of the falls today with the fewest people. 

Below is a photo of Benton Falls taken from the stairs where I could eliminate all the people from the frame for a moment. 

Below is a video of Benton Falls from today. 

    We enjoyed the main falls, but eventually we trudged back up the steps to the trail.  We'd hike on down the trail to find Elora Falls and Silvermine Creek Falls.  The gorge here is full of beautiful waterfalls, but the majority of them have no trail to them.   Elora Falls is a mere quarter mile from Benton Falls, but the climb down over the bank is not simple.  

Below is a photo of what some of the mess looked like we had to contend with to reach the falls. I'd never do this during Summer when snakes are out. 

  We found the waterfalls below without much trouble. We'd been once before, but they were a mere trickle.   Today they should be running far better.   Elora Falls could be heard easily. Silvermine Falls was surprisingly still a trickle after all this rain.   We did not bother to climb down to see it from the base as it was plainly not worth the effort.   Elora Falls was stunning today!   It was also a little tough to reach, but more than worth it. 

Below: Side view of Silvermine Falls 

above and below are two views of Elora Falls.

 

Note to Self: 

  We spotted what may be a lower falls between Benton and Silvermine Falls.  We saw a few folks climbing down the ridge to the base.  We did not attempt it today, but will plan to do so in the near future.   It is visible from a rock outcrop on the left of the trail about 500 feet past Benton Falls.  

  Once we got done enjoying Elora Falls we climbed the slope back up to the trail.  We stopped to catch our breath and get a sip of water before hiking back.    We took a couple minutes to direct a young couple to Elora Falls.   They didn't know it was there, but didn't want to miss it once they knew of it.

     The hike out was not too bad.  It has a slight uphill grade heading back, but the entire hike has little elevation change over all. 

       We arrived back at the jeep happy and ready to move on to the next phase of our day.   We drove back to highway 64 and soon pulled over and down toward the river we found Sugarloaf Mountain park. It is easy to find since it sits at the intersection of Parksville Road with Hwy 64.   

      We found it a popular place, but uncrowded.  It has a boat ramp to put into the Ocoee.  It has picnic tables, grills, restrooms, pavilions, a walking path, exercise equipment and a playground.     It is a scenic spot by the lovely waters of the Ocoee.  Today it was shining and green like jade.  It is below one of the Ocoee dams and  has an old railroad bridge across the river.  These were two of the reasons I wanted to visit the spot.  It did not disappoint.     There is no swimming here according to the signs.  I am not sure why. 

Below: the old L & N bridge across the river

Below: a view of the Ocoee from the walking path

  

Below:  the playground at the park.  what a nice spot and fun for families! 

   I don't know why I didn't take photos of the dam today.  Shame on me! 

It is never a boring trip when visiting this area.  So many hikes and so little time!  

One of my favorites is to hike to Rock Creek Falls and up to Chestnut Mountain Falls. Once there you can turn aside and climb Thornburg Ridge off trail to see four more waterfalls!  I think we saw seven in one day! 

Last of all is a video from today's visit to Elora Falls below: 

Benton Falls Hike

Benton Falls Hike

January 14, 2017

Kenny & Dana Koogler
Hiked 4 miles RT 

   I am way behind in writing this blog entry. I could not even recall the date of it. I had to look it up.  I am going to make it more perfunctory since it is so far behind the date it took place.  

  We managed to get out in January for a hike to Benton Falls.   We planned to start there and continue to Silver Creek Falls and Elora Falls at least.  We figured if they were running really good we'd push on to see Rim Rock Falls and Oasis Falls.  

        We have only hiked to Benton Falls twice before.  We were there 14 years ago and eight years ago.   Just when you think you know exactly how to get to where you're going........ you find out you don't.   We arrived at the trail head parking without any problems. It was a pretty Saturday. It was sunny and warming up.  We had a general recollection of how to start the hike.   We headed in the correct direction and crossed the earth dam at McKamy Lake. 

Once past that the trouble began.  The problem was we had only the most general recall of what direction the falls was in.  The trail sign was knocked down and propped back up.  I looked around for where it was knocked over from.  We never could figure out exactly where it had been.  We decided since it seemed to be pointing in the right general direction we'd start off the way it indicated.  We had not gone 100 yards before I began to realize it was wrong.  Kenny disputed me at first.  He then realized I was correct and all we were doing was circling back to the same spot we started from.  shoooes! We hiked that extra needless quarter mile as a "warm up" he said.  I got the map out and between the two of us we got oriented. We laughed and set off again. Same general direction but downhill.  If you hike to Benton Falls... hopefully the sign will have been replaced and be correct. Just in case.... go across the dam and at the intersection turn LEFT and follow the blue blazed trail.  

      We were still not absolutely sure we were right until we were halfway there.  We passed several signs, but not until we got to the middle of the trail at an intersection did we see one that pointed to Benton Falls. Thankfully it is a very easy hike and a short one.  We made it to the falls in no time despite our initial struggles.  The falls was running pretty good and was as pretty as I remembered.   We saw three other folks there while we were there. Not too bad.

 Benton Falls flowing so/ so today. I was surprised. We'd had recent rain, but it did not completely ease the draught.

 Elora Falls--Not much water.

 small plunge pool at Elora Falls

Then the water just goes underground for a ways... it comes out again about 50 yards down from here.  

      We enjoyed Benton Falls for awhile. It was beautiful and quiet today.  We went on down the trail with the waypoints and Brian Solomon's directions to Elora and Silver Creek Falls. 
We found Elora Falls without a lot of trouble.  It was a short bushwhack.  It was disappointing.
Not much water at all.   Kenny went down and could see where Silver Creek Falls was, but said it was even worse.   We decided to end our hike here and come back another time right after a heavy, very recent rain.  

         It was a beautiful day to get out and exercise.  It did us both a world of good. We decided to head on back home. We stopped at the picnic area on the way back and sat by the lake having lunch.  A few more people were straggling in.   We wrapped things up and decided to go home.   Good thing we did  head back early. Driving home my new jeep threw a Transmission Error and got stuck in eighth gear.  We had it happen off and on a couple times.  The message went away,but the Check Engine light never went off.   I called the dealership and found they were open until 5:30 p.m.   We made it back in time to get it down to Kodak for a check and a repair.  I was without a vehicle for a day or so, but Monday night I went down and picked it up. It has been fine ever since.  I hate vehicle trouble, but at least it did not strand me somewhere, and it is resolved.