Panther Creek Trail

Panther Creek Trail runs three and four tenths miles one way, dropping from the East Cowpen Trail junction at about 3,770 feet down to the Conasauga River Trail junction at about 1,920 feet. The lower stretch follows an old logging railroad grade, with blast lines still visible in a rock outcrop near the first crossing. Eight crossings of Panther Creek follow, six below the falls and two above, before a boulder scramble climbs past Panther Creek Falls itself, a seventy to eighty foot drop that starts as a short free fall and finishes as a long slide.

The boulder field below the falls is steep enough that it was never logged, and it holds one of the few old-growth pockets left in this part of the range. There is no real trail through it, just a route between the boulders that stays close to the creek without crossing it again until near the top. Above the falls the grade eases into a long, quieter climb to the ridge at East Cowpen.