Panthertown Valley, NC

Panthertown Valley, NC is outside Cashires, NC is one of the first places we went backpacking for an extended amount of time. We pretty much just hiked until we found a good spot to camp... camped, then got up and hiked around until we got to the car. No REAL destination at that time. We had a map and there are SEVERAL trails that take you to different mountain tops. REALLY neat place and we plan to go back there in a few weeks to hike it again. I hear there are several waterfalls and caves to visit too. They aren't noted on the map that we have or we would have tried to make it then.





Getting ready to go. There is a long dirt road that takes you to the trail heads where you can park your car.



The first thing we see from the trailhead is the huge overlook. I BELIEVE we're standing on Big Black Mountain and we're looking out towards Big Green Mountain and Cold Mountain behind that.

Typical view of the trail. Very well kept.

Of course, there were lots of places to cross creeks. We didn't have them at the time, but having water shoes would have been perfect for this trip.

Right past the first creek crossing, is the only shelter on-site. Everywhere else is just open to put up tents. This is a first come first serve place and I think we were lucky to come here to put our shoes on that no one was already here.


Plenty of room for a good sized group to stay and not need tents.


At the bottom of Green Mountain I believe.






LOTS of folks come here to climb these slick rock faces. We didn't see any while we were there, but it was also kind of cold and rainy.


Our make-shift campsite. It was too rainy at the time to build a campfire, so we pretty much set up camp in the dark and ate our dinner by stove.


Chris catching snakes. hehehe!

Marquardt looks like he's carrying a small child on his back here. HA!

On our way back up the mountain to the car. That was a TOUGH hill!

Can't wait to see all the new places we'll see on this next trip. I'll be sure to add those pictures when we get back!