Cherokee National Forest · Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina

Squibb Creek Trail

2.0 mi of trail, end to end · Squibb Creek Falls and Pete's Branch Falls Hikes: 4 mi round trip in the Service's write-up · trail No. 23 · the forest publishes the line only

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 36.1035, -82.6533 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

Squibb Creek Falls and Pete's Branch Falls Hikes 4 mi round trip · the Forest Service's write-up

View of Squibb Creek Falls in Cherokee National Forest
Photo: US Forest Service

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, Five Star Trails: Tri-Cities , Squibb Creek Falls Hike .

Squibb Creek Falls:

Get your feet wet on this 4-mile (round trip) trail on your way to see the 25-foot tall Squibb Creek Falls. This trail lies almost entirely in the Congressionally designated Sampson Mountain Wilderness. Please take extra caution when hiking this trail, as trails are not blazed and stream crossings may be difficult to negotiate.

Pete's Branch Falls

This short, easy trail starts to the left of Poplar Cove trailhead after the first creek crossing. The trail follows the creek with 5 creek crossings to a 45-foot waterfall. It is recommended to come during the wet spring and fall months, where the abundance of water makes for optimal viewing. During the dry months, you can expect just a trickle coming over the falls. Please note that hiking or driving on Forest Road 94 requires several creek crossings. Hiking from the trailhead requires an additional 1.5 (each way) hike.

This hike on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Cherokee National Forest

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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.