After hiking to King’s Chair and back, we had just enough time to hit up Peavine Falls as they’re also in Oak Mountain State Park.
It was a bit of a nervy drive up there though as our gas light came on just after we left the North Trailhead. From the North Trailhead, you have to drive ~3.5 miles south on Oak Mountain Park Road, then turn left on Terrace Drive. After about two more miles you turn left on Peavine Falls Road, then it’s another three miles or so until you reach the parking lot at the Peavine Falls Trailhead.
Most of this was uphill, so we were worried we’d run out of gas on the way back to our hotel. That’s because it’d be another ~10 miles to the nearest gas station after visiting the falls. (We didn’t run out of gas in the end – phew!)
Anyway, back to the hike. There’s a good-sized parking lot at the Peavine Falls Trailhead, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding space there. There are a few trails leaving from this trailhead, with two offering an opportunity to visit Peavine Falls – the White trail and the Blue trail.
We decided to take the White trail as it seemed like it’d be the quickest and most straightforward way to get there. The White trail then connects with the Peavine Falls trail to take you to the falls. Be prepared with good footwear as the trail gets steep.
At the start of the White trail is an information board with some information about the Peavine Falls trail.
As you set off from there, the trail tries to lull you into a false sense of security with its nice, gentle slope.
After a relatively short distance, you’ll see a route marker for the start of the Peavine Falls trail. Some of the information on this marker states that the typical grade of the trail is 19.2%. However, 14% of it has a 31-40% grade, while 46 feet of it has a 41-65% grade (i.e. pretty steep).
As this is an offshoot from the White trail, you’ll now be following white triangle route markers rather than rectangular trail blazes.
You’ll soon reach the Falls Overlook, although there’s not a great view from up there.
To get closer to Peavine Falls, you’ll have to head downhill which is where good footwear will come in handy.
After this somewhat steep section, you’ll follow the trail round to the left. This part of the trail doesn’t have a well-defined path as some of it involves traversing across some fairly flat rocks. It might seem like you’re not on the trail, but you most likely are. Just keep an eye out for the white triangles – the photo below shows one on a tree towards the bottom left corner.
The good thing is that once you get through this, you reach Peavine Falls.
We visited at the end of March, so the water was still pretty cold. That didn’t stop a family with some young kids from splashing around in the water though (much braver than I was!)
We didn’t stay too long as we needed to get back up the trail before sunset. That still gave Shae enough time though to get some good photos with her proper camera.
Final Thoughts
For such a short hike, the Peavine Falls trail in Oak Mountain State Park is harder than you might imagine.
If you visit the falls though, you’ll be glad you made the effort to traverse downhill and back up again. It’s a great set of falls with a nice pool below to wade in when it’s warm enough.
Love the pictures of Peavine Falls – especially all the different colors in the rocks. Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Thank you – it was really pretty there.
I am so happy that you posted this with so much info on the trail! I have been planning a trip out to Oak Mt for my birthday with the horses and non horse hubby. I decided a hike would be good for him since he doesnt care to ride much. I have been trying to find info on what trail to take to get to the falls and this has really helped! Love the review on Kings Chair too!
Great, I’m glad it helped! From what I can remember Oak Mountain State Park had several other trails, so I’d love to go back and check out some of those ones too.