Last weeks hike to the bridge inspired this weeks hike to the overlook for Raven Cliff Falls near Caesar's Head in upstate SC. I'd been meaning to go back and see the new viewing deck that was built after the previous one was crushed when a tree fell on it a few years back. I last did the hike back in 2006 - the new site for the deck had been chosen and the trail rerouted, but the deck hadn't been built. I was very disappointed to see that the new view of the waterfall wasn't nearly as good as the old one. At the same time, I went back to the old deck which wasn't safe at all with the big tree on top of the splintered deck. Now, I wanted a winter view from the new deck and wanted to see what they had done with the old trail as far as trying to obscure it.

Cindy was excited about this hike also as she hadn't seen this beautiful waterfall from the front yet. Parking for the trail head is about 1.5 miles south of the NC/SC border on US 276. Coming from NC, the main parking is on the left. There's a fee for hiking these trails - as there is for other areas in SC, but it's a mere $2 per person and the money is used to help maintain the trails. The there's a really nice map of the area at the kiosk and the same map at various other locations along the trails in this area. The hike to the Raven Cliff Falls overlook is about 2 miles (4 miles round trip) and moderate in difficulty. Begin the hike across the road and follow the red blazes all the way and back.