Benton Falls
A gentle 2.8-mile round trip from the Chilhowee Recreation Area atop Chilhowee Mountain to 65-foot Benton Falls, where Rock Creek slides down a broad sandstone staircase.
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- Length
- 2.8 mi
- Elevation gain
- 240 ft
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route
- out-and-back
Trail conditions
No recent condition reports. Hiked it lately?
Report current conditions →Elevation
1.4 mi · 39 ft of climbing · high 1,896 ft · low 1,734 ft
Find the trailhead
Parking
Paved day-use lots beside McKamy Lake at the Chilhowee Recreation Area, at the top of the long, winding Forest Road 77 climb off US 64; a day-use fee is charged at the self-pay station.
Directions to parkingWeather at the trailhead
75°FOvercast now
Sunrise 6:23 AM · Sunset 8:53 PM
- TodayDrizzle85° / 73°F50% precip
- SatOvercast85° / 69°F9% precip
- SunDrizzle83° / 65°F88% precip
Forecast from Open-Meteo. Mountain conditions change fast; check again before you go.
Benton Falls is the easy waterfall payoff at the top of Chilhowee Mountain: from the McKamy Lake day-use area the trail rolls along nearly level through blueberry thickets and pine-oak woods burned patchily by past fires, then drops in the last quarter mile on rooty switchbacks to the head of the falls, where Rock Creek fans 65 feet down a stepped sandstone face. The wide, mostly smooth tread makes this one of the better first hikes for kids in the Ocoee corridor — the work is in the drive, seven slow miles up Forest Road 77 from US 64, with overlooks of Parksville Lake on the way. Keep children in hand at the brink, since the bare rock above the lip is slick and the side path to the base is steep, eroded, and worse when wet. The falls run best winter through spring and can thin to a trickle by late summer, while McKamy Lake's swimming beach makes an easy add-on in the warm months; the recreation area charges a small day-use fee, and leashed dogs are welcome.