Honey Creek Loop

Honey Creek is the loop Big South Fork rangers warn casual hikers away from, and the one experienced scramblers drive hours for: the mileage is modest, but the trail spends most of it in the bottom of a boulder-choked gorge, ducking through dripping rock houses, squeezing slot passages barely shoulder-wide, climbing fixed wooden ladders, and hopping Honey Creek itself dozens of times past a string of small waterfalls. Budget four to six hours, not the two the distance suggests — footing is slick year-round, blazes disappear in the jumble, and GPS is useless under the bluffs, so track the markers carefully and turn around if the creek is running high, because several passages flood. The payoff comes twice: down low, where the canyon walls close in over pools and mossy ledges, and up top at the Honey Creek Overlook, a railed perch a few hundred feet directly above a horseshoe bend of the Big South Fork. The ladders and scrambles make it a poor choice for dogs and young children, and the gravel approach roads are slow but fine for careful 2WD in dry weather.