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The Cascades and Barney's Wall Hike

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Distance:
7.7 Miles / 12.4 km
Type:
Out-and-Back
Difficulty:
Moderate
Time to Hike:
3 hours, ~51 minutes
Features:
Surface Type:
Dirt
Park:
Jefferson National Forest
Town:
Ripplemead, Virginia
Directions:
37.353371, -80.599693
Added:
February 28, 2025
Updated:
April 05, 2025
Guide by:
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1,575'

Total Change
1,836'

Ascent
1,835'

Descent

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The Cascades and Barney's Wall Hike

Near Pembroke, in Southwest VA, is one of the most beautiful waterfall and creek trails in Virginia in our opinion. The hike up the lower trail is one photo opportunity after the other with the trail never going further than 30 yards from Little Stony Creek before finally reaching the amazing lower falls.

See HU Note below about directions to the Upper Falls sent to us by one of our hikers. This hike can be done as a 4 mile round trip to the 69’ foot lower falls (800’ Elev gain) or as an 8 mile round trip (1600’ Elev gain) taking in the lower falls and Barney’s Wall to see 700’ foot sheer cliffs with great views of the New River Valley. This is a very popular hike on the weekends so come early, do the falls, and then proceed to Barney’s Wall for a little more solitude.

HU Note: For our hikers who are movie buffs, this hike is minutes away from Mountain Lake Conservancy & Hotel where much of “Dirty Dancing” was filmed. We stopped here for dinner on the way home, great food and service!

The un-blazed trail begins to the right of the bathroom and Information Center at the far end of the parking lot. Very quickly you will arrive at the first bridge. We chose to go across the bridge and take the lower trail as we heard it was the more picturesque of the 2 trails. You could return on the upper trail if desired to get a different perspective of the creek. The lower trail weaves its way alongside the creek for a mile before reaching the second bridge and rejoining the upper trail. Keep your eyes open for remnants (stairs to no where) of the trail that were destroyed in the 1996 flood. From the 2nd bridge to the lower falls is about 1 mile with many more places to stop and take photos. The lower falls will come into view as you pass a large boulder. Your time to do this trail will depend largely on how often you stop and how much time you spend “soaking” in the views and possibly taking in a dip in the large pool below the falls. This is the turn-around point if you decide not to continue to Barney’s Wall. Retrace your steps down either the Lower Trail or take the Upper Trail when you get to that intersection at the 2nd large bridge you crossed earlier.

To continue to Barney’s Wall, head up the wooden stairs taking a left onto the trail instead of a right to the falls observation deck. In about 200 yards you will reach an open area with a sign post directing you to the Conservancy Trail. It is a fire road for 0.4 miles. At the fork in the road bear left and take another left in about 50 yards at the Conservancy Trail sign post. It is more of a trail from this point on and is Yellow-blazed. This is a pleasant uphill walk in the woods, crossing a small creek and finally reaching the Barney’s Wall intersection on the left in 1.1 miles. The sign was leaning against a tree so keep alert as it could be easy to miss. The spur trail to Barney’s Wall (0.4 miles) is also yellow-blazed and passes through a few seemingly healthy stands of Hemlocks, a rare treat in VA these days! Just before the cliffs you will see a campsite (not sure of the camping rules since this land is conservancy property), the trail bears to the right of the campsite. You will have a great view of the New River Valley looking over towards Blacksburg. If you have no fear of heights, lie on your stomach and look over the edge to get an idea of how tall the cliffs are. As always, be careful near cliffs, especially when wet. This is a great place for lunch, you may even have company (Eastern Fence Lizard) and if you listen carefully towards the south-east, you will hear the roar of Little Stony Creek.

From this point turn around and retrace your route back past the lower falls and to The Cascades parking area.

HU Note: There is a second set of falls about 0.5 miles beyond the lower falls. The upper falls can be reached by continuing along the trail that runs to the left of the lower falls (the same one you used to reach Barney's Wall). Exactly one half mile above the lower falls there is an unmarked but well established path on the right that leads downhill. You should be able to hear the falls from the turn and they are located about a tenth of a mile down the hill. (Photo and directions courtesy of Kyle K.)

Explore 9 trails near Ripplemead, VA
  1. Parking

    37.353371, -80.599693
  2. Main Trailhead

    37.352983, -80.599694
No community routes found. To add your own hike as a Community Route for this Trail guide, leave a Trip Report with an attached GPX file.

Hazards

Ticks - Lyme Disease More Info (CDC)
Snakes
Poison Ivy/Oak

Seasons

All

Blaze Color

Blue

Trip Reports (Reviews)

Rated 4.68 out of 5 based on 22 ratings.
By: John
7.7 miles / 12.4 km
October 26, 2019
The high point of the hike is the 66 foot waterfall, but I find the entire trail next to Little Stony Creek is an important aspect that makes the hike great. The way the creek winds through the valley creates many open looks with the forest providing an arching tunnel. The lower trail has been fixed and is reopened for hiking. Barneys Wall and the Upper Cascades by themselves are good view points though the trail to get to them may just be in a tunnel of trees, but they can provide additional solitude to juxtapose against the typically busy Cascades trails. The forest walk was nice on a peak foliage day and I hit it right on this time around. For full report, see: https://travel2walk.com/2019/10/27/virginia-hikes-cascades-trail-barneys-wall-october-26-2019/
Legacy Review
By: Ray
7.7 miles / 12.4 km
August 04, 2018
I hiked this back in college and thought it would be fun to take the family. When we arrived the lower trail was closed due to washout (after reading reviews, apparently this was a couple years ago). We took the high trail to the second bridge, and then took the low trail. Only once there was an area where we had to climb over a fallen tree's roots where the path was gone, but the rest of the trail was in fine condition. We left the parking lot about 10am, and there were about three other people we saw on the trail. When we go to the falls, the water is cold. We had just received 5 days worth of storms, so the falls were roaring. No one got in the water except us, which was nice. However, when we got done with swimming and taking pictures (about 30 minutes), it went from 6 people at the falls to 20 with more coming in. We had a 7 year old with us, and tried to make the trip to Barney's Wall. The trail was easy enough to follow and all the signs where there. (Thanks HikingUpward for the directions - I had been to the Cascades about 10 times and never knew this was there). While the hike is only 4 miles there, it is a decent uphill climb and ultimately proved too much for our daughter after the trip to the falls, swimming in the cold water, and then continuing onward. We turned back about a half mile away from the cliff (just on the other side of the stream you walk through) so never made it the entire way. We're heading back in a month with just the adults to camp on the rock ledge, so I'll update. In summation: Trip to the lower falls - Definitely family friendly, but go early to avoid the crowds. Be prepared for cooler water than the beach or New River. Trip to Barney's Wall - Decently marked trails, but a bit more strenuous of a hike than to the lower falls. Wouldn't suggest for the younger kids.
Legacy Review
By: D
7.7 miles / 12.4 km
August 13, 2016
The description mentions that above the Cascades there is "conservancy land" so camping rules are unclear. That is all still Jefferson National Forest, Eastern Divide Ranger District. Dispersed camping is allowed.
Legacy Review

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In Ripplemead, VA

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