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Horse-friendly trails make it easy to travel to Triple Falls, which was featured in the movie The Hunger Games.
Photo by Mic Smith
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"I don't know of anything that can slow you down more than riding a horse or listening to a waterfall." - Rhett Leonard
Photo by Mic Smith
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Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative member Rhett Leonard enjoys sharing his favorite waterfalls with guests.
Photo by Mic Smith
We drive into the rising sun on S.C.Highway 11 and pass by majestic Table Rock Mountain, knowing that we are in for a special treat. A few moments later, we stop at a roadside motel in Pickens, where our guide is waiting for us with his horse trailer.
“Y’all ready to hit the road?” Rhett Leonard asks with a handshake and a grin.
My husband and I follow him past Pumpkintown, where Leonard lives and cares for his 25 horses, and eventually past Caesar’s Head State Park, where the mountain road really starts to twist. As we cross the North Carolina state line, a sign welcomes us to Transylvania County: Land of the Waterfalls, and that’s not an oversell. There are 250 in this county, and Leonard is taking us to a few of his favorites as part of his Horseback Waterfall Tours.
Once we park, he introduces us to our rides: Bo and GiGi, both Tennessee walking horses.
“Y’all are getting two of my easiest horses,” he promises as he saddles them up. In fact, they are rescue horses, once seriously underweight, that Leonard brought back to health with perseverance and TLC.
With Leonard and his horse, Rusty, leading the way, we enter North Carolina’s DuPont State Recreational Forest and its equestrian-friendly trails. As we ride toward Triple Falls, the whir of the water grows louder. Leonard explains that waterfalls have fascinated him since he was a boy. Likewise, horseback riding is a favorite pastime. He has been happy to combine the two and share the experience with others.
“It’s just a great way to get people out in nature and enjoy God’s creation,” he says.
Triple Falls does not disappoint us when we arrive at the overlook and dismount. The white-capped stone ledges of the falls look like three giant steps, the last turning a corner like a winding staircase. Featured in the sweeping movie The Last of the Mohicans and more recently The Hunger Games, the three cascades reportedly drop a total of 120 feet.
“Isn’t this beautiful?” Leonard asks, and we can tell that it’s still an emotional sight for him.
On North Carolina tours, Leonard usually takes guests to Triple Falls, High Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, all of which are connected by the Little River. Horseback tours closer to home in South Carolina include a six-hour trip to see Lake Jocassee from Jumping Off Rock, where riders might catch a glimpse of nesting falcons.
He started the waterfall tours two years ago, but with the cost of hauling horses, the tours are more of a stress reliever for him than a moneymaker. He just finished a tough week with his same-day courier businesses, so he’s glad to be out on this breezy Saturday in spring.
“I don’t know of anything that can slow you down more than riding a horse or listening to a waterfall.”
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Get There
Rhett Leonard’s Upstate horse farm is in Pumpkintown, where he matches people with horses before leading them to equestrian trails in South Carolina and North Carolina. He is a member of Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative.
Availability: Tours must be scheduled in advance.
Costs: Rates depend on the length of the ride and number of riders.
Limitations: No more than six guests per tour. Riders ages 10 and up are welcome.
Details: See the Horseback Waterfall Tours website, call (864) 918-1020 or email him here.