Thompson Creek Trail, aka Trail 206 in the Bankhead National Forest allegedly will take you to a waterfall called Auburn Falls. I hopped on the trail one day to find that waterfall, although I failed horribly at the task. This starts at the trailhead at GPS N34 20.443′ / W87 28.220′ which happens to have you park just before crossing a little bridge, that makes the start of trail 206. I don’t know where I went wrong hunting the waterfall which was supposed to be a simple out and back hike, and anyone who happens upon my blog and reads this please chime in, but I did have a great hike along this trail anyway.
The Thompson Creek Trail in spring is loaded with wildflowers, as in you’ll get a real show as you hoof it along the bank of Thompson Creek. The creek itself is also a beautiful turquoise color. Here I felt happily immersed in nature. At one point I came upon a boulder in the path that looks like a giant pufferfish, and have hence dubbed it to be Pufferfish Rock in the Bankhead National Forest. Watch out for snakes, as you’ll see one I almost stepped on shown here.
As I trekked down this trail on a quest that I thought was a 1.7 mile each way sort of outing to find the aforementioned waterfall, and then no doubt overshot that distance because I must have gone at least 3 miles before even giving up and turning around, everything continued to be amazing. There are little stream crossings, eastern hemlocks, numerous gorgeous views of all types, and well into it a lot of high cliff walls dominated above me opposite the water, with caves holding who knows what in them. I kept looking for Auburn Falls, and I thought if I accidentally passed it I’d encounter another popular landmark known as Ship Rock. I don’t know how I didn’t spot this stuff, but it was still a great hike in the Bankhead National Forest.
