While most visitors use the Savage Gulf West trailhead to reach summertime swimming areas at Blue Hole, and at Upper and Lower Greeter Falls, the Greeter Trail will also connect hikers to the entire Savage Gulf trail network. Your adventure to Boardtree Falls takes you on the very beginning of this longer trail system.

The Greeter Trail begins across entrance road from Savage Gulf West parking area. Cobblestones indicate this section may once have been part of the historic Chickamauga Trace, a Native American trail turned settler road. About 500 feet from the parking lot, the trailhead kiosk sits at a trail split, with the Greeter Trail bearing left, and the Blue Hole Trail bearing right, about a half-mile, to a great swimming hole.  Don’t try to dive off the rocks — the water is shallow, with more rocks hidden beneath the surface!

Continuing on the Greeter Trail, about 250 feet beyond the kiosk, a short spur trail to the left takes you to the site of the Greeter Homeplace, where the early settler family lived whose name is now given to the nearby waterfall.  The Greeter family lived here from the mid-1800s until the early-1900s.

Stay on the Greeter Trail, past its intersection with the Greeter Falls Access Trail. (See our article about visiting Greeter Falls if you'd like to detour to the falls at this point.)  If, however, you continue on the Greeter Trail, when you're about a quarter-mile from the parking area, the trail intersects again with the opposite end of the Greeter Falls Access Trail. Turn left here, and the Greeter Trail crosses a creek on a cable bridge, just above Boardtree Falls, a double-drop cascade of Boardtree Creek.

The Greeter Trail crosses Boardtree Creek just upstream of the upper falls.  Please stay on the trail, as the rocks in and around Boardtree Creek are treacherous.

If you’d like to visit a nice overlook, continue on the Greeter Trail about a half mile past Boardtree Falls. Here, the trail turns sharply left, but straight ahead are several outstanding overlooks with panoramic views of Big Creek Gulf.

About 1-1/4 miles from the parking area, the Greeter Trail ends at its junction with the Big Creek Rim and Big Creek Gulf trails, near the Alum Gap Campground. Turn around here, or at any point along the Greeter Trail, if you wish to return to the Savage Gulf West trailhead.