Wolfpen Falls is a 15 foot single drop fall in the Sipsey Wilderness Area that provides a great opportunity to get away from well-worn trails. Be sure to consider the recent weather when you visit though, as the flow in Wolfpen Creek decreases to a trickle in dryer months.
At a Glance
- 1 mi round trip
- Nice View
- Great for Kids
Great for Dogs
Gear: Our favorite snacks and camera gear
Gallery: Check out the pictures here
Wolfpen Falls - Trip Details
Wolfpen Falls is about 0.75 miles from Cranal Road in the Sipsey Wilderness Area of Bankhead National Forest. The primary trail to the falls starts at Wolfpen Cemetary, but it's pretty lightly trafficked, so be sure to take a make and compass and ideally, have a GPS track to follow as well.
Our map below should be a big help.
Be prepared for a fair amount of uncleared deadfall to climb over as you walk along the ridge toward the falls. As you begin to drop down into the drainage, maples and oaks give way to hemlocks and the forest floor opens up quite a bit.
As you continue to work your way down the creek, it's pretty easy to keep your feet dry until you get to Wolfpen Falls (not always the case in narrow canyons of Sipsey). Once you get to the fall, you'll need to decide if and how you'll descend to the base of it. If you opt to drop off of the ledge to the west of the falls, you'll have a steep descent and the footing isn't easy to get down to the base of the falls.

My recommendation is to stay to the eastern side of the basin and walk down about 50 yards before working your way down into the canyon and then coming back to the waterfall.
And, if you have a few more minutes, the huge, moss-covered boulders downstream make a loop that includes Eagle Creek Falls a fun day hike as well!
More Waterfalls around Bankhead National Forest
Your trip to Bankhead National Forest and even just the Sipsey Wilderness area could easily turn into an entire day of hikes and waterfalls (or for that matter, a year of weekends!).
On this hike, I mentioned the ability of visiting Eagle Creek Falls on a loop on the same day. Or, you could go see Deer Skull Falls and Little Ugly Creek Falls as well.
Or, you can see many of the other popular falls in the area like Davis Creek Falls, Kinlock Falls, Parker Falls and Parker Cascades, or the ever-popular Caney Creek Falls.
Wolfpen Falls Map, Directions, and Resources
Directions
Get DirectionsParking
-GPS Coordinates
34.28974,-87.42905