Friday the 13th of October we set off toward Asheville to begin celebrating my 60th birthday. On the way we stopped at the DuPont State Forest to hike the falls trails. It was a “Lucky Day.”
High Falls flows from beneath a covered bridge down a smooth granite outcrop.
The blush of fall colors brightened an overcast day at High Falls.
This sturdy covered bridge spans the Little River just above High Falls plunge over the cliff.
The trails in the Dupont State Forest were well maintained. A Forest Service employee told me, “We’re a State Forest, not a National Forest. That means they give us much less money to operate.”
The hike to Hooker Falls was the shortest of the three routes we walked. We ate our picnic lunch on these mosaic rocks with the Little River gushing in the background.
Many parts of the Dupont State Forest will look familiar to movie buffs. Scenes from The Hunger Games and The Last of the Mohicans were filmed here.
The spectacular Triple Falls is made up of three cascades flowing down giant mountain steps.
Hiking to the waters edge at the first of the Triple Falls’ cascades is effort well spent.
The wet granite was very slick, but the allure of standing by rushing water was too great to resist.
The DuPont State Forest is a challenge to find. We only visited three of the four waterfalls located in these wonderful woods. I’m sure we will return to this special place.
The forest reclaiming this fallen tree beautifully illustrates natures lack of waste.