We left early Sunday (5-31-20) to hike in South Mountain State Park. It’s only a 1.5-hour drive, but if you don’t arrive before 9:30am, the wait is 1-2 hours for a parking spot.
South Mountain State Park is North Carolina’s largest. We hiked the 5.2-mile, out and back Chestnut Knob Overlook Trail. The traffic on this steep and “strenuous” path is light and the views are fantastic.
Our recent incessant rains gave way to cool northern breezes and awesome roaming clouds. The abundant moisture made for richly colored foliage and flowers that added beautiful accents and textures to the forest scenery.
At the halfway point, Jacob Fork River Gorge Overlook provides a bench for the perfect resting point. The first half of this trail is the steepest, but it’s mostly all uphill.
From the midway resting spot, you can see the tippy top of 80-foot, High Shoals Falls gushing from a small break in the dense trees.
The view of Jacob Fork Gorge from Chestnut Knob Overlook is breathtaking.
Karen chose to stay at the top of Chestnut Knob’s rocky outcrop.
I picked my way down the boulder-strewn cliff face, through the deadfalls and loose rocks to the craggy point where it drops into the abyss.
Do you think the view from the edge of the precipice was worth the extra risk and effort?
After Chestnut Knob taxed our bodies, we rewarded ourselves with wine slushies at the newly-reopened WoodMill Winery near Vale, NC. We ate a picnic lunch on their mostly vacant veranda and enjoyed grape and strawberry wine-based frozen treats. A very soothing way to extend a gorgeous day.