On our first Visit to North Carolina’s largest state park we saw High Shoals Falls plunge 80 feet from the top and bottom observation points. South Mountain State Park lured us back a second time to to view the surrounding ranges from 2,223 feet. it was beautiful and Karen remarked, “I bet it’s more stunning in the fall. Let’s come back.” So, we did.
We parked at the Jacob Creek access. Note, there is a Ranger station at the entrance to the park with cleaner, less crowded toilets,. It’s wise to go before you get this far. The trail to the top is mostly uphill, rated strenuous and listed as only 5.2-miles out and back. The step counter on Karen’ s Iphone logged over 7-miles and that’s what it felt like including a slight deviation when I lost the main trail in deep leaves and had to backtrack.The Jacob Fork River Gorge Overlook is halfway and thankfully comes with a bench to rest your feet and take in a small view of High Shoals Falls’ tip-top across the valley. A lightening strike burned most of the tall trees on Chestnut Knob, which removed all of the view-blocking canopies and added an eerie touch to the landscape.
Chestnut Knob is a marvelous place to enjoy your lunch and snap dozens of pictures that can never quite capture the grandeur of this panoramic vista. The park opens at 7:00am and we did not arrive until 10:00am, which makes parking tough. We got lucky and snagged a spot from a leaving couple. Most of the throng took the much easier hike to the base of High Shoals Falls. The harder the hike, the better the chance you’ll have some alone time when you arrive at your destination. It’s been unusually warm this October, which may have muted the leaves, but sure makes for pretty hiking days.
