Carvers Creek State Park

Pasture road leading to the Rockefeller House and Woods
Last month, North Carolina's newest state park opened just a few miles north of my house (Cumberland County's first state park.) Carvers Creek State Park is a former farm that has been transformed into recreation area for the people in the Fayetteville area. Although the mill pond located on this property has existed since the mid-1800s, it gained larger fame when the farm was purchased by the famous Rockefeller family (so that John S. Rockefeller would have an escape while he was serving his military duty on Ft. Bragg during World War II.)

John S. Rockefeller House
Although the state plans to eventually expand the park, it currently has just 1.75 miles (2.8 km) of hiking trails. The park begins with a half-mile walk along an overgrown pasture (with thicker forest in the distance.) Sadly, this "trail" apparently served as the original road to the Rockefeller House, so it a wide, featureless expanse of sand. Fortunately, when you finally arrive at the forest (and the Rockefeller House), you are greeted by a more welcoming environment.

Sadly, the Rockefeller House is currently closed to the public. However, the true highlight of the house is actually the mill pond located immediately to the back of the house. This small pond is the true highlight of Carvers Creek! To the left of the Rockefeller House is the second trail in the park, the Cypress Point Loop Trail. This short loop trail circles along the pond's banks before turned into the woods for a short return trip.

Pond formed by the damming of Carvers Creek
While the two trails are an enjoyable little trek (and would be perfect for those living in the immediate area who just want a little afternoon exercise), the main activity at this park seems to be fishing. The entire pond was surrounded by anglers; hopefully, the hiking trails will be expanded and receive a little more attention once the park finally reaches its full size.

Trees growing in the McDiarmid Mill Pond

Hanging Rock State Park

Hanging Rock Lake
I first discovered Hanging Rock State Park when I hiked Pilot Mountain State Park a few months ago. Located just north of Greensboro, along the North Carolina/Virginia border, the park is most famous for a large rock that juts - or "hangs" from the mountain top; however, Hanging Rock State Park has much more to offer than just the Hanging Rock Trail.

Hanging Rock
Hanging Rock State Park actually has three different mountain peaks within its borders, and the park operates a program challenging hikers to hike all three mountains (to five different lookout points) in a single day. This difficult 11-mile (17 km) hike was my goal for the day.

My hike began with an upward trek along the park's most popular path, Hanging Rock Trail. Because this trail sees so much foot traffic, it was very wide (and even graveled at some points.) This was by far the busiest segment of my trek, with the majority of the crowd resting along the jagged rocks surrounding Hanging Rock. Surprisingly, I found the view from Hanging Rock to be the least interesting - and the rock formation was no more interesting than those of the other peaks in the park; I'm not really sure why Hanging Rock gets all the fame...

View from House Rock
After my brief rest at Hanging Rock, I continued back down the mountain until I met the Wolf Rock Trail, which formed the next segment of my loop. This trail was much narrower and passed through much thicker forest. Fortunately, the trail was fairly level, so it wasn't nearly as challenging as the climb up Hanging Rock. Eventually, the trail passes a rocky cliff with openings in the forest that allow for decent views of the surrounding countryside. One of these openings forms the second outlook, Wolf Rock - which was the least impressive of the five outlooks.

After Wolf Rock, the trail soon merges with the Cook's Wall Trail and begins another assent up the second peak. Rapidly climbing up the mountain, the trail soon provides a welcome break at House Rock, the third outlook (and the first that was truly interesting.) Sadly, this is only a brief stop before the real challenge of Cook's Wall trail begins! The trail continues for another mile, most of which is straight up the mountain. When you finally reach the mountain top, it's like walking into an entirely different environment; although the rock outcrops still remain, the forest thins some and grass grows all along the trail. Finally, you reach Cook's Wall, which proved to be my favorite outlook.

View from Cook's Wall (with Pilot Mountain in the distance)
From Cook's Wall, you can see Pilot Mountain standing in the distance (and much of northern North Carolina and southern Virginia.) There are also large hawks(?) circling in the sky just off the mountain peak. It was quite the impressive sight. From here, you again retrace your steps back down the mountain towards the short Magnolia Springs Trail, which loops towards the park's final peak.

Sadly, Moore's Knob (the final peak) proved to be very challenging! It was a difficult two miles up the final mountain (which wasn't helped by the afternoon heat and the exhaustion from my previous two climbs.) From the top of Moore's Knob, your effort is rewarded with two different sights. The first, Balanced Rock, is a massive boulder that mysteriously "balances" on a much smaller rock - without falling over. The second sight, is a man-made lookout tower at the mountaintop, which provides an amazing panoramic view of the surrounding area.

After Moore's Knob, the final segment of the loop is a quick descent (with many, many stairs) back towards the parking lot at the mountain's base. The final segment of the loop ends at Hanging Rock Lake, a small reservoir formed by the damming of Cascade Creek. The lake proves to be an extremely welcome sight after 11 miles up and down mountain paths! Upon completion of the loop, you can stop at the Visitor Center and purchase a small iron-on patch proving that you completed the Five Outlooks Challenge.

South Mountains State Park

Jacob Branch Creek
All summer, I have wanted to head west to hike in the mountains of western North Carolina; unfortunately, this has been one of the wettest summers on record - so there have been few chances for weekend trips. Since I was finally blessed with a sunny weekend, I began my day at South Mountain State Park, which is located in the central part of the state (just north of Charlotte.) The park is best-known for the High Shoals Waterfall; however, it also has a number of excellent hiking trails.

High Shoals Falls
When I first entered the park, my plan was to make a 7.5 mile (12 km) loop hike using the High Shoal Falls Trail, Upper Falls Trail, Shinny Trail, and finishing along the Headquarter Trail. Surprisingly, the trail immediately proved a challenge! Although it passed along the picturesque Jacob Branch Creek, the trail quickly climbs the mountain through a series of steep stairs. Fortunately, there were several small waterfalls along the climb that made the trip more enjoyable. Eventually, the trail arrives at the High Shoals Fall, which was very impressive - though still not the end of the climb.

View of the Mountains from the Upper Falls Trail
After the trail climbs to the top of the cliff (above the High Shoals Fall), the Upper Falls Trail begins, and continues to climb through a thick pine forest. Fortunately, this portion of the trail doubles as a horse trail, so it is very wide (and easy to follow.) Sadly, there was little of interest along this segment (other than a single spot where the trees cleared to along a few of the surrounding mountains.) After a couple miles, my loop turned with the Shinny Trail, and continued along a much narrower path back down the mountain side.

Log "Bridge" along the Headquarters Trail
When I arrived at the bottom of the mountain, I again joined another stream as I worked my way back to the parking lot. Fortunately, the trail designer allowed for as much interaction with this stream as possible! The trail crossed over the stream at least four times - using stepping stones, a log bridge, and a couple small traditional bridges. Eventually, the trail joins the Headquarter Trail and continues to the parking lot.

Jones Lake State Park

Trees growing in Jones Lake

I had originally hoped to head west and hike in the Appalachian Mountains this weekend, but I wasn't exactly feeling up for the long four-hour drive to western North Carolina. Instead, I opted to make use of the cool weather locally and hike in Jones Lake State Park, a park just 40-miles (65 km) south of Fayetteville. As the name would suggest, the main feature of this park is Jones Lake - and the majority of people visiting this park only make use of the picnic and beach areas near the parking lot.

Bay Loop Trail

I, however, chose to forgo the beach and hike the 4-mile (6.5 km) Bay Loop Trail that passes through the forest surrounding the small lake. The first segment of trail is by far the most beautiful. Passing through the lush forest, the trail occasionally breaks with paths leading to the waters edge for spectacular views of the lake.

Dirty Road along Bay Trail

Unfortunately, after about a mile of walking, the trail works away from the lake and passes deeper into the forest. Eventually, the trail leaves the forest entirely and begins following a small dirt road that is composed entirely of sand (which will find its way into shoes and socks.) The one interesting aspect of this segment is the division of the forest; towards the lake, the forest is a thick massive of wilderness...on the opposite side, the forest is little more than thinly-spaced pines (I'm not sure if this is the result of a past forest fire or logging.) Sadly, the openness of the road and the reflective quality of the light-colored sand made this an incredibly hot walk (even on a rather cool day.)

Fortunately, the trail does occasionally skip away from the road and pass through the treed area to the right (though the road is always within sight.) After the second mile, the Bay Trail connects with the Salters Lake Trail, a smaller 1-mile trail leading further into the woods to the more remote Salters Lake. Since this trail is even less traveled, it provides a much closer experience with nature. Although there were many more insects along this trail, I also witnessed two white tailed deer right along the trail's path. Sadly, the end destination at Salters Lake was less than ideal; it was simply a small clearing next to the lake that provided a narrow view of the lake (in general, all the outlook points around the lakes would have been greatly improved with the clearing of a view more trees to provide more of a panoramic view.

Swampland along the trail

After returning along the same trail, I rejoined the Bay Trail, and completed the final two-miles around the Jones Lake. Fortunately, this segment was slightly more interesting than the first portion of dirt road. The final two-miles showed how much of a boggy swamp this area really is. The park's department has definitely built the trail here, which becomes extremely obviously every time the man-made path is flooded and requires you to step off the trail; several times, I stepped in what looked to be dry, solid ground - only to discover that it was a thin layer of dead leaves covering a much messier layer of decomposing swamp muck!

When I finally emerged at the park's picnic area, I was actually surprised to see the manicured lawn and sandy beach so close to a "wild" swamp. I almost considered renting a canoe at paddling across the lake, but I didn't exactly want to risk tipping myself into the swampy waters. Instead, I had to happily return with just a 6-miles (10 km) walk completed.

Pilot Mountain State Park

Pilot Mountain

Lately, I have been fantasizing about the Appalachian Trail (a hiking trail that stretches over 2,150 miles (3,400 km) through the mountains from Georgia to Maine. I have been trying to convince my co-worker that she should join me for this excursion; however, she's never even gone hiking before! Since I've been talking endlessly about the Appalachian Trail, we decided to head towards the mountains of western North Carolina and try a quick day-hike (just to give her an idea of what hiking is really like.)

Although we had originally hoped to walk part of the true Appalachian Trail, we thought a 4-5 hour drive each way would be a bit much for a single day-hike. Instead, we opted for the much closer Pilot Mountain, which was only 2.5 hours north near the city of Winston-Salem.

View over the Cliffs of Pilot Mountain

Our hike on Pilot Mountain was a 7 miles (11 km) loop that took us both around and atop the mountain. I first learned of this loop hike in the book 50 Hikes in the Mountains of North Carolina, which described this trail as strenuous (in fact, it listed the required hiking time as 6.5 hours - something that scared me considering the trail was only 7 miles!) Fortunately, the trail proved much easier than I was led to believe (and took nowhere near 6.5 hours.)

Cliffs along the Ledge Spring Trail

The loop began with 3 miles (5km) of Grindstone Trail, which circled around the north side of the mountain. Although the majority of this trail was an incline, it was actually a fairly mild slope that presented no real challenge. Unfortunately, the Grindstone Trail soon joined the Ledge Spring Trail, and the real climbing began!

Although the Ledge Spring Trail was a steep climb upwards, most of it was made (slightly) easier by the endless series of stairs leading towards the mountaintop. When you are about 3/4 of the way up this trail, the tree-line starts to open up to give magnificent views of the surrounding countryside. (You also encounter endless numbers of rock climbers scaling the mountains jagged cliffs.)

When you arrive at the "top" of the mountain (you can't actually climb to the very top - you have to settle for a nearby plateau instead), you are greeted by dozens of park visitors. Pilot Mountain State Park maintains a road leading up the mountain, so that people can easily reach the scenic lookout points without all the work we went through actually climbing the mountain! Although it was a little disappointing having to share the mountaintop with so many "tourist", the functioning bathrooms and water fountains made up for the small crowd.

Mountain Trail as it Passes through Shaded Forest

From the upper parking area, we were able to enjoy great views from the park's outlook areas before continuing along the mile-long Jomeokee Trail (which circles the mountain's actual peak. Then, the trail continued down a different segment of the Ledge Spring Trail (which would have been just as challenging had we been going up.) At the base of the mountain, we followed two unremarkable trails (Mountain Trail and Grassy Ridge Trail) through the forest south of the mountain. The only challenge from this final segment was the difficulty I had in locating the dark red trail markers against the trees; for someone who is mildly colorblind, it was nearly impossible to find the route markers (thank goodness I had my coworker there to be the eyes for both of us!)

Raven Rock State Park

Campbell Creek Trail
This morning, I traveled 30-miles (50 KM) north to Raven Rock State Park, a small park that wraps around the Cape Fear River. When I drove to the park, I intended to hike the Campbell Creek Trail (which is decent-length 5.5-miles (9 KM) hike.) My guidebook recommended this trail because it is the park's least traveled trail - and provides quiet walks through the woods. The first three-miles of the trail pasted through a forest filled with the sound of animals (birds, frogs, and a variety of small rodents shuffling through the dead leaves.)

Lanier Falls
After walking about three-miles of the Campbell Creek Loop, I came to a small side trail that descended to the Cape Fear River and a very small Lanier Fall (thankfully I had read in advance that the waterfall was only a couple feet tall, so I wasn't expecting a huge waterfall!) The river and "waterfall" provided a welcome break from the forest, though the river banks were a little crowded...

Mountain Laurel Growing along Campbell Creek
After the waterfall, I the trail continues along the river until it meets Campbell Creek. From here, the trail turned away from the river and followed the smaller creek for a couple more miles. Although the creek provided a welcome view, it definitely didn't look like water I'd want to step in! For some reason the water was nearly stagnant (and almost black in some areas); although this didn't make me want to swim, it did provide some nice reflective surfaces. It was particularly nice since there were several mountain laurel trees growing along the creek's banks (and throughout the park!)

Cliffs of Raven Rock
After finishing with the Campbell Creek Trail, I decided that it would be a shame to leave the park without seeing the shorter (and more popular) Raven Rock Trail. This 2.5-mile (4 KM) trail loops through a thicker portion of the forest (and leads to Raven Rock Cliff.) Raven Rock is a large sandstone cliff that borders the coast of the Cape Fear River; after descending several flights of stairs down the cliff, I was a little disappointed by the actual cliff.

When I returned up the cliff, I continued around the loop trail, which provided little else of interest other than a small lookout point that provided a panoramic view of the Cape Fear River and the surrounding forest. I believe the view from this lookout would be much better in fall or winter (there were far too many leaves at this point to provide a good view...) After a long morning of hiking, I finally found my way back to the parking lot and returned home for a quiet afternoon.

Cape Fear River Trail

Since today was perhaps the last lingering day of warm fall weather, I decided to make good use of it with my first North Carolina hike. Since everything in Fayetteville is still relatively new and unfamiliar, I was actually able to have my first adventure in town.

Starting on the north side of Fayetteville, I began at Clark Park and continued along the Cape Fear River Trail (which was featured in my new hiking book, 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina. The trail (which was actually a paved pathway through a city park), was extremely busy with runner, bicyclist, and families out enjoying the beautiful fall day.

Although the "trail" was a little disappointing after all my walks through the real "wildness" out West, I did enjoy the beautiful fall foliage! Sadly, the trail didn't provide many views of the actual river; instead, it passed along a cliff overlooking the river - with hundreds of trees blocking the view. (I'm assuming the view might be a little better during the winter months once the leaves have all fallen.) However, it was a nice walk on a warm autumn day!