South Mountains State Park
add photos4 Reviews for South Mountains State Park
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"Bring the little ones along!"
South of Morganton off Highway 18 is South Mountains State Park, a great place for trout fishing or simply wading in the streams or stepping on stones.
The 7,330 acres of this park are largely undeveloped, but a series of bridges and walkways along the trails make the park more accessible, especially for younger children.
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510 families found this helpful
"beautiful"
this place is amazing its truly like being in a movie!..swimming under a waterfall!!! Theres lots of hiking trails and such here not a whole lot of open space its in the mountains and truly states that! They have a campground and picnic area here too we never have been there just to the waterfalls to swim! Its cool here too so make sure you bring extra towels!
1 family found this helpful
"Great hiking"
South Mountains is a great place to take the family for a hike and picnic by one of the creeks or falls. One of my fondest memories is of a trip in my teens 4 wheeling there and swimming in a pool of water near a waterfall. It just gets better with age!
'10, '11
1 family found this helpful
"Pack a lunch and spend the day!"
South Mountains State Park's crowning jewel is High Shoals Falls, a waterfall that drops 80 feet. The park is home to over 40 miles of trails. Activities include hiking, equestrian camping, trout fishing and mountain biking. The picnic area is lovely and if you're willing to walk a bit, you can find a place for the kids to get wet during the warmer months. There's not a lot of wide-open space for things like Frisbee here so if that's important to you, take note. The rangers hold regularly scheduled educational and interpretive programs about the park though our family has never attended one. If your family likes hiking or just hanging out and playing in streams, South Mountains State Park should be on your "places to visit" list.
Our family loves visiting High Shoals Falls. If you plan to take the loop trail, give yourselves plenty of time for breaks. There are lots of stairs on this trail and little legs need a rest after all that climbing...big legs do too! We chose South Mountains State Park and the High Shoals Falls Loop for our first family hiking trip when our daughters were 8, 6 and 5. They needed lots of breaks along the way because the steps made their legs tired. Otherwise they did great. On our first hike, we saw a deer standing in the trail ahead of us, a number of pretty butterflies and 2 copperheads. Almost 3 years later, our daughters still talk about that first hiking trip and the things we saw.
Chestnut Knob Overlook offers gorgeous views, particularly in the fall. The first half mile of this 2 mile one way trail involves lots of climbing. The park website calls the Chestnut Knob Trail 'very strenuous' and that rating is deserved. Be prepared to hang on to the little ones if you visit the overlook. It's an outcropping of large rocks not a man-made structure with railings. If you hike the Chestnut Knob Trail, you'll definitely want to take the 100 yard side trip to Jacob Fork River Gorge Overlook for distant views of High Shoals Falls. We hiked this one in October near the end of 'peak leaf season' and were delighted by the beautiful colors. Autumn arrives a little later at South Mountains than it does along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Hemlock Nature Trail is a wheelchair accessible loop near the picnic area which is graced with informative displays. We walk this little path almost every time we visit South Mountains State Park.
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