Along this section and the next we encountered a good bit of snow still on the ground from the previous weeks winter storm. Photo: Clay Bonnyman Evans. I got to meet several interesting and nice people that were making the short hike to Lick Falls. We finished the section and hiked a little over a half mile into the next so we could get a site in Gorge State Park along the Toxaway River. We took a quick break at the falls to enjoy the view and snap some pics and then pushed on towards bad creek. All orders over $60 receive FREE shipping! Really cool to se that engineering out in the wilderness and seamlessly blend it in. The trail is open year-round and is beautiful to visit anytime. The FTC could improve their map by adding to it some trails that intersect or at least some labels/notes regarding the other trails. Expect a high speed experience with very fast straight sections. Trail. Thanks for your support! The Bartram Trail can be found (somewhere, I havent done it yet) on the other side of the Chattooga crossing the road bridge just up stream of the Burrells Ford campground, which leads to the AT in the Wayah Bald area. . Check out the Foothills Trail, we're sure you'll love it. However from Sassafras Mountain there is a 14.2 mile spur trail to Ceasars Head State Park in South Carolinathat some choose as an alternate northern terminus for the trail. Im investigating as we speak! Fork Mountain Trail (S5) - (S6) Eastatoe Gorge Spur (S3) - (S4) Sassafras Mountain (S1) to Caesar's Head State Park (S2) . Continue on an old road to your left after entering a field to . Nearest Cities: Greenville, South Carolina (26 miles from eastern terminus; 56 miles from western terminus); Atlanta, Georgia (150 miles from eastern terminus; 130 miles from western terminus). Absolutely beautiful with all the waterfalls.But you earn the views. The trail is strenuous throughout. Beginning at mile 50 the trail slowly gains elevation, passing Laurel Falls (54.30) and Virginia Hawkins Falls (57.3) on the way up. Around 13 miles into the run touch the bench on top of Heart Break Ridge at Lake Jocassee and return back to the parking lot. The Bartram, Foothills, AT and Benton MacKaye form a Southern Serpentine Route! Difficult at times but worth it. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Blue Ridge Mountains are well known for their three hundred sixty degree views from their bare summits. Region: Deep South, Lower Appalachians (South Carolina)Length: 76.2 miles (5-8 days), Elevation: 500 3,553 feet Total Elevation Gain: ~10,900 feet (westbound); ~10,000 (eastbound). We had reached the access area by 2:30 that afternoon so I decided to push on past to the Thompson River and grab one of those sites. Hikers spend a good deal of time in the green tunneljust like the ATbut ample opportunities to swim, gorgeous waterfalls, and occasional vistas to the south make this a truly enjoyable trail. Foothills Trail Journal Heartbreak Ridge. I really need to recover tonight. Click here to find alternative waterfall and hiking trails. Generally considered a challenging route. A rat snake, coiled alongside the Foothills Trail. While youll spend a good deal of time in the proverbial green tunnel, the trail still offers abundant views. Heartbreak Ridge Steps' 2020 Foothills Trail Journal Heartbreak Ridge First Previous Next Last Monday, July 27, 2020 Destination: Lake Jocasse Today's Miles: 19.10 Start Location: Cantrell Campsite Trip Miles: 27.10 Evening view This morning's highlight was the climb to the top of Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina. Bald Knob (mile 72.5): Expansive view of upstate South Carolina from knees of Pinnacle Mountain. If you enjoyed the Foothills Trail you should check out http://www.ultimatehike.org. It was a great trip. After a week on the trail I had made it to my last night. Did the 5 day plan. The best part of this site was the view and waking the next morning to the sunrise. Find us on Facebook! Head West on The Foothills Trail towards Lake Jocassee. You walk along the Chattooga River, cross numerous creeks, the Toxaway River, Laurel Creek anyway, multiple sources. The Foothills Trail is a dream for section hikers. Terms under which this service is provided to you. The trail today has not been as technical as yesterday, but there have been many steep climbs and descents. This trail is great for hiking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. Devil's Backbone This ridge-top trail between Baldy Notch and the summit of Mount Baldy is probably LA's greatest ridge hike, with incredible views over the San Gabriel Mountains and the Mojave Desert. From the east end of Heartbreak Ridge at mile 50 to the Northern Terminus at Table Rock State Park at mile 76.2, the trail crosses a number of challenging routes and trail highlights. Living in Greenville, the FHT is just a few miles away. https://foothillstrail.org/maps-coordinates-2/. Woods Mountain Trail is not for the faint of heart! This was a relatively easy day at about 8 miles. Photo: Clay Bonnyman Evans. The tread on most of the trail is largely free of rocks and roots, except for a few limited areas, making for pleasant hiking. Oconee State Park is about two hours from both cities. This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. Will Hike this in a few weeks. There I set up camp. This was an awesome site and from atop the giant rocks we could see for miles and got the privilege of watching a beautiful sunset. We finished with 13.2 hard miles for the day and ate dinner then took our aching feet to bed. The steps are so long that in the middle there is a bench for folks to rest before they tackle the remainder of the climb. Sign up for our email newsletter. Summer heat and humidity are intense, due to relatively low elevations, while night-time winter temperatures typically sink into the 20s. Location | Western North Carolina and Northern South Carolina, Highlights | 13 Waterfalls, Gorges, Wooden Steps, Multiple Suspension Bridges, State High Point, Volunteer Coordinated Shuttles, Maps and Guidebooks | Anti-Gravity Gear Pocket Profile ($3.95), Foothills Trail Conference Trail Map ($15.00), Foothills Trail Conference Guidebook ($16.00). Go to Join Now to join for the first time or to renew your membership. In 2016, I hiked the Appalachian Trail; 2018, Foothills Trail and Alabama Pinhoti Trail; 2019, Great Plains Trail pilot trail in South Dakota and Nebraska; on April 7, 2021 I will start the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail goes between Table Rock State Park and Oconee State Park. In early April 2022, gistrailblazer and I thruhiked the Foothills Trail eastbound, from Oconee State Park to Table Rock State Park. The Foothills Trail is a remarkably well blazed path, has easy section hiking access, and the unrivaled support of the conference that supports it even providing volunteer coordinated shuttles. We were on the trail by 10am on Day 6 and we enjoyed the half mile warm up along the shore of Jocassee before we started to ascend the infamous Heartbreak Ridge. Maybe even us. Hopefully I will get a good nights rest and be ready to go in the morning. Discover this 48.9-km point-to-point trail near Sunset, South Carolina. The Foothills Trail is a part of the nearing completion Southern Appalachian Loop Trail. Clay Bonnyman Evans is a freelance writer living in Hilton Head Island, S.C., and his hometown, Boulder, Colorado. Campsites are plentiful all along the trail, with just a few restricted areas. As you mentioned, a word to the wise in late summer and early fallyellow jackets! Thank you to Heyword Douglass, Executive Director of the Foothills Conference, for your encouraging emails and photographs! Im much more inclined to fall going down one of these steep descents. There are no shelters along the trail, and rain is frequent, so hikers should have a good shelter such as a tent, tarp, or hammock. Avid bikers will love Heartbreak Ridge, an exciting two-mile bike trail that begins along the top ridge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment and descends 2,000 feet! North/eastbound hikers start with a gentle descent to the Chattooga River and make the mere 2,000-foot climb to Sassafrass after several days of hiking. On my fourth day thru hiking the Foothills Trail alone, I started with the climb up and over Heartbreak Ridge and ended up at the Chimneytop Campsite, just b. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors. Nice article! The Foothills Trail is accessible, challenging, but not difficult, and logistically easy to hike. FIND YOUR WAY OUTSIDE is a trademark of AllTrails, LLC. Hard 4.4 (195) Pisgah National Forest. Western Terminus (Oconee State Park) hereEastern Terminus (Table Rock State Park) here. It was breathtaking to be able to turn all the way around and see the smoky mist below me in every direction. The trail is not heavily used by long-distance hikers, regardless of season. After taking a 45 minute pontoon ride across Lake Jocassee to the trail connector - we lumbered off on our 3.5 hour hike. Dogs are welcome and may be off-leash in some areas. At mile 28.9 there is a side trail to Whitewater Falls, at mile 30.1 Corbin Creek Falls, a small waterfall at mile 35.5 and a blue blaze to Hillard Falls at mile marker 36.5. My girlfriend and I backpacked this trail last night. Im definitely coming back to that part of the trail to hopefully kayak Lake Jocassee soon. . Day 7 was going to be one of our shorter and easier days! Woke up to the popping of the same campfire. Perhaps it was because we were hiking West to East, but it turned out to be not nearly as bad as we were expecting. The idea for the Foothills Trail, a National Recreation Trail located in far western South Carolina, began in the 1960s as an effort to preserve and protect the beauty of the Appalachian Foothills. I dread the descents more than the climbs. Photo: Clay Bonnyman Evans. Come take a hike with me at Blue Ridge Hiking Company! I was very impressed by the size and power of this waterfall! But while the Blue Ridge Mountain Balds may be a highlight of the southern Appalachians, they encompass a far greater range of, Recent books and movies have inspired countless hikers and potential hikers to dream about thru-hiking one of the big three of Americas long trails: The Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, or the Continental Divide Trail. Elevation is 3,165, Mail me The Catawba Falls trail is closed until spring of 2023. Around 4:15 we started the hike to the Bad Creek parking lot. I could not have asked or hoped for anything better. It was a good call since it kept us on the trail longer and we ended up with another awesome site. The trail begins along the top ridge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, accessed from either Curtis Creek Road or from the Old Toll Road, outside the Ridgecrest Conference center. I suppose the guidebooks will have that and will purchase soon Thx It wasnt the perfect site but it was perfectly timed! Whitewater Falls (miles 30-31.7): Six different falls that tumble a total of 800 feet, making it the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi River. Overall Id say its moderate to difficult, but I was cruising at 2.5 miles per hour each day to get it down before work on the third evening. First . Percent of the course on un-paved trails: 90%. An off-road running race held in the northwestern foothills of your Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Turn right into the parking area and pay your nominal parking fee. Your IP: Hard to find online is specific locations of good water stops. Sept of 2014. Good views at spots along the trail as well. This is a four-season trail, hikeable even in winter. Absolutely beautiful with all the waterfalls. Location: The trail runs slightly northeast-southwest in far western South Carolina, with several crossings into North Carolina. Id like to make that connection to the Bartram and hike it to the AT sometime. The southern/western portion of the trail is fairly gentle, but dont let that fool you. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 15 h 5 min to complete. We took another break so we could enjoy Virginia Hawkins falls and kept pushing on. The trail goes through typical southern Appalachian forest, with dense growth of rhododendron, mountain laurel, pine, and oak. Primitive trail connects Woods Mountain & Armstrong Creek Trails. We wanted to be moving by 8am so we could avoid the crowds in table Rock state park and be home with the families by early afternoon. This mornings highlight was the climb to the top of Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina. Bonnyman Evans is a part of the Foothills Conference, for your encouraging emails and photographs today has been. Multiple sources up to the trail today has not been as technical as,. We could enjoy Virginia Hawkins Falls and kept pushing on dinner then took our aching feet to.. 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