South Mountain State Park - High Shoals Falls

HIGH SHOALS FALLS
               in South Mountains State Park

High Shoals Falls


 


After visiting South Mountains State Park and hiking the Chestnut Knob Trail, we decided to return to visit the most popular destination - The High Shoals Falls....and what a great hike we experienced!

Leaving the parking lot and passing the picnic area we joined others hiking up the River Trail. And we were greeted by colorful wildflowers that adorned the trail.

The High Shoals Loop trail follows the Jacobs Fork Branch upstream to the base of the falls.  The Jacobs Fork Branch is a quickly moving mountain stream offering plenty of small waterfalls and rapids cascading through large and small boulders.

Like all mountain streams, the rushing water beckons you to come and play on the rocks....this stream was no exception....

 

The trail leads to the base of the High Shoals Falls....many wooden steps and a nice bridge allows the trail to cross the Jacob Forks Branch.  From the view below, you can only get fleeting glimpse of the falls....but the cascades over large boulders are spectacular.

 From the bridge at the base of the cascades, the trail turns uphill....following the cascades to the base of the High Shoal Falls....steps and more steps carry you up about 7 stories worth.....the total elevation change has to be over 600 feet.

Along the way up we got a glimpse of a neat old tree and a couple of window views of  the Gorge Overlook on the Chestnut Knob.

At the top of the steps the trail splits with a bridge leading to the right....more steps the left....don't go left or you will miss the falls....and you don't want to miss these falls....the High Shoals Falls may be the best waterfall in the state!

The falls are 80 feet tall and water rushes over the cliff at a rate that sprays the overlook.....and the roar can be heard throughout the gorge.

We met a nice couple from Charlotte who wanted to be in the famous Hiking with a Fat Bald White Guy blog.....so I obliged.  Don't they look young, happy and in love?  Now they are famous too!



Close up of High Shoals Falls water spray

The High Shoals Falls is one of those creations of nature that you cannot fully appreciate until you stand at the base and gaze at the majesty of God's creation. Words cannot describe it because being there captures all senses for you can both feel and hear the Falls.

 




Leaving the falls we traveled up a 100 feet of stairs to the top of the falls and found one of the most tranquil scenes which was in great contrast to the falls below.  The trail leaves the Jacob's Fork Branch and moves along the ridgeline opposite the Chestnut Knob.  We  chose to hike the Upper Falls trail looping with Headquarters trail to make a five mile loop hike.  The Upper Falls Trail is also an equestrian trail and like most trails in South Mountains State Park is a former logging road.

The trail turned out to be much steeper than we had thought....and after hiking up the equivalent of a 10 story building we felt the leg burn.  Seeing no cairn on the trail, we constructed one as we caught our breath in the hike up to the ridge top.  Doing this always causes me to pause and thank our Creator for allowing us to participate in His Creation....and in doing so I am reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein:

 "What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism"
 

Through the trees we could see Chestnut Knob (2291') to the north and Buzzard Roost Mountain (2980') to the south. From this ridgeline trail we could finally understand just how large this park is.

The Upper Falls Trail once we topped the ridge soon intersected with the Headquarters trail and we saw a sign indicating the parking lot was 2.4 miles away....thankfully downhill!  Along the way back we got to pause a time or two to enjoy the wildflowers adorning the trail.

We first thought this creature was a caterpillar but soon recognized it to be a wooly worm. Truth is a wooly worm is a caterpillar...a winter caterpillar that produces a tiger moth in the spring.  The most important function of the wooly worm is that it can predict the severity of the winter.

There is a lot of folklore surrounding the banded wooly worm, particularly related to its supposed power to predict upcoming winter weather each fall. The typical banded wooly worm has sections of black hairs at each end, and a section of orange-brown hairs in the center. Legend says that the more black on a banded wooly worm, the more severe the winter will be. Some folks have taken this to an extreme, and noting that there are thirteen segments in a typical banded wooly worm, they argue that each segment represents one week of winter. Orange segments predict mild weeks, and black ones foretell bad winter weather.

The Headquarters Trail merged into the Shinny Creek Trail which took us to the River Trail and one of the best views of the day.  Climbing into the Jacob's Fork Branch I got to photograph a unique rapid highlighted by the afternoon sun peaking through the leaves

Returning to the parking lot we detoured along a half mile handicapped accessible nature trail which adjoined the Jacobs Ford River.  It was one of the most well designed handicap trail I have ever seen.

Sometimes you find on a trail scenes you never imagined....we have seen this in Linville Gorge countless times....spectacular views replaced by simply breathtaking aspects of nature.....we found such a place in South Mountains State Park....on the High Shoals Trail may be the best waterfall I have seen in North Carolina...majestic yet simple...you really have to see it to fully appreciate it....So how do I rate this hike....access is an 8.....trails are an 8.....the scenery is a 9.....overall an 8+ hike....South Mountains State Park is another real gem....something for everyone!