Locations around Greenville for hiking, waterfalls, nature enjoyment

[Huckleberry Knob]

Originally Posted by flgargoyle

There are something like 160 waterfalls in upstate SC, some are quite a hike; others right by the road. All along Rte. 11 there is access to a number of parks and trails.

The 75 ft high Lee Falls off highway 11 between Walhalla and Lake Jocassee is one I recently discovered. They say it is about a 3 mile round trip hike but it felt more like 4 to me.

It has more of a 'high adventure' vibe than most of the trails in the upstate. You go down a dirt road about a half mile before getting to the trailhead. I only saw 5 people when I was out there on Sunday.

You have to walk through a fast moving creek about 7 times and climb over massive trees and rocks on the last quarter mile uphill. There are no bridges over the creek.

The trail is overgrown in some spots and it gets fairly dangerous as you get closer to the waterfall because of the wet rocks. It's not too strenuous but unathletic people probably would not like it.

You want to be on the left side of the creek as you get closer to the falls. I made the final crossing at the base of a small waterfall where there is a huge tree that fell or was placed across the creek. It wasn't obvious to me that the trail crosses at that point.

There are some rocks where you can sit right at the base of the falls. There are a lot of mosses and ferns. Probably some Oconee Bell wildflowers in March.

This waterfall would probably be the cornerstone of a state park in most states with less waterfalls.

[beckycat]

Originally Posted by LukeG925

subscribing to this...

also curious about the unusual hotels/inns

Try Airbnb.

[LynchburgLover]

Old thread but since it’s been bumped.

We had a delightful hike near the the border in North Carolina — The Blue Wall Preserve. It’s owned by the Nature Conservancy. Two ponds, Mountain View’s and a lovely waterfall. Nice easy hike.

https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-inv...wall-preserve/

[bbranigin]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

Old thread but since it’s been bumped.

We had a delightful hike near the the border in North Carolina — The Blue Wall Preserve. It’s owned by the Nature Conservancy. Two ponds, Mountain View’s and a lovely waterfall. Nice easy hike.

[url]https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/blue-wall-preserve/[/url]

So much good hiking up that way but I've not been here yet - I'll have to check it out next spring

[Huckleberry Knob]

It seems like the western part of SC must have one of the highest densities of state parks of any area in the country.

There's 9 of them between interstate 85 and the state border. 8 of those are basically adjacent to each other around scenic highway 11. There are other attractions near these state parks like Issaqueena Falls / Stumphouse Tunnel, Whitewater Falls, Jumping Off Rock, Glassy Mountain (my favorite easy hike with views in the state especially near sunset), Sassafras Mountain (state high point), the wild and scenic whitewater Chattooga River, etc

I stayed in the villas at Devils Fork State Park on Lake Jocassee this fall. Those are spacious with a huge porch and have Wifi. You can rent ski boat or pontoon at a place at the state park if you don't have a boat and tour the waterfalls entering the lake.

Greenville has a great geographic location because you are also near the NC and GA mountain stuff too. Chimney Rock State Park in NC and Black Rock Mountain & Tallulah Gorge state parks are both near the SC border and those are top 5 parks in their respective states in my view. You are within 2 hours of several major whitewater rivers in NC and TN.

[Huckleberry Knob]

The state does a great job maintaining the gravel / dirt Horse Pasture Road to Jumping Off Rock which is a pretty unique overlook in this country. I did it yesterday with no issue in a Honda Accord and I've done it in a Civic in the past.

I went out to the highly popular Hawksbill Crag / Whitaker's Point overlook in Arkansas over the summer and the dirt road out the trailhead was rough.

[Huckleberry Knob]

I hiked to Tamassee Knob yesterday out of Oconee State Park for the first time. I'm surprised that one doesn't get more publicity.

This is a great time of the year to hike it because you have views through the trees much of the hike but there is still some fall color.

I'm going to rank this hike as my favorite in SC or tied with Glassy Mountain because I like ridge / rim hikes best. You can combine this hike with a hike to Hidden Falls as well.

Here's a good writeup on the trail. The trail maintenance people removed or sawed an opening in all but one of the trees over the trail mentioned in this article. https://www.hikethesouth.com/hikes/tamassee-knob

The summit is a good spot to put up a hammock.