One of my favorites for camping and hiking
Written: Sep 02 '09
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Pros: Six total waterfalls, lots of hiking, great family camping...an all around wonderful experience.
Cons: Two of the waterfalls require leaving the physical park to get to.
The Bottom Line: I can't say it enough...if you live in the Piedmont of NC and need an escape, you can't do better than Hanging Rock State Park.
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| ncphototrekker's Full Review: Hanging Rock State Park |
For those that live in North Carolina, we have a lot of choices when it comes to state parks. Whether you are into the coastal setting or like the rugged mountain scenery we have it here in the state. For those that live in the Piedmont area, however, choices are few and far apart. This is not necessarily a bad thing though as Hanging Rock State Park is 30 miles from Winston-Salem and about 45 from Greensboro.
Located in historic Danbury, NC, you will already feel like you are a part of a small mountain town before you even enter the park. After going through the downtown section (hardly could be called downtown), you will wind through residential areas with typical country homes. At this point you will already feel your blood pressure dropping as you get into the mountain mindset of relaxation.
Its not just that this park is close by to the Piedmont that makes it desirable. This park has it all, and then some. While I'm not an outdoorsman for the sake of the outdoors, I do spend a lot of time in the woods as a landscape photographer. Whether you are into hiking, camping, backpacking, or boating this is a place for you.
Hiking
They have many trails, which are all listed on the map which is available in the main visitor's center. The trails range in difficulty from handicapped accessible (Upper Cascades) to strenuous (Moore's Wall Loop) with everything in between. Some of the trails will take you to expansive vistas showing the surrounding landscape while others will take you deep within the park to waterfalls which I will cover in more detail later on.
There are hikes that will take but a few minutes up to all day treks to fit in with your plans. Many of the trails share trailheads and are easy to hike a couple of different trails from the same starting points. Generally the trails are well marked, and most of the more popular ones are very well maintained. Some of the ones on the South side of the park are not as easy to follow based on the maps, but I have yet to get seriously lost on even these trails (Cook's Wall is not easy to follow).
One thing about the hiking trails that has struck me as odd is there are several that actually start from the camping areas which is great for the campers. However, for those not camping, these parking areas can't be used. You have to park at the visitor's center and walk about a half mile before you get to the trail head. For this, you are following a paved road, and walking adjacent to the first loop of camp sites. I know that the point of hiking is to walk and this is not a huge problem, but I don't like paved hiking, and after hiking all day, I don't enjoy a long paved walk to get back to the car.
Camping
If you are into camping there are some great facilities (although old) for you to enjoy the outdoors for extended periods. In addition to cabin camping, and large group camping, Hanging Rock also has two loops worth of tent/small RV camping. Each site has a tent pad, table, and fire pit/grill. The tent pads are all different sizes but most regular sized tents will fit with no problems on any of the sites. A tent that I used for a time was 10x14" and had a problem fitting on all but the largest pads (only about 6 in the park). Each loop has its own bathhouse with showers, toilets, and sinks. They are routinely maintained but will get nasty when the campsites are all full. This is just due to the heavy use and is no different than any other bath facility I have seen while camping.
While on the subject ofcamping privacy is pretty good here. There are many camp sites that have no distance or privacy between pads. There is nothing like waking up and greeting your neighbor who is just on the other side of your screen window. Hanging Rock's sites are close together in some cases (40 feet or so at the closest), but there is a nice natural undergrowth that provides a physical barrier between sites and affords you a bit of privacy. It also lets you know that you are in the woods which is one of the main reasons I enjoy camping.
During the peak season there are camp hosts located between the two loops. They are charged with checking on the campers and making sure that rules are being followed and that there are no problems. They make many trips around during the day on a golf cart. When there are no burn bans in effect (due to dry weather) they have bundles of wood available for sale in the cart. There is enough wood to keep a reasonable fire burning for about an hour to an hour and a half. As with all NC State Parks, you can't gather your own fire wood from the park grounds. While this forces you to purchase the wood, it does help ensure that the inherent beauty of the park is not disturbed.
Waterfalls
This is what Hanging Rock is most known for, and for good reason. There are six total waterfalls in the park, only five of which are named, and only four which are located in the park proper. From the visitor's center you can access all four of the falls. The Upper Cascades trail is short and handicapped accessible and leads you to a very pleasant waterslide with several observation areas.
On the other side of the visitor's center parking lot you will find the trailhead to the other waterfalls in the park. You will pass by tables and shelters on your way. The first waterfall you will come to is the Hidden Falls. This is a smaller cascading waterfall which you can walk right up to and climb but I wouldn't recommend it. I've seen more than one tumble from this waterfall and it looks like it hurts.
The other part of the trail will take you to the Window Falls. This is actually a two for one waterfall. The main falls has two different levels of observation decks, as well as access to the base of the waterfall. It is moderately tall and is very impressive with lots of water flow. This is the one where kids get their pictures taken standing behind the water or letting the water spill on top of them. Here is where the bonus waterfall can be seen. If you can manage to shimmy up to the top of the Window Falls, there is a semi-covered area to the rear of the waterfall. There is a smaller cascading waterfall that feeds the main falls. It is impressive in its own right, but be careful that you don't get too excited and fall back over the window falls.
There are an additional two waterfalls outside of the regular boundaries of the park. The closest which is located off of Hall Rd is the Lower Cascades. In my opinion, this is the best bang for the buck when it comes to the waterfalls in this park. It is a short and easy hike to get to and the observation decks take you all the way to the base. There is a small pool that forms at the base of the waterfall that can be waded in. There are additional cascades from the runoff which are quite interesting to watch as well. If you can only visit one of the waterfalls in this park, this is the one that you need to see.
The final waterfall here is Tory's Falls which is located behind the park off of Mickey Dr. There are horse trails here as well, so be prepared to share the right of way although I have never had a problem with the horses. Along this trail you can see Tory's Den which is a small cave in the side of the mountain. Its worth checking out, but isn't all that great unless you just like caves. Tory's Falls is not far from the Den and has the honor of being the tallest/longest waterfall in Hanging Rock. The trick to this waterfall is catching it right after a heavy rain. That is about the only time that you will be able to see enough water flow to really make this waterfall stand out. When its going, it is one of the most beautiful cascades of it type in the area. You can't get that close to it, but there is ample viewing area accessible from the trail.
Conclusions
If you are one of the millions of people that live and work in the Piedmont of North Carolina that need an escape from the city, Hanging Rock is your best bet for a day trip. It takes no time at all to get there, and you can spend as little or as much time as you care to. If you camp in the park you will have time to explore all that it has to offer over 3-4 days. As a photographer, this is an excellent location for waterfall photography as well as other landscapes. Every time I visit this park I find something else about it I never knew existed. This makes it a fun return trip each time.
In fact, I have enjoyed Hanging Rock so many times over the years I donated one of my photographs a couple of years back. It can be seen in the visitor's center. The photograph is special to me because it is of the Hidden Falls, and it earned a first place award at the Dixie Classic Fair in 2006.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: Anytime
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Hiking & Trails
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ncphototrekker
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Member: Greg Kiser
Location: Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Reviews written: 43
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
I am a semi-professional landscape photographer based in North Carolina.
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