Triple Falls as seen from the overlook on the Triple Falls Trail; Mountain Laurel blooms in June along the Trails at DuPont State Forest located just outside of Brevard, NC; Mountain bikers whiz over the Covered Bridge at the head of High Falls; Cathy, front, Stephanie, in red, and Jerry Stark of Shelby, NC on the Covered Bridge Trail; The Little River plunges 120-feet over the waterfalls at High Falls.
Charles Sowell Photos
The newest public access wilderness access in North Carolina, DuPont State Forest is only a few degrees different than the rolling Piedmont of South Carolina and Georgia; only slightly higher than the valley of the French Broad River and Asheville, or the Tennessee River in Knoxville. But what a difference those few degrees and feet can make.
It's the kind of difference that seems to fill your lungs with vitality and your legs with energy – or maybe it is just your mind that’s changed.
No matter. When it feels like you’re breathing through a steaming-hot wool blanket on Peachtree Street in Atlanta; when the sun beats hard enough on your head hard enough to actually feel the vibrations on Lakeshore Dive in Chicago then is the time to go high.
DuPont State Forest, straddles the state line between North and South Carolina, fills that bill in regards to altitude and, more importantly, as it relates to attitude.
DuPont is a land of many waters. Lakes and ponds abound as do high-mountain trout streams and waterfalls of all stripes. You can ride horses on many of the trails at DuPont. Mountain bikers are always welcome. And, if you’re of the plodding stripe, you can hike until your heart is content and your knees quivering.
You’ve got 10,400 acres to do it on, too.
A good introduction to the DuPont Forest is an improvised 4.5-mile loop trail that takes in the major waterfalls (Hooker, Triple and High falls) as well as one minor fall on Grassy Creek
Start at the Hooker Falls parking lot on Stanton Road, near the old DuPont Plant site. It is the only parking area located on the Little River. Take the quick (.36-mile) trip downstream to Hooker Falls – a wide plunge over a 12-foot tall ledge into the headwaters of Cascade Lake.
If you visit on the first day of the trout harvest (the Little River is a delayed harvest stream) you’ll have lots of company all along the river. You might even get to witness a tussle between a fisherman and goodly-sized rainbow, or brown trout.
The Little River is a fairly large stream through this section and caution should be used when taking pictures, or wrestling with a trout – especially near any of the waterfalls.
Back at the Hooker Falls parking lot find the stairway leading up to Staunton Road and cross the bridge over Little River and take the Triple Falls Trail, on the left-hand side of the highway.
Stick with Triple Falls until you cover the half-mile, or so, to the falls overlook. The Little River drops 150 feet in three cascades here. This is one of the rarities in the Southern Appalachians, multiple falls that are actually in sight of one another. The upper and lower falls of the Whitewater River, for instance, are about 2 miles apart.
Follow the Triple Falls Trail uphill (it is ALL uphill in this stretch) until you hit the High Falls Trail. Take a left here and follow until you reach the viewing area (about another half-mile).
High Falls, a 120-foot plunge from the Covered Bridge to a substantial pool at the base, is worth the hike. This is big water doing a big drop all in one place.
If your curiosity is pricked enough by your glimpse of the Covered Bridge at the High Falls overlook, keep climbing. You won’t be disappointed.
The Covered Bridge Trail cuts off of the Triple Falls Trail and parallels Buck Forest Road to the bridge. The bridge was to be the entrance to a gated community at one point and the roads beyond it reflect the developer’s skill. As it stands the bridge offers a good view of the High Falls overlook and the valley beyond.
Bear to the left beyond the bridge on Buck Forest Road and follow the gently rolling roadbed to Grassy Creek. Cross the wooden bridge here and look to your left for the Grassy Creek Falls side trail.
It’s a short hop down to Grassy Creek Falls, a gently sloping cascade covered by sheeting water.
Back on Buck Forest Road; follow it to the junction with Lake Imaging Road for a stead downhill to Lake Imaging, a warm water pond near Staunton Road.
It is a quick half to three-quarter mile hop down to the Hooker Falls Parking Area from the parking lot at Lake Imaging Trailhead.
How to get there: Take I-26 to Exit 53 (Upward Rd.). Turn left on Upward Rd. to US-176. Upward Rd. now becomes N. Highland Lake Rd. Continue to traffic light at US-225S (Greenville Hwy.). Turn left to first traffic light (Little River Rd./sign for Carl Sandburg Home). Turn right on Little River Rd. and go to end. Turn left at flashing traffic light on Crab Creek Rd. and continue for 7.1 miles to DuPont Rd. Turn left for 3.1 miles.
For more information, go to http://www.dupontforest.com/, which is the unofficial web site of the forest.
Or email me at csowell4@gmail.com.
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