Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
Last week during a period of warm of weather, I visited Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve in northern Greenville County, SC to hike the Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve trail, a 2.75 mile long hiking trail passing over Squirrel Mountain and ending at the South Pacolet River.
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I parked among the two or three cars already in the parking area, and made for the trailhead.
The first portion of the trail is not difficult, but remainder is of moderate difficulty. I met a two people heading back in this section.
Where the trail ends at the river, I met two more hikers. Those were the last two I met during the hike. The trail's end is marked with a log pile.
... I chose to cross over the river to explore the north side. Instead of my waterproof hiking boots I normally wear, I had on a pair of sandals I recently bought.
These sandals made crossing over the river quite easy, although the water level was so low the boots would have worked just as well. The river water was chilly, but it felt good after a long hike in the warm weather.
Bloggers SCJack and Brenda Wiley both wrote about the same two waterfalls each found on the north side of the river. I followed a faint trail away from the river until I met up with a dirt road. I followed the dirt road west until I came across a stream crossing the road on its way down to the river. I made my way up the hillside without much difficulty until I found the first waterfall.
Water flow from the stream was rather low, so it was no surprise when the flow from the waterfall not very photogenic.
I made my way back down the hillside and headed west down the dirt road until I encountered the second stream. I made my way up the hillside again but with more difficulty this time. I encountered an interesting rock formation on the way up. You never know what kind of weirdos you may run into out here...
Egad! A cave troll!! A harmless one, anyway. I bought an inexpensive wired timer from an online retailer and it arrived the day before the trip, and wanted to try it out right away. It does everything I want it do at a fraction of the cost of my camera maker's version.
Anyway, on a nearby log I found evidence some other creature had been there too.
Don't know what animal left that. I'm just glad I wasn't around to find out.
I went through the rocks down to the waterfall. Unfortunately, the sun was getting low so the waterfall was entirely in shadow.
Another waterfall was further upstream, but with the sun getting so low, the effort required to get up there, the low water flow, and the time required to hike back to the parking area, I figured it best for my own safety to begin heading back.
I spent most of the long hike back in shadows until I made it back over the summit of Squirrel Mountain, then the sun was with me the rest of the way. By the time I made it to the parking area, the sun was about to set. Looks like I made the right call then. One other car was still in the parking area, yet I had met no one else on the trail on the way back. Hmm.
I'd like to come back after a good rain, cross the river again, and head east on that dirt road to see what other waterfalls might be around.
I've uploaded these photos with locations to an album at Google Photos and I uploaded a GPS trace of my hike to Google Maps.
I parked among the two or three cars already in the parking area, and made for the trailhead.
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| Trailhead photo taken on return |
... I chose to cross over the river to explore the north side. Instead of my waterproof hiking boots I normally wear, I had on a pair of sandals I recently bought.
Bloggers SCJack and Brenda Wiley both wrote about the same two waterfalls each found on the north side of the river. I followed a faint trail away from the river until I met up with a dirt road. I followed the dirt road west until I came across a stream crossing the road on its way down to the river. I made my way up the hillside without much difficulty until I found the first waterfall.
I made my way back down the hillside and headed west down the dirt road until I encountered the second stream. I made my way up the hillside again but with more difficulty this time. I encountered an interesting rock formation on the way up. You never know what kind of weirdos you may run into out here...
Anyway, on a nearby log I found evidence some other creature had been there too.
Don't know what animal left that. I'm just glad I wasn't around to find out.
I went through the rocks down to the waterfall. Unfortunately, the sun was getting low so the waterfall was entirely in shadow.
Another waterfall was further upstream, but with the sun getting so low, the effort required to get up there, the low water flow, and the time required to hike back to the parking area, I figured it best for my own safety to begin heading back.
I spent most of the long hike back in shadows until I made it back over the summit of Squirrel Mountain, then the sun was with me the rest of the way. By the time I made it to the parking area, the sun was about to set. Looks like I made the right call then. One other car was still in the parking area, yet I had met no one else on the trail on the way back. Hmm.
I'd like to come back after a good rain, cross the river again, and head east on that dirt road to see what other waterfalls might be around.
I've uploaded these photos with locations to an album at Google Photos and I uploaded a GPS trace of my hike to Google Maps.
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