Mark's Photo Travels

Last August I visited the Blue Wall Preserve , located just west of Lake Lanier in northeast Greenville County, to explore the preserve and its two waterfalls. The Blue Wall Passage of the Palmetto Trail runs from the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) in Polk County, North Carolina to Vaughns Gap, Greenville County, South Carolina. At Vaughns Gap, the Palmetto Trail transitions to the Poinsett Reservoir Passage that continues on to the Orchard Lake Campground in Henderson County, North Carolina. Last year, my visit to the Blue Wall Preserve inspired me to make another trip here to hike this section of the Palmetto Trail up to Vaughns Gap. I wanted to do that last year, but for whatever reason it didn't happen. Last Friday was cloudy with a few sprinkles and a breezy north to north east wind. Not a perfect day for a hike, but plenty good enough. The parking area for this section of the Palmetto Trail is the same as the one for the Blue Wall Preserve. The distance ...

Last Friday featured mild temperatures and low humidity, a perfect day during August to visit the Blue Wall Preserve . The Blue Wall Preserve is a 575 acre nature preserve owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy  located in northeast Greenville County off Pennell Road a few miles west of Lake Lanier. The preserve, acquired in 1997, also serves as an access point to the Blue Wall Passage of the Palmetto Trail , a trail through the preserve up to Vaughn's Gap that opened in 1999 . The parking area for the preserve is on Pennell Road at approximately 35.184556, -82.248266 . I found I had the place all to myself: I walked around the bright yellow gate down the old road: The pavement ends near the bridge crossing over Vaughn Creek: The bridge could definitely use some work. Be careful: The road beyond the bridge is gravel and dirt: A lovely sign sits near of another gate. One side was obscured by high weeds, and the other side was backlit. I ...