The Adventure of the Third Choice
I had planned to hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina last Wednesday, but Hurricane Irma left the parkway strewn with downed limbs and trees forcing the parkway's closure. I then settled on a to visit Jones Gap State Park on Thursday, but Jones Gap was also closed that day because of the aftermath of Irma. I searched the map for a location near Jones Gap that would still likely be open and I settled on Ashmore Heritage Preserve . Ashmore Heritage Preserve is a 1125 acre preserve off Persimmon Ridge Road in northern Greenville County. The original land for the preserve, a few hundred acres, was acquired from property once owned by Russell Ashmore, Sr. in the mid to late 1980s. Additional acquisitions since then have increased the size of the preserve to its 2017 borders : The main feature of interest for me here is the loop trail around Lake Wattacoo and the view of Ashmore Falls from the dam. Persimmon Ridge Road, when coming from the southern end off US 27...