Pleasant Ridge County Park (Blog Hike #451)

Trail: Leroy Smith Nature Trail

Hike Location: Pleasant Ridge County Park

Geographic Location: north of Travelers Rest, SC (35.08686, -82.47953)

Length: 0.7 miles

Difficulty: 4/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Date Hiked: October 2013

Overview: A short ridgetop and creekside nature trail loop.

Park Information: http://greenvillerec.com/parks/pleasant-ridge

Hike Route Map: http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=229993
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: Pleasant Ridge County Park is located on SR 11 2 miles west of US 25 or 2.5 miles east of US 276.  The park entrance is on the north side of the road.  Enter the park and bear right at the first road fork.  Park in the first parking area.

The hike: Originally a state park, pretty Pleasant Ridge County Park has its roots in the ugly days of segregation.  In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, all of the state parks in upstate South Carolina were open only to white people.  When the doctrine of separate-but-equal became the law of the land, the state wanted to keep its parks white-only, so it was forced to establish a separate but equal park for use by black people.  The new “separate but equal” state park is today’s Pleasant Ridge County Park.

            If you visit any of the Upstate’s current state parks (Table Rock, Caesar’s Head, Paris Mountain: just pick one) and then come here, you will immediately realize that this park is not “equal” to any of those parks.  The county park has no unique natural features, but it does have some nice picnic areas, a campground, some cabins, a retreat center, and one short nature trail, the one described here.  The trail is named for Leroy Smith, this park’s superintendent from 1951 through 1979 and the first black state park superintendent in South Carolina.  Although the park receives a decent number of visitors, the trail gets little traffic, perhaps for reasons to be described later.

Nature trail trailhead

            From the rear of the parking area where the park road curves right to enter the campground, walk straight across a mown grassy area.  Two signs mark the beginning and end of the nature trail loop, respectively.  The hiking is slightly easier if you hike the loop counterclockwise, so this description will enter on the right trail and return on the left one.

Climbing on eroded trail

            Immediately the rooty and rutted trail begins climbing through young forest on a moderate grade.  This trail is never too steep, but the high level of trail erosion makes the difficulty higher than you might expect for a short county park nature trail.  The trail curves left at 0.2 miles as it nears the highest point of the hike.  On my late fall hike, I passed a maintenance man using a leaf blower to clear leaves from the trail near this point.  Sweet gum and maple are the largest trees up here, but the forest is pretty young and brushy throughout this hike.

            The descent now begins, at first on a gradual grade and then more steeply.  After a particularly steep and eroded section, you reach an old moonshine still site at 0.4 miles.  This site would be hard to identify but for the interpretive sign marking the spot.

Waterfall in creek beside trail

            Past the old still site, ignore a side trail that exits right and leads uphill to the park’s retreat center.  The loop continues by crossing a small creek on a nice wooden bridge and curving left to follow the creek downstream.  Soon a small waterfall appears in the creek to the left, and an old stone wall appears nearby.  After crossing a wet area, the trail emerges from the woods at the mown grassy area, thus marking the end of the loop.  A short walk across the grass is all that remains to complete the hike.

DeSoto State Park: Cabin Trail to Indian and Lodge Falls (Blog Hike #450)

Trail: Cabin Trail (to Indian and Lodge Falls)

Hike Location: DeSoto State Park

Geographic Location: northeast of Fort Payne, AL (34.50004, -85.61716)

Length: 1.4 miles

Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Date Hiked: October 2013

Overview: A short out-and-back to two wet-weather waterfalls.

Park Information: http://www.alapark.com/desoto-state-park

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=943145
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: In northeast Alabama, drive I-59 to SR 35 (exit 218).  Exit and go east on SR 35.  Drive SR 35 4.6 miles to CR 89, climbing Lookout Mountain in the process.  Turn left on CR 89.  Drive CR 89 north 5.7 miles to the CCC Pavilion parking area on the right.  Park in the large blacktop parking lot in front of the CCC Pavilion.

The hike: Located about halfway between Chattanooga, TN and Gadsden, AL, DeSoto State Park consists of 3502 acres on the broad, high top of Lookout Mountain.  The park is named for the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who explored this area in the early 1540’s.  Like many Alabama state parks, this park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930’s.  The CCC built many of the park’s structures including the pavilion near this parking area, and a small museum in the park pays tribute to their contribution.

            DeSoto State Park has almost every amenity imaginable.  Lodging includes a resort lodge, a park motel, 12 cabins, and a 94-site campground.  The park also features a restaurant, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and numerous picnic shelters.

            In terms of natural attractions, the park’s most famous attractions are its numerous waterfalls.  The largest waterfall is 104-foot DeSoto Falls, but it is located 6 miles north of the park and is accessible only by driving, not by hiking.  5 other waterfalls lie in the park’s main area, 2 of which are visited on this hike. 

My October 2013 visit was actually my second to this park; my first came in May 1998 before I started this blog, which leads to the only downside to these waterfalls.  Because DeSoto’s waterfalls sit high in the watershed atop Lookout Mountain, they only flow well after a significant rain.  In particular, the “waterfalls” were merely a dry rock outcrop on my early October visit, but they were quite nice on my May visit many years ago.  Time your visit accordingly.

Trailhead behind picnic shelter

            Start the hike by walking to the right of the picnic shelter at the rear of the parking lot, descending the steep, grassy hill, and entering the woods.  The slightly steep and eroded dirt trail continues its descent for another 0.1 miles to reach an intersection with the DeSoto Scout Trail, which is marked with yellow paint blazes.  The Scout Trail is a 5 mile long moderate/difficult trail along the West Fork of the Little River; it merits serious exploration if you have more time than I did on my visit.  To reach the Cabin Trail and its two waterfalls, turn right here to begin a short stint on the Scout Trail.

            Very quickly another spur trail exits right to head back to the picnic area, and you reach the narrow wooden bridge that crosses a creek just above Indian Falls.  As I mentioned in the introduction, this waterfall was completely dry on my visit, but a spur trail leads to the fall’s base if water flow is higher on your visit.  Just after crossing the bridge, you reach the north end of the Cabin Trail.  Angle right to begin the Cabin Trail, which is marked with lime-green paint blazes.

Wooden bridge above Indian Falls

Cabin and Scout Trails split

            The cabins for which this trail is named come into view on the right as you climb gradually.  The West Fork of the Little River lies sharply downhill to your left, but it usually cannot be seen due to the dense green understory.  At 0.5 miles, the Cabin Trail splits.  The left fork leads down to the base of Lodge Falls, while the right fork gives a view from the top of Lodge Falls.  Lodge Falls is only 0.1 miles away, so you can take in both views with little extra effort.

View from top of Lodge Falls

            Lodge Falls is the last point of interest on this trail, so now you need to get back to the trailhead.  You could simply retrace your steps along the Cabin/Scout Trails, but there is a way to form a loop.  Continuing along the branch of the Cabin Trail above Lodge Falls will bring you to the lodge, where a right turn will take you first to the lodge access road and then to CR 89.

            After walking a short distance on the road shoulder, look for the signed aqua-blazed pedestrian trail on the right.  Pick up this trail as it parallels the road, passes through the parking area for the Lost Falls Trail (perhaps the best trail in this park), and climbs slightly to reach the park’s Country Store.  The CCC pavilion stands uphill and across CR 89, thus signaling the end of the hike.