Dupont State Park Waterfalls - Cedarwood, NC
“May the odds be ever in your favor.” - Effie Trinket, The Hunger Games
"But our lives aren't just measured in years. They're measured in the lives of people we touch around us." - Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games
“Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!” - Hawkeye, The Last of the Mohicans
The Story -
On a glorious Saturday morning, my son Alex and I were joined by my sister Stacy for a wondrous eight-mile moderate to strenuous hike at Dupont State Park (DSP). If you are seeking an extraordinary outdoor experience, DSP will not disappoint! It is truly marvelous, and who knows, you might just spot a giant fifty-year-old turtle, take a plunge in one of the numerous swimming holes next to a waterfall, catch a trout, or even witness a loving engagement proposal!
Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls - TLC
Actually, I hope you do go chasing waterfalls, and Dupont State Park is an excellent place to start. Followers of my blog know that while I do like hikes with views, I especially prefer hikes with water and waterfalls, and DSP has an abundance of both! In addition to the waterfalls, DSP has almost everything else I look for in a hike as well, including many items of special interest, spectacular views, and several heart-pumping climbs to name a few! These items combined with the powerful waterfalls, great company, surprisingly few people, ideal weather, and you have all the ingredients for a perfect day.
That Girl Is On Fire - Katniss & Alicia
DuPont State Park is an outdoor lover's dream with many mighty waterfalls and over one hundred miles of multi-use trails on 10,400 protected acres conveniently located between Brevard and Hendersonville, forty miles south of Asheville. And since opening in 1997, it has quickly become one of North Carolina’s most popular parks. Interestingly, DSP is also known around the country and world with three of its waterfalls, Bridal Veils, High Falls, and Triple Falls all featured prominently in the movies The Hunger Games and The Last of the Mohicans. Using caution, of course, you can stand in the spot where Katniss locates Peeta hidden at the base of Triple Falls or take a picture where Hawkeye kisses Cora high atop Bridal Veils Falls. My teenage son even thought that was cool!
Spill The Tea -
After doing some research on Dupont State Park, I chose to combine several trails together for an out-and-back eight-mile trek in order to visit each of the magnificent waterfalls at DSP in one hike. We arrived early to avoid the crowds and started from the Hooker Falls trailhead, backtracking to the Triple Falls trail, continuing on the High Falls trail then following Conservation Road to Bridal Veils Falls trail. We followed the same path back, taking a beautiful detour on the Three Lakes Trail to view Lake Julia, Fawn Lake, and Lake Dense. Note that most visitors opt to shorten the hike to four miles by combining the Hooker, Triple, and High Falls together, then driving to the Bridal Veils Falls separately.
No Tracker Jackers Here -
Even with multiple stops along the way for snacks, pictures, and admiring the waterfalls, our eight-mile hike seemed to go by very, very quickly. I attribute that feeling to the great company on the trail but also to the many wonderful features of Dupont State Park that kept my attention. To start, the trails are wide and well maintained, capable of accommodating large amounts of people, yet also not so big to lose their quaintness. Also at DSP, you can actually get up really close to the waterfalls, cautiously, of course, allowing the waterfall’s mist to cover you. Welcome relief during the summer, not so much during the winter. We passed multiple fly-fishers, rock-scrambled, searched for a large turtle, and cheered loudly after witnessing an accepted engagement proposal!
It's A Family Affair - Mary J. Blige
My beautiful and adventurous sister Stacy lives in Asheville and made the forty-five-minute drive south to join us for our hike. She is quite the accomplished hiker, having completed the Southern half of the Appalachian Trail (AT), and is scheduled to finish the Northern half this summer. She did use our hike on Saturday as a training exercise, carrying her fully-loaded thirty-pound backpack the whole eight miles, refusing to let me carry it at all even towards the end. I am planning to join her for a section somewhere in the northeast, I'll be sure to keep you posted!
