While we are enjoying being home as a family, we decided we should do something different for Spring Break. We couldn't do much, but we wanted to get out and go for a hike or see water or something.
Peachtree Rock Heritage Preserve was the perfect combination. Plus, it is only about 30 minutes away.
The trail to the rock and the waterfall is pretty easy and only takes 10-15 minutes. It's a little rough, but not very hard to walk. You can take a dog, but they must be on a leash. Bikes are not allowed (although we did see bike tracks).
On the reviews I read before we went, the only complaint I saw was that the trail is not well marked and that is true. The trail is clearly marked, but there are lots of side trails and it is easy to get off the main path and not realize it. I was really grateful for the AllTrails app. It keeps track of where you are so it's easy to see where to go and not to go. We would have been lost a couple of times without it.
I had to laugh when I saw the 203 ft. elevation. Provo, where I'm from, starts at 4,551 feet before you even head into the mountains.
The hike to the falls is short and easy. The falls are very small, but they are the only natural falls in the coastal plains region of South Carolina. Kind of amazing because it's just a trickle really.
The area close to the falls is interesting with large rock formations and fallen trees. It is a fun area to explore and were we to do it again, we would spend most of our time just exploring this area. The Peachtree Rock is also in this area, but we didn't realize this at first so we hiked the full 3-mile loop looking for it. Whoops! Even so, the hike only took about an hour and was pretty easy.
The kids took off their shoes and socks and did some wading.
It's hard to see in the picture, but the pock marks in some of the rocks are interesting.
There was some pretty vegetation.
Crossing the "river" on a log.
Pride Rock
Once you get past the falls, you can continue hiking on a very easy trail, but in several places, it is hard to know which way to go. Again, the app was a life saver. The only problem with the app is that it doesn't show you where landmarks are, so we didn't know we had already seen the Peachtree Rock and we didn't realize when we passed Little Peachtree right off the trail.
Rock Cairns
This area is not as pretty as the area right around the falls. It's nice for a walk, but if we were going just to play, we'd stay closer to the falls. There was a
controlled burn at Peachtree back in February and the results are evident.
Baby pine tree
Skink
And this is the Peachtree Rock! Perhaps the chain markers should have given us a clue! The rock fell down off it's narrow sandstone base in 2013 so it doesn't look much like a peach anymore. We didn't even make the connection.
Heavy lifting
We thought these leaves were amazingly pretty. (And we hope they weren't poisonous.)
All in all, it was a delightful morning. Tashi was wiped out!
For a close-by, pretty nature walk, it was a definite win. If we wanted to have more of a wading/waterfall experience, I'd prefer to head an hour north to
Horseshoe Falls - although there were copperheads there, so that was a concern. And for an amazing waterfall experience, you can't beat
Pisgah and DuPont National Forests in North Carolina. Once the quarantine is over, we definitely need to make another camping trip.
