South Mountains State Park - High Shoals Falls Loop
South Mountains State Park is located at 3001 South Mountain Park Ave, Connelly Springs, NC 28612. Activities there include hiking, camping, equestrian trails, fishing, mountain bike trails and more. We decided to make a day trip to the park for mothers day in order to see the water falls. It’s interesting, because unlike other parks we’ve gone to in the past, there isn’t just one big waterfall, it’s more like a series of water falls as you climb in elevation.
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The trail to the waterfall we took was High Shoals Falls Loop - A 2.7 mile hike assuming you do the entire loop.
The distance doesn’t sound bad, but if you are out of shape (like me), the stairs that climb up by the falls get a bit challenging. I did have a 30 pound child in a backpack which may have contributed to my struggles but it really is a lot of stairs. I will say though that it’s 100% worth it. The park is beautiful, the falls were awesome to see and the trail follows a creek most of the way from the parking lot to the falls that offers up some great views and a pleasant background noise.
The visitors center has maps and bathrooms, I believe each parking lot also has bathrooms, and there are covered pavilions, picnic tables with grills, and many spots along the creek to plop down and have lunch.
We spent about 3 hours just doing the one trail and lunch and had a blast. I highly recommend checking this park out if you enjoy a good hike with beautiful views. We went with a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old. 2 year old cheated and rode it out in a backpack seat but our 4 year old walked the entire way and didn’t have any issues, I would just recommend keeping an eye on any children when doing the stair portions. We had a great time here and will definitely return!