Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: December 1, 2023
On our third hike at Chimney Rock State Park, we descended .6 miles from the Subway on the Outcropping Trail down hundreds of steps to the beginning of Hickory Nut Falls Trail. This 1.7 mile out and back rolling trail took us around the base of Chimney Rock through the lower forest. Colorful leaves along the path gave us a glimpse of what the beautiful forest must have looked like a month earlier before the leaves fell. Large fallen rocks lined both sides of the trail. The trail ended at the falls, one of the tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. The 404-foot falls still had a decent amount of water cascading down but the falls were usually much bigger if not for the lack of rain in recent months. Beware of bear signs were posted but I was not carrying any bear spray on this trip. I took my stick to hit a tree and make a bigfoot call and almost clobbered a squirrel who stuck his head around the tree at the same time.
