Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

View from Wayah Bald A few years ago the ladies in my family did a trip to the mountains in July and we stayed in Dillard, Georgia. It was the first time I had stayed in the area and I enjoyed my time there. We went kayaking, hiking, found a salvage yard, and visited a fun French-ish restaurant that was located adjacent to a gas station. I liked the area and wanted to return.  In the years since, I have been back to the Franklin, North Carolina area a few times. This year, we went over 4th of July weekend. We decided to go there because we thought it would be a good place to avoid the crowds that you find in many areas of the North Carolina mountains. It was a good choice. We were able to do all the things we wanted to and didn't feel that we were ever in a situation where there were too many people in close quarters.  During this visit, we hiked two short trails. I was amazed at the flowers we were able to find along the trails and roads, since it was July and many flowers ha...

2020 Hiking Post 5 As a Gamecock fan, it can be hard to admit it but there are some nice spots for outdoor activities in Clemson. Since the school and town are located in the foothills of the mountains and there are many lakes in the area, trails and water activities are everywhere. Trail Map Just outside of the town of Clemson, is the Clemson Experimental Forest.   It is over 17,000 acres with miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking. It also borders part of Lake Hartwell. Many of the trails are mixed use but I had heard about a trail to a waterfall that was for hiking only. The Waldrop Stone Waterfall Trail is a short trail of about a mile that takes you along a creek to a couple of waterfalls. It has some challenging parts, where you have a steep descent to the waterfall (which means you have to hike back up that hill on the return), but they have built some steps and railings to help in sections. It’s also nice there are quite a few benches that you can ...

2020 Hiking Post 3 Outside of Greenville, near the town of Mauldin, there is a wilderness oasis in the suburbs. I had heard about Lake Conestee Nature Park and driven by it before but I didn't realize it was so large (400 acres) with so many trails. The Swamp Rabbit Trail has a 4 mile section through this park which runs north, past the park, to connect with the section of the trail on Cleveland Street. (Be advised, there is a section that is not complete on the trail where you have to go along side traffic on Parkins Mill Rd.) This nature park has miles of paved and unpaved trails (about 12 miles) that take you around the Reedy River and Lake Conestee. Lake Conestee was a man-made lake on the river that was built for the Conestee Mill in the early 1800s. The dam and mill are still there but everything is gated off. Looks like there is talk of renovation but we'll see if that takes off. It would be a great location. Conestee Mill When we visited, on a Sunda...

2019 Hiking Week 38 Croft State Park is over 7,000 acres outside of Spartanburg. It is a huge state park with trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. There are also two lakes and many campsites, including a stable for horses. Entry is $2.00 per person. Bridge across the creek. We recently visited Croft State Park to hike a section of the Palmetto Trail. The trail covers over 12 miles, mostly in the park with a small section just north of the park entrance. We hiked the small section at the south of the park which crosses the Fairforest Creek and joins up with some of the mountain bike trails for about a mile. We added an extra loop around and enjoyed the fall leaves. While visiting, we found out that this area was originally settled by some farming families, then was converted into a training ground for the army in the early 1900's. It was opened as a state park in 1949. While we were hiking along the creek, we noticed some stacked stones and oth...

2019 Hiking Week 35 The Savannah River runs along the southern border between South Carolina and Georgia for over 300 miles. Many lakes have been formed along this river through man-made dams. There are 6 South Carolina state parks along the Savannah River. From west to east, these parks are Lake Hartwell State Park, Sadlers Creek State Park, Calhoun Falls State Park, Hickory Knob State Resort, Baker Creek State Park, and Hamilton Branch State Park. We’ve finally visited all of them, so I thought I would share them in one (long) post. Since all of these parks are located along lakes and the river, they all are primarily parks for people to access the water and enjoy camping and fishing in these natural spaces.  Lake Hartwell State Park Lake Hartwell State Park is just off of I-85 on the South Carolina/Georgia border. The lake is a large, popular lake in the upstate of South Carolina and it covers 680 acres. The park primarily gives people access to the lake, as we...

2019 Hiking week 34 Hi all. I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I’ve been busy traveling and celebrating my birthday. It’s been a busy past few weeks. This past weekend the weather was pretty iffy. They were calling for rain but then it ended up not being too bad, even though it was warm. So Friday we headed out to Irmo, just outside of Columbia, to hike in Harbison State Forest . I would guess that most people in Columbia have been to Harbison State Forest, or at least have heard of it. It’s a nice park with over 2,000. There are multiple trails that you can hike or mountain bike on.  Over the years, we have visited Harbison Forest multiple times. There are lots of different trails we can hike on and they are well marked. Many are 3-4 miles long which is good for an hour or two hike. I like some of the trails that go all the way to the Broad River. The area is mostly pine trees and sandy soil and there are a variety of difficulty levels to pick from.  ...