Hanging Rock State Park - Danbury, NC

Thursday the 14^th we visited Hanging Rock State Park. It was created in the 1930’s as a Civilian Conservation Corps project. It has more than 20 miles of hiking trails that climb up to spectacular views. We started out with a bit of rain, but it stopped early on in the hike. It’s in the Sauratown Mountain Range. Often called "the mountains away from the mountains" the Sauratown range is made up of monadnocks that are separated from the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.

We started with the Hanging Rock Trail which is rated moderate. It wasn’t a long hike, but it was over rocks and tree roots and tons of steps and was quite steep in some parts. We did see quite a few birds in some areas along the way. The views from the top were amazing. The rocks just hang out over the valley below.

 first overlook from the parking lot

 Eastern Phoebe

 Titmouse

YIKES!

 one last death warning....

 me next to the rocks

Greg on the trail (yep, it just looks like a pile of rocks)

 Broad-headed Skink (Blue-Tailed Skink)

 at the top - Blue Ridge Mountains in the background

 the rocks just hang out over the valley below

 this was at the top in a rock

 Whoo-hoo, I made it!

 Eastern Fence Lizard

Greg on the trail

Blue-headed Vireo

We took a late lunch break in the closest town which is Danbury. We stopped at Artist's Way Creations for lunch. It’s mainly a bakery (wedding cakes and goodies), but she also serves up sandwich boxes and salad boxes. We ate there and it was all quite good and the owner was friendly and came by to chat.

 Curried Chicken Salad, fruit, potato salad and a chocolate chip cookie

 Ham & Cheese, fruit, potato salad & a chocolate chip cookie

No battles occurred in Danbury during the Civil War, but it housed and supported the war efforts of the Confederate Army. The Moratock Iron Furnace, which is still found in Moratock Park, was used in the smelting of iron ore. General George Stoneman's raid passed through Danbury on April 9, 1865, the day of the surrender of Confederate forces at Appomattox Court House, Va.

 Court House

We went back to the park after lunch and did a few shorter trails. We started with the Upper Cascades trail and the Rock Garden. Between the 2 we came across a couple of deer. 

We did one trail that took us to Hidden Falls and Window Falls. 

 there were various covered picnic areas as well as just tables scattered around the area

Our last trail was in a totally different area of the park, so we drove out and around to get there. We could look up and see where we had hiked to at the top. 

The last trail took us to Tory's Den Cave and Waterfall. 

 It's an interesting story on the Whigs and the Tories. No actual battles were fought here, it was just neighbors fighting neighbors....

On the drive back home I saw this cool horse. Actually, as we drove by I wasn't sure if it was a cow, horse or a mule. I made Greg turn around so I could get a photo of the orange spotted horse!

 Now, THAT'S a horse of a different color.....

After we got home we were treated to the beautiful sunrise that I included in the post on Greystone RV Park. WOW!

Tomorrow we are off to Old Salem to see the Moravian Community.