Lets start with North Carolina... My wife and I lived in Winston-Salem for about a year and a half while I worked in a retail store in a local mall there. Whenever we had time off together we would literally run for the hills. I will start with one of the closest places to Winston and then go farther out. All of my directions will start from Winston unless I'm speaking about multiple places in an area of NC. There is much to see in this great state and I regret that I have not seen much more since we moved from there.
Pilot Knob is really easy to get to and you can make it as adventurous as you want. Once you get past the drive up the mountain, you park and walk up a short semi steep in parts well maintained trail. I took this picture from the end of the short trail at the observation area. There is another trail down below that allows you to walk around the entire base of the knob. Really fun to do! Once my younger brother-in-law came up with Mom and Dad to visit me and my wife and we took them up here. He was about 7 then and had no problem on the trail around the base.
To get to Pilot Knob,
Take Hwy 52 North from Winston to the exit for Pilot Mountain Park Rd/Hwy 2053 . There is not an exit number but a state park sign for Pilot Mtn greats you about a quarter mile before the exit. It is about 30 miles North of Winston.
I took this picture from an over pass just prior to the exit you need to take. As you can see, you will be able observe the mountain well before you get to it. It will be on the left side of the highway as you travel towards the exit.Once you exit, hang a left on Pilot Mountain Park Rd/Hwy 2053 and pass under Highway 52. Follow the road up the mountain to the parking lot and have fun! There are also facilities there like bathrooms and water fountains.
Hanging Rock is also in the area close to Pilot Knob. There is much to do in Hanging Rock State Park so set aside a whole day. You can also camp in the park so you can really make it a weekend trip if you want.First I'll tell you how to get there, then we can talk about stuff to do.
From Hwy 52, heading north from Winston, take exit 122 on RJR Moore Road. Turn left at the top of the ramp and for a distance of 17 miles follow the signs for Hanging Rock State Park. From RJR Moore Road turn left on NC 66 north. Turn right on Moore's Springs Road, which ends near the park entrance to the right.
Once your in the park, head on into the main parking lot. Not the Lake lot, not yet. I recommend getting on Hanging Rock Trail first. The trail is moderate at 1.3 miles one way so plan accordingly. The trail starts out nice and gravelly with some ups and downs. It will however get skinner and more aggressive. This is a great trail with lots of things to climb around on. There were not any guard rails last time I was up here so be careful! The drops are step and it is very easy to get hurt up here. Not the best place for kids.
As you can see the view is awesome. There are a lot of levels when you get to the top. My wife took this of me after I climbed down and around to get to this boulder where I took the above shot.Another cool hike I did one day was Moore's Wall Loop. It is 4.3 miles all around and starts by the lake which is where it also finishes. This was a nice day hike. It is labeled as strenuous on the map so pack a lunch and plenty of water. I don't recall the hike being too bad but that was 7 years ago when I was 50 pounds lighter... Once you get to the top of the ridge, you can see lots of cool stuff. The observation tower is up here as well. From the top of the tower, the view is amazing.
On your way down you will come to a feature called balanced rock. You can see it below in the low center of the picture. I guess it looks like it might fall? I guess it sort of did... Wasn't about to go stand on it to see if I could get it to wobble...
Indian face is listed on the map but I never could find it so good luck. On my way back down once in the valley, instead of going back the way I came, I took a fishing trail to the left and walked around the back of the lake. Its neat because a lot of people don't take this path and towards the end you come to a man made dam that forms the lake. You will end up back on the road to the parking lot for the lake. You just have to walk around the lake house. The hike was awesome! To see the whole park laid out in front of you from the summit is pretty cool. The detour in the valley was cool but it will won't make or break the trip.
There is a few more sites to talk about in this park but I hate long web pages so I am gonna start another blog. I plan to discuss Upper and Lower Cascades, Hidden Falls, Window Falls and the Tory's Den area.
