Tory's Den

Let's talk now about Tory's Den and Falls. These are still in and around Hanging Rock State Park. Even though you might leave the park boundaries as you travel you will usually pop back into the park as you get close to the parking lot.

Last time I talked about being out at the Lower Cascades on Hall Road. If you continue west on Hall Rd you will be driving around the north rim of the park and looking south. As you travel you can see the back of what is part of Moore's Wall Loop. As you continue to drive you will come to Mickey Rd where you take a left. Proceed to Charlie Young Rd and take another left. As you do this you will drive up a small hill towards the parking lot.

Both the cave and the falls are on the same trail and close together so you might as well take them both in. The map says the trail is 2.3 miles one way but it didn't seem like that at all. Ther sources say .6 round trip.

Apparently the story of the caves naming goes back to the Revolutionary War. The story goes that a member of the Whig party lived nearby and had a daughter that was kidnapped and held for ransom by the Tories. The daughter was eventually rescued. The cave isn't very deep but it's a large room and you can see evidence of smoke all throughout the walls of the cave. I don't know if this is the kidnapped daughters doing but I'd spend a night here for sure!

The adjacent falls are more drippy then anything. I'm sure it lets go after a good rain but the day we visited, not so much. However, toward the bottom of the falls there is a little gully that is fun to climb around in. All in all, the hike was short and the cave was cool. You can see the falls just fine from rock ledges around the falls plus there is a wooden observation area with steps down to it so this is fairly kid friendly.

Have fun!

Hanging Rock State Park cont

Picking up where we left off with Hanging Rock State Park.

I want to talk briefly about Hidden and Window Falls. Both of these falls are on Indian Creek Trail and very close to the main parking lot.

Hidden Falls is first on the trail. It is "hidden" except for the sign that points to it . Follow the side trail down to a rhododendron filled cove. It's small but neat and not hard to get to.

As you get close to Window Falls don't miss the top portion of the falls to the left before the trail drops down to the lower portion. Tucked back in a narrow crack between to larger boulders is how the falls gets its name.

The large over hanging rock forms a window to revel the top of the falls. It is small but neat and not hard to get to.

The rest of Widow Falls flows across and down to the bottom portion of the falls. The bottom portion of Window Falls has a pretty good drop to it and there are wash out trails to take you to the bottom of the falls. I have never seen it gushing as the creek that feeds it is small.

There is lots of stuff to climb around on at the bottom so have fun!

I am really looking forward to talking about the next area of the park. Upper and Lower Cascade Falls are must sees. They are fairly easy to get to and are very nice waterfalls. We will start with the Upper as it is closer to the main parking lot of Hanging Rock State Park. Head out on the short trail and you will end up at the head waters of the falls. Be careful as the rocks are covered in moss and they are very slick. Plus there is a nice drop over by the edge.

Its maybe a 50 ft drop to the bottom and to get there you have to take a wash out trail so keep your eyes open for it as your walking to the Upper from the parking lot. If you find a wash out trail and get below the Upper (this is not Lower Cascade) you will find a neat place with lots of places to climb around. See to the right... When I took this, the big tree was there which was fun. We used the tree to climb half way up the falls. I don't know if its still there. If it is, it has to be rotten by now so I don't recommend this... Cool place and close to the parking lot!





Now I want to head to the Lower Cascades. This is a nice waterfall. The fall itself is maybe 15 feet high but it's in this little cove and there is a very large pool a few feet deep at the bottom that is excellent on a summer day.

To get here you have to leave the park so head out the way you came. At the entrance gate as your leaving the park, turn left back on to Moore's Spring road which is how you came in. Not far down take a left on Hall road. Right as you cross back into the boundary of Hanging Rock State Park you will see a sign for the falls on the right. There is a parking lot to pull into there. Once out, locate the trail and start your decent. There are a few places along the trail while it's still flat to look down into the gully that hides the falls. The trail turns into a washout and gets steep. I remember having to use exposed roots and tree limbs to get up and down so be careful.

Lastly, please take the "Don't throw rocks" sign seriously. Last time I was there with my family, my mom stayed topside while my wife, little bother and myself went down to the falls. Well my mom got bored and started throwing rocks over the side. She almost killed my little brother... We were swimming in the water and a huge rock missed my brothers head by maybe a foot. That was almost a bad day.

Other then the near death experience... This is one of my favorite places so I hope you enjoy it!