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Date of Hike: Sunday, January 7, 2018 |
| I decided to do a quick 4.5-mile detour in the middle of my frozen waterfall day and hike the Moore's Wall Loop Trail, which is approximately 40% of this full hike. The skies were too blue to pass up some views, despite the brutally cold weather. I took the trail west from Hanging Rock Lake, which follows the Five Peaks Loop listed here after the Magnolia Springs Trail junction. I had to shed my jacket and hat on the climb up Huckleberry Ridge, it is a consistent gradient that will make you work. At 25F I was in a shirt and pullover fleece and feeling fine. When I reached the tower I was the only one there for 30 minutes, while hundreds of people were exploring the waterfalls. The views from the lookout tower were outstanding as always, I think I'll write this up as a alternative, shorter hike to the Five Peaks Loop. Not everyone can do 10 miles. On my way down I took the trail around the lake which adds a little distance but is worth it. Overall I saw less than 20 people on this loop in 3 hours, it is one of the less crowded areas of the park.
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Alex
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Date of Hike: Sunday, October 30, 2016 |
| Did the hike yesterday exactly as described here. Nice sunny day, unusually warm for this time of the year. Leaves aren't getting much of the color this year, but there is still some nice foliage to see along the way. All trails are well marked- you can do the whole hike without looking at the map once. My favorite views on this hike are along the Wolf Rock/Cook's Wall side. One also gets full 360 panorama from Moore's Knob. Trail to Hanging Rock gets very crowded on the weekends- try to hit it first and do it before 9 am if possible.
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Date of Hike: Friday, August 30, 2013 |
| On Friday, 8/30/13, We hiked the Moore's Wall trail to Moore's Knob and the viewing tower. It was a wonderful hike. We parked in the Bathhouse parking lot, walked past the Bathhouse and lake on our right, following the trail till it split. We chose to turn left which took us up the less refined trail to Moore's Knob and the tower - excellent views. The remainder of the trail was wide and refined with steps. Along the way we stopped at balancing-rock and other out looks, returning via the camp grounds to the Bathhouse. Due to a staffing shortage, the Bathhouse and lake was closed. Scheduled to open for the three day Labor Day weekend, however. Due to the staffing shortage, there was no one to tell us not to climb over the fence and swim, so we did. We had the lake to ourselves. The water was wonderful. As we left, another hiker was climbing over the fence. During our six hours in the park, we saw maybe eight other people. I can't wait to go back. We'll hike Peaks of Otter 9/14-15/2013.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, February 4, 2012 |
We hiked this same loop from the other direction and turned back at House Rock on the Cook's Wall Trail. This is perhaps the most incredible hike of my limited hiking experience. We loved all the climbable rocks. Unfortunately, we hiked it on a cold rainy day, so most of the day, we had a really nice view of the clouds. We're going back in March to hike it in the direction listed here. I can't wait!
My trip report is HERE.
http://gorpandgo.blogspot.com/2012/02/hanging-rock-trails-february-4-2012.html
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Date of Hike: Saturday, September 25, 2010 |
| This hike basically starts with picking up Moore's Loop Trail at the bottom of all those stairs, with a tricky .05 mile or so getting there from the visitors parking lot. I say it is trickey because there are a couple of trail heads right from the visitors parking lot and intuition would dictate that the hike started from one of these. However, in this case you exit the parking lot towards the lake and pick up from there. Once I fought my intuition and figured that out, the hike directions were pretty simple to follow.
I like that this hike tackles Moore's Loop trail from the steep side first. I prefer to get the elevation climb out of the way first while my legs are fresh, and then recover on the more gradual decent. Although once you get to the tower on Moore's Loop, you will have plenty of time to rest while taking in all the great views. From here you will also have a photo opportunity sitting (standing if you are brave) on Balanced Rock. I should also point out that this hike should be done on a clear day. You can do plenty of other forest hikes on a foggy day.
Once you start your decent from the tower the rest of the hike is a cake walk, but that doesen't mean the great views are over. On this day I enjoyed the views and ate my lunch sitting on Wolf Rock, where I even managed to get a cell phone signal and call my couch potato friends. And it only makes sense to complete the day enjoying the scenery from the aptly named Hanging Rock.
All and all a great hike, but I strongly recommend doing it on a clear day.
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MariefromGeorgia
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Date of Hike: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 |
Being from the coastal lowlands of Ludowici, Georgia, Hanging Rock was my second time hiking(Pilot Mt. was the first) and I loved every minute of the huffing, puffing, stopping to rest, journey to the top to see the view from the rock and have a pic of that scary moment when I crawled(scared of heights) out onto the ledge to have my pic taken with my husband. Hanging Rock was the first trail we hiked followed by Hidden Falls/Window Falls. We wanted to stay all day and hike as many trails as we could but we had our three chihuahuas back at the hotel in Mt. Pilot and our bodies just could not move anymore. We barely had enough energy to walk the dogs and grab a bite of food before crashing for the night. The next day the sore muscles made walking downtown Mt. Airy quite challenging before we explored a little of the Blue Ridge Parkway. But we were determined to make the most of this rare vacation time and even hiked some trails along the Parkway on the way back home. Hanging Rock State Park deserves an entire day devoted to exploration to fully enjoy its beauty and wonder. Next time around, I will be better prepared.
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| By:
MariefromGeorgia
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Date of Hike: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 |
| Being from the coastal lowlands of Ludowici, Georgia, Hanging Rock was my second time hiking(Pilot Mt. was the first) and I loved every minute of the huffing, puffing, stopping to rest, journey to the top to see the view from the rock and have a pic of that scary moment when I crawled(scared of heights) out onto the ledge to have my pic taken with my husband. Hanging Rock was the first trail we hiked followed by Hidden Falls/Window Falls. We wanted to stay all day and hike as many trails as we could but we had our three chihuahuas back at the hotel in Mt. Pilot and our bodies just could not move anymore. We barely had enough energy to walk the dogs and grab a bite of food before crashing for the night. The next day the sore muscles made walking downtown Mt. Airy quite challenging before we explored a little of the Blue Ridge Parkway. But we were determined to make the most of this rare vacation time and even hiked some trails along the Parkway on the way back home. Hanging Rock State Park deserves an entire day devoted to exploration to fully enjoy its beauty and wonder. Next time around, I will be better prepared.
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