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| Hiking | 6.61 Miles |
1,661 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.61 Miles | 2 Hrs 56 Mns | | 2.40 mph |
| 1,661 ft AEG | 11 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | As I was nearing the end of my weeklong trip to the Asheville, NC area, I wanted to end with a couple of waterfall hikes. I did some hasty research and found Rainbow Falls in the Jones Gap State Park, just over the state line in South Carolina. This looked like a fun adventure and the drive was about an hour away. In my research I noticed you need to buy a parking pass online before the trip. I got lucky and picked up one of the few remaining passes the night before my planned adventure. I added the link below.
I left my Airbnb in Asheville and made the drive to the trailhead. I arrived a few minutes before they opened and was the second car in line. They would open the gate and then checked my parking pass and I headed in. This park received extensive damage from Hurricane Helene in Sept 2024 and was recently reopened. The entrance person told me the first bridge is open to the visitor center but the second bridge is completely destroyed. See my GPS Route for details.
I started my hike and opted to save the Visitor Center for my return. I was one of the first people on the trail and I wanted to avoid the crowds that were soon to come. The trail follows an old road and is very easy to follow. There were a ton of downed trees but the trail was cleared. I would cruise the first mile and then crossed the creek and headed up towards Rainbow Falls. It's another 1.5 miles and roughly a thousand feet to the falls but the trail is in good condition and I arrived to a vacant waterfall. I took my time and enjoyed the area. After I had my fill I started the descent and passed a lot of people on their hike up.
Along my return I would recross the creek and then detoured to the west to see Jones Gap Falls. I arrived to a handful of young people enjoying the waterfall and making a lot of noise. I would take a pic and then started my return. This section had a few backpackers campsites that looked okay. Each site had a tent pad and fire ring. I don't think I would ever backpack here. I continued my return and decided to check out the Visitor Center and then packed up and headed out. The next hike I had planned was to Dupont State Recreational Forest.
https://southcarolinaparks.com/jones-gap |
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