Jocassee Gorges - Bearwallow Valley Overlook Trail (1.25 miles)
and Buckberry Ridge Trail (0.75 miles)
Driving directions**: From the college, drive left on Broad
Street until you get to the heart of Brevard. Get on Hwy. 64N (toward
Rosman and Lake Toxaway) and continue for about 16.2 miles until you get
to the intersection with NC Route 281 South (note: you will come to 281
North, which is a right turn, first). Do not take that right on 281N,
but continue on till you come to 281 South (which is a left turn) a mile
or 2 down the road. Take that left turn onto 281 South and in 1 mile
you will come to a well-marked parking lot for the Gorges hiking trails
on the left. Turn in there and park in the large lot. There
will be a well-marked sign showing these trails (and other, longer ones),
a picnic area, and a clean outhouse at the trailhead. There is a
form to fill out and register if you plan on doing overnight camping in
the area. Otherwise, the parking lot is just open during daylight
hours.
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Hiking directions - Bearwallow Valley Overlook Trail. The hike is about 1.25 miles and traverses on a gentle up and down through the woods following Red markers on the trees. It crosses a logging or powerline maintenance road several times and when you get to a large clearing with Duke powerlines overhead you are about 2/3 of the way to the end of the trail. Continue on the nice path through the woods until you come out at a scenic overlook of Bearwallow Creek Gorge and Chestnut Mountain. There is a nice observation deck at that point and on a clear day you can see Lake Jocassee and Lake Keowee in the distance. Just past the observation deck there is a wheelchair access area, so I assume you must be able to get there another way, with permission, for those with special needs.
On the return trip, you take the same trail back, but for variety and a short additional distance, you could turn off to the right when you see a trail with White markers. This trail is Buckberry Ridge Trail, and to take it you just turn right onto the trail with white blazes and follow it through the woods back to the parking lot. This trail is an easy 0.75-mile hike and you'll see chestnut oak trees, rhododendron, mountain laurel, and lots of the ground cover called galax. Right before the trail ends, you will walk through a nice picnic area.
Hiking directions - Buckberry Ridge Trail - as described above, you can take that trail as a part of the longer hike on Bearwallow Valley Overlook Trail. But if you just want to do this short 0.75-mile trail, follow these directions. Begin at the parking lot (by the outhouse) and follow the trail with both red and white blazes for .25 miles or so. At that point, the red blazes continue straight ahead, and the white blazed trail will head to the left. Take that sharp left, and follow the trail with white blazes. Along the way, you'll see chestnut oak trees, rhododendron, mountain laurel, and lots of the ground cover called galax. Right before the trail ends, you will walk through a nice picnic area, which leads back to the parking lot.
For more information about the land, see http://walras.econ.duke.edu/Gorges/description.html
or http://www.mindspring.com/~wilddave/Jocassee/.
To volunteer to help maintain the area, please email gorg@citcom.net.
This wilderness area (Jocassee Gorges) was purchases by North and
South Carolina in 1997, from Duke Energy Corporation. The goal is to provide
permanent protection for an important "scenic, scientific and recreational
assets in North America". The Dept. of Natural Resources plan is
available at: http://www.dnr.state.sc.us.
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Important Information: As always, when hiking you should always: