Director Fitness Appraisal Laboratory
Member Brevard College Wellness Committee
DuPont State Forest
DuPont State Forest is only about 20 minutes from campus and has
over 55 miles of trails and more than 10,000 acres of beautiful land to
explore. There are many many waterfalls in this forest and a large lake
(Lake Julia). Volunteers have been doing a great job improving the trails
and access to these areas. If you are interested in volunteering or finding
out more, contact Friends
of DuPont Forest. For much more information on the forest refer
to http://www.dupontforest.com/
Below are several photos from that website.
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| Location of DuPont State Forest http://www.dupontforest.com/directions.asp | Triple Falls, photo by Bill Thomas |
Driving Directions**: From the college, drive right on Broad Street for several miles until you get to the intersection with Rt. 64 East(near the Wal-Mart store). Turn right on U.S. 64 and travel 3.7 miles to the Texaco Station in Penrose. Turn right on Crab Creek Road and continue 4.3 miles and then turn right on DuPont Road. This road will turn into Staton Road. Two parking lots for DuPont Forest are located off this road. The first is on the right in 3.1 miles (just before you cross the Little River bridge - it is the Hooker Falls parking area). The second parking lot is on the left about 1 mile further up the road (at Buck Forest Road). Park at Buck Forest parking area (the one on the left).
Note: You could also make it easier on yourself by having 2 cars and doing a shuttle. To do this, you would leave one car at Hooker Falls Parking lot and take the other car to Buck Forest parking lot and begin the hike there. (That way all your hiking would be down hill and you would end up at Hooker Falls parking lot). You would see High Falls first, then Triple Falls, then take Hooker Falls trail once you get to the Hooker Falls Parking area.
Hiking Directions -
From Buck Forest Parking area (Buck Forest Road) you will be able to hike both High and Triple Falls in a relatively short period of time - and can continue on to Hooker Falls) if you like. There will be well-marked signs along the way with wide paths for the most part. From the Buck Forest parking area, begin your hike by going past the gate and hike along Buck Forest Road for about 1/3 mile. Then turn left onto Triple Falls Trail. In about 20 yards, that road will split again, with the left fork continuing down to Triple Falls (2/3 mile) and the right fork going to High Falls (¼ mile). I’d recommend going to High Falls first, but in any case once you get to one of the falls you can loop between the trails on High Falls Trail (that path is narrower and is about 2/3 mile long).
High Falls - head to that falls first (you took Buck forest
trail for 0.3 miles, turned left on Triple Falls trail, then 20 yards later
turned right onto High Falls Trail). Continue straight on High Falls road
(avoiding several right forks) to find High Falls picnic shelter and excellent
views of High Falls. High Falls consists of 3 different cascades,
with about a 120’ total vertical drop. Notice the new covered bridge in
the distance at the top of the falls.
From the picnic area you could turn around and go back, but I recommend
that you continue on, heading next to Triple Falls. To do this, you go
down the steep steps toward the falls until you come to High Falls trail
in about 0.1 mile. Take the trail to the left and that will take you along
the river on down to Triple Falls in about 2/3 mile. Triple Falls
is a 120’ falls with 3 large distinct cascades.
At Triple Falls you can head up the wide/gravel Triple Falls Road
to return to Buck Forest Trail where you turn right to get to the
Buck Forest Parking lot, or you can continue on to end up down at the Hooker
Falls Parking area.
To continue on from Triple Falls, you take either Galax Trail
or Triple Falls Trail (both about 0.3 or0.4 miles long) and they will take
you down to the Hooker Falls Parking area. Galax Trial is a new trail that
has more switchbacks as you head down the hill gradually, and Triple Falls
Trail heads steeply down for a while, then goes downriver along Little
River. Both trails end up at Staton Road, where you will have to cross
the road, walk across the bridge and head down to the Hooker Falls Parking
area. To see Hooker Falls, you can continue on the path at the end
of the Hooker Falls parking lot. You hike about 20 yards on that path,
then bear left on Hooker Falls Trail and go along the river 0.25 miles
to view Hooker Falls. You can look at the falls from the overlook, or continue
down to the left to get to the water. Hooker Falls drops only about 11',
but is very wide. It drops down into Cascade Lake and is a popular swimming
hole in warm weather. Photo by J. Jennings at http://www.dupontforest.com/
Return back the way you came to the Hooker Falls parking
lot. From there you can retrace your steps back up to Triple Falls on Galax
Trail or Triple Falls Trail, then take the gravel road (Triple Falls Trail)
back up to Buck Forest Trail, where you will head right on that road for
0.3 miles to get back to Buck Forest Parking lot.
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Important Information
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