Exploring Blue Ridge Mountains | High Shoals Falls South Mountains State Park

Come join us as we explore the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (Part 2)... hiking at South Mountains State Park, visiting Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, and Moses Cone Memorial Park along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We camped with our RV at Green Mountain RV Park in Lenoir, NC, using our Thousand Trails membership. From there we took day trips to the local attractions.

While at South Mountains State Park, we hiked the High Shoals Falls trail up to gorgeous waterfalls cascading over massive boulders.

At the top of Beech Mountain, we visited the General Mercantile Store since it was so foggy we couldn't see any views! However, on the second floor they had an art/photography gallery, and we saw the amazing work of photographer Sallie Woodring (salliewoodringphotography.zenfolio.com).

In Banner Elk we hiked around Historic Mill Pond, seeing the beautiful stream as it flowed over the old mill dam.

We then explored Moses Cone Memorial Park, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock. Here we saw the country estate of Moses Cone, called Flat Top Manor, and hiked the Figure 8 trail around the estate... a favorite of Moses Cone and his wife.

We explored South Mountains State Park (Connelly Springs, NC) where we hiked the High Shoals Falls Loop trail, which was a scenic hike along a beautiful trout stream, with the trail leading up over boulders and wooden bridges to the High Shoals Falls.

The video ends in Blowing Rock, where we had some ice cream and walked around Broyhill Park.

Make sure to see Part 1 of this series, where we visited Boone, Linn Cove Viaduct, Grandfather Mountain, Rough Ridge Overlook Trail, West Jefferson, and Mount Jefferson.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:42 Beech Mountain
1:16 General Mercantile Store
2:45 Banner Elk Historic Mill Pond
4:12 Moses Cone Memorial Park
6:16 South Mountains State Park High Shoals Falls Trail
13:46 Blowing Rock, NC
15:03 Broyhill Park