Gorges State Park - Chestnut Mountain Road & the Cow Trail
Read MoreChestnut Mountain Road @ Turkeypen Gap
Turkeypen Gap, with the Chestnut Mountain Road dropping in across the way and curving away down the mountain to the left. The Auger Hole Trail heads to the right as it drops away to the east and eventually, 7.5 miles away reaches the western boundary of the park at Frozen Creek Access.
From here I'd continue driving south (which you can't do unless you're lucky enough to be a park employee like me!) along what is known as the Cow Trail, which acts as an extension of the Auger Hole Trail providing a connector to the Foothills Trail a couple miles south...Foothills Trail
Peering down the Foothills Trail east, into Gorges State Park. From here the trail meanders along the southern periphery for 7 miles or so before re-entering South Carolina and continuing on another 27 miles to its eastern terminus at Table Rock State Park, SC.
Although I cheated a bit to get down here I was long overdue to visit this corner of our park, so no complaints...next time I'm here hopefully I'll do it the legitimate way. For now though this will certainly do...
Dan Weemhoff (dwhike)
on May 21, 2020Hello Tim...my best estimate puts the distance to Hilliard at around 7 miles one-way from the end of the Cow Trail.
Tim Watson
on May 19, 2020Once you reached the Foothills Trail here , How much farther would it be to Hilliard Falls.? I have been to Hilliard Falls from Bad Creek but not this way.