Jones Gap State Park - Rainbow Falls (5.0 miles; d=7.50)
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Rainbow Falls (Jones Gap) Hike Route Map
My hike to Rainbow Falls at Jones Gap State Park as tracked by the Gaia GPS app and depicted a la Google Earth...
Rainbow Falls (Jones Gap) Hike Route Map
My hike to Rainbow Falls at Jones Gap State Park as tracked by the Gaia GPS app...
One of the things I like about this park is the fact that you have to walk to get into it...
Jones Gap State Park Access Trail
It's a quarter mile walk to get to the visitor center and the trails. Huge boulders and the rushing Saluda River provide a great welcome to the park...
Trillium cuneatum
A huge steel bridge provides a safe crossing of the Middle Saluda River. Here, I'm looking upstream from the bridge...
A huge steel bridge provides a safe crossing of the Middle Saluda River. Here, I'm looking downstream from the bridge...
The first park feature you pass is what remains of the old Cleveland Fish Hatchery which was the first state owned fish hatchery in South Carolina. Typically the pond has a healthy population of fish to observe...
A quarter mile walk from the parking lot I arrived at the old, CCC built, visitor center. As with most CCC projects, its a beautifully designed building which fits perfectly with its surroundings...
Passing the visitor center the path crosses the Middle Saluda again where it reaches the main trailhead for the park...
For anyone entering the backcountry of Jones Gap State Park or the adjacent Mountain Bridge Wilderness, this is the main trailhead...all paths are accessed via this point. After registering at the kiosk, I began the real hike...
As the primary thoroughfare providing access to the other trails in the park, the first part of the Jones Gap Trail is a superhighway of hiking trails...