What an amazing hike it was filled with wild flowers, blackberry bushes (only a handful were ripe enough for foraging per bush), lizards, squirrels, beautifully voiced singing birds, birds of prey (mostly turkey vultures) circling above. I had hoped to hit not only Table Rock Mountain, but also Pinnacle Mountain, but we ran out of time, and we left it for some other time. Felix, to my surprise, hiked one mile of fairly steep ascent although he badly twisted his ankle and did not even hike at all just the day before, which affected my overall plan, but looking at the positive side, he got to hike part of the trail. Better yet, his ankle recovered quickly. The mountain we did not hit today will not go away, and we can hit it any other day during our stay. So, it's all good! The views from the Ridge Line Trail were simply jaw-dropping absolute beauty! You can see far out to the Piedmont of lowland South Carolina as far as our eyes could reach as well as Pinnacle Lake, Lake Oolenoy, Carrick Creek, Table Rock Reservoir and surrounding mountains. I thought about upgrading my day passes from my two visits to South Carolina state parks, but the annual fee was $99 (compared to $80 of 'America the Beautiful' annual national park pass. However, the day admission was fairly priced at $6, and they have facilities, little playground, lakes with swimming area, visitor center and nature center. Considering all those, I figured it was very reasonable. The same could have been said about the $3 admission to hike at Caesars Head State Park. South Carolina State Parks are full of pleasant surprises, and I am digging them so much!

Hiking/Backpacking

South Carolina, SC, Table Rock State Park, Table Rock, Pinnacle Mountain

Pickens County, South Carolina, United States

time : Jul 14, 2020 2:06 PM

duration : 5h 19m 37s

distance : 8.5 mi

total_ascent : 2441 ft

highest_point : 3121 ft

avg_speed : 1.7 mi/h

user_id : NomadHeeday

user_firstname : Heeday

user_lastname : Nakahashi

What an amazing hike it was filled with wild flowers, blackberry bushes (only a handful were ripe enough for foraging per bush), lizards, squirrels, beautifully voiced singing birds, birds of prey (mostly turkey vultures) circling above. I had hoped to hit not only Table Rock Mountain, but also Pinnacle Mountain, but we ran out of time, and we left it for some other time. Felix, to my surprise, hiked one mile of fairly steep ascent although he badly twisted his ankle and did not even hike at all just the day before, which affected my overall plan, but looking at the positive side, he got to hike part of the trail. Better yet, his ankle recovered quickly. The mountain we did not hit today will not go away, and we can hit it any other day during our stay. So, it's all good! The views from the Ridge Line Trail were simply jaw-dropping absolute beauty! You can see far out to the Piedmont of lowland South Carolina as far as our eyes could reach as well as Pinnacle Lake, Lake Oolenoy, Carrick Creek, Table Rock Reservoir and surrounding mountains. I thought about upgrading my day passes from my two visits to South Carolina state parks, but the annual fee was $99 (compared to $80 of 'America the Beautiful' annual national park pass. However, the day admission was fairly priced at $6, and they have facilities, little playground, lakes with swimming area, visitor center and nature center. Considering all those, I figured it was very reasonable. The same could have been said about the $3 admission to hike at Caesars Head State Park. South Carolina State Parks are full of pleasant surprises, and I am digging them so much!