Keowee-Toxaway State Park

Keowee-Toxaway State Park surprised me by having waterfalls.  I thought I was just going for a scenic hike on the Natural Bridge Nature Trail but it turns out they have several unnamed waterfalls!  In fact there were too many minor falls to try to describe, and even the ranger at the Jocassee Gorges visitor center (aka the park’s visitor center) said they don’t have names, so these are just enjoyed as is on the trail.  A few examples:

None of these are huge, but they exist, and that’s great.  This is part of a 1.3 mile Natural Bridge Nature Trail loop hike from the visitor center that follows Poe Creek, crosses of course a natural bridge, and find you surrounded by mostly mountain laurel.  I didn’t take it but there was also a spur off this trail to get onto the Raven Rock Trail which is a 4.4 mile loop in itself.  For the sake of waterfall hunting and natural bridge sight seeing, you just want the Natural Bridge’s trail.

The Natural Bridge was basically a giant boulder that had long ago fallen over the creek, with a smooth walk above it as the trail crosses and the option to look beneath it as I did.  Sorry about the blurry map picture, it was raining that day.  This is a great scenic hike though, and I experienced a good deal of mud on the trail, so keep a set of boots in mind if it is raining!  Remember that there are more falls here than I pictured.  Also worth noting is that South Carolina’s Palmetto Trail is part of this hike as it is used as a section.