South Mountains State Park – outside of Lincolnton, NC – is full of great trails and only 90 minutes outside of most parts of Charlotte, so we’ve hiked most of them.

How We Found It: Friend and photographer Warren G clued us in to this one, though people in Charlotte are always mumbling about this place if you listen.

Dates and Distances Hiked:

12/3/11 4 miles

1/1/12, 4.5 miles

1/7/12, 6 miles

1/22/12, 7.7 miles

6/16/12 7.3 miles

7/21/12 7.3 miles

8/4/12 9.1 miles

8/12/12 7.8 miles

Find the Trailhead: From Charlotte, head to Lincolnton and then go here: 3001 South Mountain Park Avenue, Connelly Springs, NC 28612. We like to start at the Jacob Fork parking area, at the end of the road into the park, but check the park map for trail heads all over the place.

Map: Find a map online to print or pay $5 for a great map at the visitor center.

Bathroom Situation: No worries. Very nice visitor center at the entrance of the park and another at the trailhead.

Fees (Where/How Much): Free

Our Route: For most of our hikes, we’ve started along the High Shoals Falls Trail, sometimes veering right at Chestnut Knob Trail to head up for good views or on Headquarters Trail to a favorite, Possum Trail.

We suggest Possum Trail to make you feel like you’re deep in the mountains. We suggest Sawtooth Trail or Little River Trail from the River Trail side to Jacob Fork Parking Area to make your legs weak. We suggest Saddleback Trail f0r an open trail with immense serenity and beauty.

And of course, we suggest looping up to the falls at some point because it’s good to see, even if it’s pretty crowded. The falls are great and the trail to them gets the heart pumping (we like to go left first, up the stairs), but besides the tall falls, the loop isn’t spectacular.

Some areas of South Mountains are not as exciting, and some trails have a lot of horse “evidence” to watch out for. But convenience and the ability to spend long periods of time outside outweigh the more generic parts of the experience.

Of Interest: Hugo Rock: a large, white rock face on the way to High Shoals Falls revealed itself in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo swept the soil and plants off of it.

The NC Park Service promises to create new more and more trails through these ancient mountains in the near future.

What Nobody Told Us before We Went:

• Watch for those horsey road apples.

• For the best experience, leave the beaten trail and try the trails we suggest above.

Hike Highlights:

• If you have a hankering for sugar, stop at Redbone Willy’s for homemade ice cream on the way back to Charlotte; it’s the wooden building with the big porch at the corner of 18 and 27.

• This one is close enough to Charlotte that we can make it to 300 East for Fall Salad afterward.