How We Found It: This website. The way they use the word “grandeur.”

Date and Distance Hiked: 4/13/13 (we’ve hiked here many times but details and photos in this post come from this date and dates leading up to it).

Good Seasons: Winter (views), spring (not too hot), fall (leaves and great weather).

Find the Trailhead: Inside the park. Park directions. The hikes in this post begin both from the Visitor Center and lake parking lots.

Map: Print a map from the “park directions” link above, grab one for free at the park or pay a few $ for a much better one at the visitor center; they’ve been out of pay maps each time we’re there.

Bathroom Situation: No worries. Visitor center, bathhouse.

Fees (Where/How Much): Free. Donate at visitor center if you like.

Our Route: We really love 3 hikes here:

1. Starting from the visitor center parking lot: go to Hanging Rock and back (2.6 miles total).

2. Starting from the visitor center parking lot: hike down to Window Falls, with a stop at Hidden Falls, and back (1.2 total).

3. Drove two minutes to the lake parking lot* for Moore’s Wall Loop Trail (4.7 total). This trail has plenty of spurs. Watch your map and follow the signs to stay on course.**

* You can also leave your car at the Visitor Center and, from the Hanging Rock Trail, hike Wolf Rock Trail–>Magnolia Springs Trail–>join up with Moore’s Wall Loop to add 2.2 miles to your hike one way. Return to Visitor Center parking by walking around the lake (brining yourself parallel with the road) and stopping to check out Upper Cascades Falls on the way (a 0.3 mile stair-and-boardwalk-assisted downhill hike to see a neat waterfall). By far, if you’re pressed for time, prioritize the Hanging Rock and Moore’s Wall Loop, though, as these trails afford marvelous views.

**We like to keep left, hiking the loop clockwise, to take the longer leg to the fire tower first. Feels like more of an accomplishment than trucking up to it from the short side. The shorter side of the loop (if you go right first) is also more crowded with in-and-backers.

More Tips/Of Interest: You’re in an ancient range called the Sauratown Mountains that sits in the counties of Stokes and Surry in North Carolina. Great rock climbing here.

The stone bathhouse at the lake, c. 1940, is a great example of Civilian Conservation Corps rustic architecture and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The lake, dam and beach are CCC creations, too.

This is a popular State Park. Expect crowds around the Visitor Center. For less company, try the longer trails and trails from the lake parking area, like Moore’s Wall Loop.

What Nobody Told Us before We Went: The “quick” hike to Hanging Rock and back is actually moderately strenuous, elevation-gain-wise. With picture taking and rock exploring, our first time doing this 2.6-mile in-and-back took nearly 2 hours.

While Moore’s Wall Loop is labeled “strenuous” on the State Park map, it’s not too bad. A lot of uphill on the way up to the fire tower, but the trail is clear and well maintained.

Hike Highlights:

• Early bird gets the worm, but the late bird gets the sunset, which is beautiful in this park.

• Excellent gluten-free dinner stop on the way home. River Birch Lodge: this six-year-old Winston-Salem treasure prepared gluten-free options gracefully and served up a mean duck breast, too. Plus, great service, friendly management, and we know firsthand that they just had new carpet installed…