Widow’s Creek Falls and the MST at Stone Mountain, NC

How We Found It: Another 100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina trail, #87.

Date and Distance Hiked: 1/26/13, 13-ish miles.

Good Seasons: Winter for views.

Find the Trailhead: Carefully! It’s poorly marked. In Stone Mountain State Park in Traphill, NC, park at Widow’s Creek Falls. Trot in 50-ish yards to peek at the cool waterfall. Then walk back to your car and walk down the road 100 yards (as a point of reference, you’ll be walking away from the direction of the Lower Trailhead parking area for the Stone Mountain Loop).

See a gravel road heading up into the woods on the side of the road without the creek on it (check out our album below for a photo of what the entrance looks like). Head up that gravel road. That’s the trailhead for Widow’s Creek Trail.

It will be helpful to note that there is no trail directly past or around Widow’s Creek Falls.

Other Notes on the Route: One mile in, take a right to go up the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST). When we say “up,” we mean it: you are immediately humping up 1/4 mile of steep incline with no switchbacks.

Near the end of the trail, you’ll have a choice to make to reach the Parkway and Devil’s Garden Overlook. See a sign about the Mountains to Sea Trail on your left and a tree with a double white blaze on your right, and take a right. This is how to reach the Parkway and the Devil’s Garden Overlook.

If you go straight, you’ll see blue blazes at your feet and reach the abandoned cable-car platform in about a quarter mile. That’s what we did, accidentally, and we didn’t have a chance to check out Devil’s Garden or the Parkway. As we were at “bingo,” we had to hightail it back down the mountain to reach the car at the same time the ranger did, wagging her finger at us because the park was closing.

Map: A whopping 7.5MB PDF of Stone Mountain Park here, and they should have free maps at the park in the Visitor Center.

Bathroom Situation: The nicest bathrooms are at the Upper parking area. There are small facilities at the Visitor Center and Lower parking area. Bushes by Widow’s Creek Falls.

Fees (Where/How Much): Free.

Our Route: Widow’s Creek Trail to Mountains to Sea Trail to the Parkway (almost*) and back down.

Many online descriptions of this trail refer to the in-park portion, a 2.5-mile trail that runs along the creek to backcountry campsites. The route we took takes you out of the State Park and through private land to the Parkway along the MST.

* We got so lost finding trailhead and trying to access the Parkway at the end of the trail that there wasn’t enough daylight to complete the trail route as planned.

Of Interest: Views would be even more limited if it weren’t winter, though rhododendrons are probably great here in the summer.

It’s a good trail to do with friends since a lot of it is wide track/old forest road that can be hiked side by side. It’s easy on the ankles with few roots and rocks. Talking while hiking can be a challenge in parts, though, with many long stretches of steep grade with no switchbacks.

The trail takes you through some private property. Wear bright colors (not white) during hunting season, just in case.

What Nobody Told Us before We Went:

• How to find the trailhead.

• How to get to the Parkway.

• How UP this trail really is. It’s 2,300′ elevation gain in 6 miles. But we’ve hiked many trails with this kind of gain in less mileage that were less slanty or taxing, like Graybeard at Montreat. The lack of switchbacks is probably to blame. It felt like a lot more than 2,300′.

Hike Highlights:

• Ice on Widow’s Creek Falls.

• Abandoned Mahogany Rock cable car platform. The doomed “tramway” cable cars began service in 1969 and shut down in the 1970s. The land was taken over by the Nature Conservancy.

• Feeling of accomplishment.

• A few spots that afforded a great view of Stone Mountain about halfway up the trail.