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Table Rock State Park (South Carolina)
Encyclopedia
Table Rock State Park is a 3083 acres (12.5 km²) park at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Pickens County, South Carolina. The park includes Pinnacle Mountain
, the tallest mountain totally within the state.
(CCC) that includes a kitchen and a 72-seat dining room. There are two park lakes with seasonal swimming permitted and hiking trails that lead to the Pinnacle Mountain Summit (two routes), Mill Creek Falls, and the summit of Table Rock. A nature center offers educational programs, and there are picnic shelters and a playground.
The 1.9 miles (3.1 km) Carrick Creek Nature Trail loops around two creeks with small cascades and waterfalls and displays wildflowers in season. The 3.5 miles (5.6 km) Table Rock Summit Trail is moderately strenuous rising, 2000 feet (609.6 m) above the trailhead and includes a shelter built by the CCC. At approximately 2.5 miles (4 km), the trail forks, the left fork following a ridge trail to Pinnacle Mountain and the right fork to the summit at 3124 feet (952.2 m). The trail ends at an overlook with a view of Table Rock Reservoir and Caesars Head. The park is the eastern trailhead of the 80 miles (128.7 km) Foothills Trail
through the Blue Ridge Escarpment.
Nation. The Cherokee called the area, "Sah-ka-na-ga," the Great Blue Hills of God, and they established many hunting camps in the area.
Europeans moved into the Oolenoy River
Valley soon after the signing of the Hopewell Treaty, settling at Pumpkintown
(named for the unusually large pumpkins grown there). William Sutherland and James Keith operated a wayside lodge for visitors and about 1840, they built a hotel, which prospered until the Civil War. Visitors increased again after Reconstruction, and in 1899, E. Foster Keith built a new hotel, which was later destroyed. By the beginning of the twentieth century several farm families lived in the Table Rock area.
In 1935 approximately 2860 acres (11.6 km²) of land was donated by Pickens County and the city of Greenville, and the park was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC)
. The CCC built a dam for Pinnacle Lake, several fish-rearing pools, the superintendent's residence, a lodge, shelters, and miles of roads and hiking trails. The CCC also landscaped the park using natural vegetation from the Pinnacle Lake bed. Much of this work remains visible in the twenty-first century.
The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and is also a South Carolina Heritage Trust Site.
Pinnacle Mountain (South Carolina)
Pinnacle Mountain is the highest mountain totally within the state of South Carolina . It is located within Table Rock State Park in Pickens County, South Carolina. The summit of the mountain is accessible by hiking trails....
, the tallest mountain totally within the state.
Park Features
The park features a lodge restored by the Civilian Conservation CorpsCivilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
(CCC) that includes a kitchen and a 72-seat dining room. There are two park lakes with seasonal swimming permitted and hiking trails that lead to the Pinnacle Mountain Summit (two routes), Mill Creek Falls, and the summit of Table Rock. A nature center offers educational programs, and there are picnic shelters and a playground.
The 1.9 miles (3.1 km) Carrick Creek Nature Trail loops around two creeks with small cascades and waterfalls and displays wildflowers in season. The 3.5 miles (5.6 km) Table Rock Summit Trail is moderately strenuous rising, 2000 feet (609.6 m) above the trailhead and includes a shelter built by the CCC. At approximately 2.5 miles (4 km), the trail forks, the left fork following a ridge trail to Pinnacle Mountain and the right fork to the summit at 3124 feet (952.2 m). The trail ends at an overlook with a view of Table Rock Reservoir and Caesars Head. The park is the eastern trailhead of the 80 miles (128.7 km) Foothills Trail
Foothills Trail
The Foothills Trail is a foot trail in South and North Carolina for recreational hiking and backpacking. It extends from Table Rock State Park to Oconee State Park. It passes through the Andrew Pickens Ranger District of the Sumter National Forest, Ellicott Rock Wilderness, Whitewater Falls, and...
through the Blue Ridge Escarpment.
History
Prior to the signing of the Hopewell Treaty of 1785, the land now encompassed by Table Rock State Park was part of the Lower CherokeeCherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
Nation. The Cherokee called the area, "Sah-ka-na-ga," the Great Blue Hills of God, and they established many hunting camps in the area.
Europeans moved into the Oolenoy River
Oolenoy River
The Oolenoy River is a minor tributary of the Saluda River sourced near Sassafras Mountain in northern Pickens County, South Carolina. Approximately 37 miles in length, it empties into the South Fork Saluda River near the Pumpkintown Community. It is part of the Santee River System....
Valley soon after the signing of the Hopewell Treaty, settling at Pumpkintown
Pumpkintown, South Carolina
Pumpkintown is an unincorporated community in Pickens County, South Carolina, United States on State Highway 8 northwest of Greenville.- Geography :Pumpkintown is located at...
(named for the unusually large pumpkins grown there). William Sutherland and James Keith operated a wayside lodge for visitors and about 1840, they built a hotel, which prospered until the Civil War. Visitors increased again after Reconstruction, and in 1899, E. Foster Keith built a new hotel, which was later destroyed. By the beginning of the twentieth century several farm families lived in the Table Rock area.
In 1935 approximately 2860 acres (11.6 km²) of land was donated by Pickens County and the city of Greenville, and the park was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC)
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
. The CCC built a dam for Pinnacle Lake, several fish-rearing pools, the superintendent's residence, a lodge, shelters, and miles of roads and hiking trails. The CCC also landscaped the park using natural vegetation from the Pinnacle Lake bed. Much of this work remains visible in the twenty-first century.
The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and is also a South Carolina Heritage Trust Site.
Miles to...
- Charleston, SC: 248
- Columbia, SC: 135
- Florence, SC: 216
- Greenville, SC: 30
- Charlotte, NC: 126
- Raleigh, NC: 263
- Atlanta, GA: 160
- Augusta, GA: 137