Big Rock Trail - Forks Trail - North Side

 

I was happy today to start checking out some of the Forks trails in SC near Clark’s Hill. I was even happier to discover there was actually some incline to these and dare I say…I may actually count these trails as hiking instead of nature walking?! Hallelujah! We will take what we can get in the midlands lol!! 😂 

The big rock trail delivered what I’d hoped for for the kids - big rocks! Imagine that! If you’ve hiked with kids at all you know there are 4 major things that get them crazy excited to journey with you- 1.) waterfalls 2.) sand 3.) good climbing trees 4.) big rocks to climb. This particular trail is 3.8 miles and the big climbing rocks are about halfway in. This trail is moderate for kids, and mild to moderate (if carrying heavy packs with kids) for avid hikers. My kids really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the change of elevation sporadically, the thick forest, and how quiet it was. I could hear lots of beautiful wildlife and babbling brooks. The big rock trail connects with Tower trail as well if you wanted to add that in. These two trails are in the north end of the Forks trail systems. 

I enjoyed this as well as the kids enough to go back and try the other few trails. 

Savannah Valley Railroad Trail - SC

 

When we began the moving process to GA back in 2021, we drove through the boondocks of SC to get to our new place in the world. I do mean BOONDOCKS. There is nothing - there’s train tracks and a countless pine trees. But I did have a trail to catch my eye and I said to myself, “one day I’m going to stop there and check it out.” It’s exactly halfway in between my house in GA, and my parent’s house in Iva, SC. Now that Elias is doing longer solo hiking I decided to finally check it out. 

The entire trail is 9 miles with 3 trailheads all within 10 mins of each other. We started at the Tim Brown trailhead then drove down to the third trail head where the trestle bridge was so we may walk across it. (This bridge is what caught my eye first back in ‘21.) Of the total 9 miles, we did 5. Elias did 2.5 on his own. I carried him the other half. While the hike itself to me was lack luster for a girl who is used to big Mountain Views and roaring rivers and waterfalls- it was nice and perfect for little new hikers like Elias. They enjoyed it. And I enjoyed watching them. It was so fun to be out in the woods with my babies!