Morrow Mountain State Park is a great nearby hiking destination often overlooked by the Charlotte crowd. It’s no secret that the “go to” hike (with any elevation that is) would be Crowder’s Mountain State Park, just 45 minutes to an hour west of Charlotte. But Morrow Mountain is just as easy to get to, but easterly out of the city about an hour and fifteen minutes in Albemarle. It’s located in the Uwharrie Mountains, although you may view them more as molehills since the maximum elevation change is just under 1,000 feet.

Let me first say that Morrow Mountain State Park may be one of the most well-maintained parks I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. I believe the roads actually improved once we entered the park! Well paved roads, vast parking lots, well-kept bridges, and excellent maps and wayfinding signs were just some of the staples.

The four of us (Joy, Sara and Alison, above right) had no trouble following the signs located periodically throughout each hike, and the blazing was well-spaced and marked. We started our day next to the Yadkin and Pee Dee Rivers hiking the moderately rated 4.0-mile Fall Mountain Trail. The trail made a loop near the rivers with that last third bordering them. At the beginning of that final stretch sat the Falls Dam.

The dam was a pleasure to find since we had overlooked it on the map. As we were nearing, navigating through multiple switchbacks down the hillside, we could hear hundreds of gulls in the distance. It was an odd beautiful thing to see all of the birds take off and fly periodically for what seemed like no particular reason. I don’t normally think of gulls as being beautiful, but something about the symphony of their song and the choreography of their flight allowed them to take on a dimension I had never seen.

Along the final waterside mile lay many footbridges. We passed a few folks fishing yet not catching, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves regardless. Joy was nearly eaten by one of the rogue woman-eating-trees that the park is rumored for, and Sara, frustrated at the lack of horseys onsite, decided that mounting the bridge was close enough. (I think she wanted me to Photoshop the horsey in later.)

After the Fall Mountain Trail we headed to the 2.0-mile strenuously rated Hattaway Mountain Trail. Although we didn’t get the opportunity to hike the other strenuous trail (Sugarloaf Mountain), between my online research and our onsite observations, the ratings at Morrow are quite high for the actual challenge of the trails. I would recommend ankle high boots on most of the trails due to the high amount of loose melon-sized rocks in the trailways, but I would by no means rate any of these trails as more than moderate at best. My only real criticism of the park.

So, the bottom line for my Charlotte folks is that you need to head east once in a while! With over 15 miles of beautiful trails, it’s worth throwing a few pounds in the pack and creating a strong workout easily rivaling anything you can find at Crowder’s!

See you out there!