Here’s a cool wildflower I saw growing near the falls. It’s not much more than a trickle at this point, but a long exposure does cool things. You can climb (or stumble, in my case) up behind this waterfall and get neet shots of it this way. I’ll get to that pic in awhile but wanted to show this one first. Next stop: WIndow Falls - so named because there’s hole in a rock wall you can climb through to see a waterfall beyond. I did see some interesting plant species someday I’ll get ambitious and try to figure out what they are. Not super impressive, photographywise, but a pretty setting nevertheless. I just had to remind myself that kids raising hell in the woods is about 10 times preferable to them becoming video-fed diabetics. I had no trouble knowing I was getting close - the shrieks of about two dozen Cub Scouts made it clear I was near the main attraction. Next up: two waterfalls along the Indian Creek Trail. So, if you’re in the neighborhood, add the Rock Garden to your itinerary.
HIDDEN FALLS HANGING ROCK FULL
This area is full of great rock formations the flat areas atop these rocks are worn smooth by generations of kids clambering all over them. Yesterday a thought entered my brain: “hey, moron, maybe it’s a natural feature they’ve dubbed Rock Garden.” There’s a sign near the trail to Upper Cascade that points to the “Rock Garden.” I passed it a couple times wondering why anybody would a) build a rock garden here or b) want to go look at a rock garden somebody had built here. The last couple weeks of September might be the best times to go. Speaking of which: when the reds and yellows pop in October, fresh throngs return to the state parks in these parts. I managed to remain ambulatory, but only by luck).Ĭaught some emerging fall colors nearby. It’s a very pretty scene but difficult to shoot (and difficult to avoid falling on your fanny among all the slippery rocks. There was a wedding about 10 feet from this waterfall a couple weeks ago. I was tempted to just hang around here and let myself be awed all day, but I had other places to go. Here’s a little cascade flowing from the pool below the main fall.
Picturesque as this scene may be, it does not do justice to the beauty of this site: to the left is a massive concave cliff wall looming over the falls and pool below. and there were already a couple photographers there who had the same idea (they had real cameras with long lenses and tripods and everything. Here’s the Lower Cascade, the prettiest in the park. Even on a slow Saturday, you’re going to have to share.
If you’re a hiker hoping to get away from humanity, however, you’re going to be disappointed. All are within a half-mile of the nearest parking lot, which is nice if you’re coming just to gape at the sight and sound of water falling off cliffs. Hanging Rock has four major waterfalls: the Upper and Lower Cascades, Hidden Falls and Window Falls. The fog, alas, burned off as I drove northwest from Winston-Salem, thwarting my thoughts of getting all Blair-Witchy, but the overcast skies persisted, yielding near-ideal conditions for waterfall photography (ideal conditions would be having the proper equipment and skill required to attempt such shots hey, you try to be an idealist after 20 years in the news biz - I dare you). Sunny skies make it almost impossible to get that cool blurring of the waters, because lowering the shutter speed to create the blur lets in far too much light and overexposes the image. I woke up yesterday to fog and overcast skies and knew immediately: perfect weather for taking pictures of waterfalls. Nice gift from the good folks of North Carolina.
HIDDEN FALLS HANGING ROCK HOW TO
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