40 Acre Rock Heritage Preserve

Excellent exploring and hiking. Water, rock, and cave features. Choose your own adventure style hiking options. No facilities. No camping.

Fantastic place to do a bit of hiking. This is a very interesting area of exposed granite. At the top of the rock are large shallow pools filled with endangered mosses. There are a couple of small waterfalls and it is well worth checking out.

40 Acre Rock is a great place to explore. With the unique geology and the variety of plant life in the park, you will have plenty of scenery to enjoy. Be sure to bring plenty of water if you visit on a hot day.

40 Acre Rock Heritage Preserve is very nice. It is an easy hike to the large rock but it can be difficult from there. The terrain is steep heading down to the waterfall. There is no trail map at the trailhead. The blazes are getting old. It took us two visits to find the waterfall. We still didn’t get to the pond. Definitely a pretty place.

Unexpectedly amazing! An astonishing natural geological wonder nestled away in the woods of Upstate South Carolina. A lovely hike encompassing streams, waterfalls, and marshes in addition to the spectacular granite remains from a volcanic era. We learned that the lovely red vegetation is Snorkelwort, or Pool Sprite, and can only be found here. Truly remarkable hike.

Note: Trail is not a loop any longer. It appears the beavers have built a dam increasing the one side of the pond which has wiped out a section of the lower trail. Not too difficult to retrace walk back to either parking lot. I’d say this is a moderately difficult hike in some areas due to some steep and technical sections. The stream-side path back to the rock formation is less difficult than following the white blazers.

This trail is a must do for any nature or history enthusiasts. We did run into (literally) a small Copperhead snake who was nesting beneath one of the rock formation’s jagged outcroppings. Socks recommended!