It was Labor Day this Monday in the United States, which meant a long weekend. Since the weather usually begins to cool off in the month of September here in the Southern US, it's only natural to begin to spend more time outdoors.

My wife and I enjoy hiking. Thankfully, the area in which we live allows us to take advantage of many great hiking spots with some spectacular views, so I wanted to share some photos from our weekend hike to the top of Stone Mountain in North Carolina.

Stone Mountain Park and the Hike

Stone Mountain State Park spans over 14,000 acres at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwest North Carolina. There are a variety of activities the park offers, such as fishing, camping, and 18 miles of hiking trails. But the crown jewel of the park is Stone Mountain itself. Stretching 600 feet (183 m) above the surrounding landscape, the gigantic granite rock is a sight to behold.

There are two ways you can go up the mountain. One way is very steep, but a shorter distance. The other way is a longer distance, but not nearly as steep. Both ways are a fairly strenuous hike, though, so it's not for the faint of heart. When we went on Monday, part of the trail was closed due to an accident during a controlled burn which consumed some of the stairs on the steep side. We weren't sure whether we could still make it up that way, so we decided to take the long way up and down. The normal loop of the trail is 4.1 miles total, but starting from the lower parking lot, going up the long side and then coming back down the long side ended up being over 7 miles. Whew.

Along the way, you can see the Hutchison Homestead, which lets you get an idea of the lives of early settlers. According to the park's official website,

The homestead is complete with a log cabin, barn, blacksmith shop, corncrib, meat house and original furnishings. Visitors can play recordings that explain how different aspects of the farm were run. The farm was built in the mid-19th century. Restored in 1998, the homestead is representative of the lives of early settlers in the area.

The hike also goes by Stone Mountain Falls, a very neat waterfall where a small creek spills over the side of the rock face.

Note: This photo is from a visit to the park in 2013. I didn't get a chance to snap any pictures of the waterfall on Monday.

The Views

On the way up the mountain, you get to a point where you can see the main mass of rock up ahead (see the first picture of this post). When you reach this point, you're standing on solid rock, which is fascinating, but this is also where my favorite part of the hike begins. As you hike further up, you begin to see some incredible views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On a clear day, they can be absolutely breathtaking. Here's a view from a point on the way up to the top (click on the image for the full resolution):

The best views are definitely at the summit. At 2300 feet above sea level, the highest point on Stone Mountain allows for even more spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This isn't the first time I've hiked Stone Mountain, but I've been fortunate enough to hike it on days when the air is clear, and the visibility is very high. Monday was no different. Here's what the view from the summit looks like, as well as an image of my wife and me standing at the summit. (click the images for full resolution):

Walking across the summit is a neat experience. The mountain gently slopes off, so you can walk a good distance down from the very top. There are signs that provide warnings about the "point of no return," because there is a certain point where it looks like you can keep going, but in reality the slope will become too great, which immediately becomes dangerous. There's plenty of room at the summit for a picnic, or even to set up a hammock if you enjoy that.

Plan Your Visit!

It was fairly busy along the trails. Labor Day weekend is a very popular weekend for camping at Stone Mountain, so the parking lots and campgrounds were full. There were quite a few people up at the summit, and we saw many people at the waterfall. Stone Mountain is a very popular hiking and camping destination in North Carolina. It's always great to see people out enjoying the outdoors and taking advantage of the parks that our tax dollars pay for. Stone Mountain Park is a great place to spend time with family, so if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend planning a visit. You can visit the park's official website by clicking here.

I have to admit, I'm still a little sore from the hike. It was definitely a good workout, so if you like to hike for exercise or trail run, you would enjoy checking out Stone Mountain as well. The trails are in very good shape. You are also allowed to scale the side of the mountain. I have seen climbers there before, and there's a section of the park's website dedicated to rock climbing. Also, if you're interested, there's a small country store just outside the park entrance that has delicious ice cream, which makes a nice post-hike snack.

Stone Mountain will always be one of my favorite hikes. It's also beautiful in the fall once the leaves start to change. Imagine some of these views with bright orange, yellows, and reds spotted across them. I've been on several more recently, so if you've enjoyed this post, I'd love to hear about some of your favorite hiking spots. I'll be posting about other hikes in the future, so stay tuned. More spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains are to come! Speaking of which, I'll leave you with one last shot from near the summit of Stone Mountain:

All of these images (except the image of the waterfall) were captured using my Google Pixel. The panorama shots were stitched via the automatic assistant feature of the Google Photos app.

!steemitworldmap 36.393507 lat -81.044015 long Hiking to the Top of a 600-Foot Rock: My Labor Day at Stone Mountain D3SCR