Definitely a unique experience! The Stumphaus Tunnel is an unfinished tunnel in Walhalla, SC, ,…read morecut through a portion of Stumphaus Mountain. It was started in 1853 and Irish miners dug using hand drills; however it was never finished due in part to the Civil War. All ages can easily walk the tunnel. There was even a dog in the group ahead of us. It is completely black inside so I suggest visiting with a group and bringing a flashlight. There was nothing scary......just total darkness! It's not super long......walking all the way to the end and back took less than 30 minutes. Admission to the park was $5 for a car of 5 of us and there was free parking right near the entrance. We also walked to the viewing area of Issaqueena Falls which is just a short trek away. Very cool experience overall!

The tunnel is cool, but very short. The trails make up for it and the waterfalls are a great sight…read more No wait time, no reservations recommended, price to entry $1-5. But make sure you have a flashlight with you to go into the tunnels and the waterfalls is so pretty. I recommend this to anyone who want to adventure.

The ranger was full of information. We enjoyed his history of story telling. There is also a clean…read morerestroom near by

The history of this place is very interesting and provides a glimpse into post Colonial life in the…read moreUpcountry. In the late 1700s, this area was truly the wilderness and the two structures provide an interesting look into important historic events and culture. The settlement was originally an encampment and fort to protect against Indian attacks in 1760. The fort provided some protection to the settlers and served as a trading post. The site marks the furthest west point of Colonial settlement in South Carolina. By 1799, the Soldiers left and Cherokee Indians used the blockhouse to store furs and to trade. An 1805 brick house is also on site. The area served as a stagecoach stop throughout the 1800s. The park itself is quite beautiful. You can tour the buildings on Saturday when they open them up, or you can visit them anytime the park is open. There are two trails that lead to the Palmetto Trail. A 1.5 mile hike from the station or a .6 mile hike from the parking area just up the road leads to Falls, a 60 foot waterfall that is easy and kid friendly. It's also quite stunning. There are restrooms and picnic tables at the site. The Ranger is very nice and helpful. There is no fee, but donations are accepted (and I recommend people donate).

Worth the drive to see and walk through the tunnel…read more Read the history, it's really a sad story. They call it the stolen highway

If you didn't know the history of this spot, you might not think it's a big deal but if you do know…read morethe history, it becomes more relevant. Yes, it literally is a road that ends in a very long, dark and wet tunnel. There are also several walking trails nearby. We drove back on the road a little bit and did one of the shorter hikes that leads to a section of the lake. There are other trails that are more strenuous. This is more of an oddity than anything else, but still an interesting place to visit.

I found out about an event going on at The Haywood Mill threw the Meetup app. A group of retirees…read morewere going to "meet up" there. My hubby and I decided to give the event a try...boy, am I glad we did! Wonderful entertainment with banjo's playing, singing and the mill was open! Wow! How cool to see them making grits powered from a water mill! Explored the other structures to. Small tents were set up with artisan's selling their merchandise. Loved the museum where a rock is that was discovered to have Cherokee Indian writings on them. Wow! What a treasure! My hubby and I enjoyed it so much! Would have never known this place existed without the Meetup Group! Can't wait to go back for more events!

Well kept, clean trails with sufficient descriptions of the history and culture behind this local…read moretreasure. Perfect for short walks with toddlers. Come see it but, please donate and keep the place pristine.

Rhonda was our tour guide. So friendly and helpful. The house was very interesting to walk through,…read moreand so much we could actually see up close and personal. We also got to see Mr. Calhoun's office, which is not attached to the house. We enjoyed our time here and didn't feel rushed at all. And it was FREE!

From the owner: Thomas Green Clemson's bequest led to the creation of Clemson University and the establishment of…read moreFort Hill, the antebellum plantation of American politician John C. Calhoun, as an historic house museum first opened to the public in 1893. In accordance with T. G. Clemson's will, Fort Hill dwelling house "shall always be open for the inspection of visitors" with official hours of operation seven days a week, with the exception of University holidays and home football games. Fort Hill interprets the history of all who lived here from the Calhoun and Clemson families to the enslaved African-Americans whose sheer determination, resilience, and resistance are much of our story. Prior to the American Revolution, the land that now makes up Clemson University's campus was part of the Cherokee's Lower Town of Esseneca.

Beautiful example of a southern plantation house. The house and grounds have a rich history. Our…read moretour guide was very knowledgeable and gave interesting details as we went through each room. Pictures are not allowed inside the house. Some families that once lived here donated furniture that was in the house at the time. The pieces of furniture and accents are gorgeous! The design of some of the tables and even some door hinges was ingenious. This is well worth the stop if you're nearby!

First off the Old Iron Bridge is not a business but rather a scenic stop on the Chattooga river…read more The bridge crosses the river between Cashiers and Highlands and is located on a dirt forestry road. It is certainly worth the visit. The original poster here offers a great deal of information about this bridge.

Do you ever see a landmark on Google Maps and wonder what it looks like in person? I do! I actually…read morespend hours when I'm bored traveling the world via Google Earth. It's how I find interesting things to do when I plan to be in a specific area either hiking or on vacation. ~~~ What makes this Old Iron Bridge special is its location over the mighty Chattooga River very early in the rivers journey. My guess is it's about 8 miles from where its headwaters begin @ Cashiers Lake. The Chattooga eventually becomes a much larger, wider and wild river as well as the defining squiggly boundary line between northeast Georgia and western South Carolina. This same river eventually bleeds into Lake Hartwell and soon after becomes the Savannah River, dumping all this fresh water into the Atlantic ocean. So, almost its entire journey defines South Carolina from Georgia, and it all begins very near this Old Iron Bridge. Call me a nerd if you want, but it simply fascinates me that I could possibly drop a note in a bottle from this bridge, and it has the potential of reaching Savannah, Georgia on a long journey 300+ miles away. Of course the bottle would have to survive the Class V crushing rapids + overcome multiple dams on the way to Savannah, but a fun thought nonetheless. Or what if you could drop a gallon of dye into the water that doesn't dissolve and track how long it takes to make it to the Atlantic? As a kid, I always has a fascination of how things work... like how far up does a helium filled party balloon travel and how many miles away will it be found? Coordinates: 35°00'57.5"N 83°07'34.8"W ~~~ [ WATERFALLS ] The most interesting highlight of this bridge is the waterfall below it! It's not a huge one (more of a large rapid in high water), but a thunderous spot in the river nonetheless as the southbound river takes a sharp turn east just past the bridge! I didn't know it until after I got home, but there was a spot on the other side of the river where I could have gotten a great pic of the falls, like this pic I found on pinterest: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/31/f6/fa/31f6fa1c47cfb5c0b57bc8417bea56aa.jpg My photos are from the opposite side of the bridge, which by the way, has a trail and a small parking area good for two cars. The trail leads down to the river and in a rainy period, you may also spot a LARGE 100'+ waterfall in the distance coming off the Chattooga Cliff on Bullpen Mountain. I only took the trail a short way to get a better pic of the distant waterfall, but it seems to follow the river north. ~~~ [ HISTORY ] Style: Pony truss bridge Status: Open to traffic Built: 1934 Length of largest span: 79.7 ft. Total length: 81.7 ft. Deck width: 11.8 ft. Also called Chattooga River Bridge Bull Pen Bridge Ammons Branch Bridge ~~~ [ FINAL THOUGHTS ] If you are a fan of bridges, this is a great one to add to your photo collection. Bull Pen Road is a nice wooded drive from Burrell's Ford Campground to Highlands, North Carolina. IF you are a fan of waterfalls, Kings Creek Fall and Spoonauger Falls are near the campground, and Secret Falls, Dry Falls as well as a high concentration of other named waterfalls are all near the Highlands! Enjoy 2020 / 8

No "shadows of a bear" for me, I passed through Highlands in order to see this famed covered…read morebridge. There really aren't many of them left in the US and very few remain in North Carolina! The bridge is the entrance to the Bascom Center, a six-acre campus of indoor and outdoor artworks. It was named for artist Will Henry Stevens (1881-1949) who lived and painted and taught here in Highlands. The bridge dates back about 200 years when it was originally build in New Hampshire over the Warner River. Disassembled rather than destroyed, it was put into storage in 1966. And then purchased and moved here to Highlands forty years later. Now it's been recreated as an Ithiel Town lattice using traditional techniques and materials including 1100 tree-nails, towels and trunnels with no metal fasteners! Unfortunately, when I arrived it was closed for reconstruction and repair. Blocked off on both sides and surrounded by piles of rough-hewn beams and planks. I'll need to come back when it's all fixed up. [Review 20018 overall - 3458 in North Carolina - 993 of 2023.]

I came to Highlands, NC in search of a bear, or more accurately the "shadow of a bear". A natural…read morephenomenon that happens from mid-October through early November when the setting sun casts a shadow onto the valley below Whiteside Mountain. The shadow takes on the appearance of a bear and I simply could not not miss this one-of-a kind opportunity. The shadow begins at 5:30 p.m. I arrived in town super early (around 1pm) so I decided to do a little exploring. There was a waterfall here I wanted to visit, but I discovered The Bascom Visual Arts Center and decided to make that my first stop. To know me is to know I have a profoundly deep love for old structures, particularly covered bridges. So to discover a covered bridge I was not aware of (that was also historic) in a gorgeous mountain setting was almost orgasmic... and I mean that literally. When I get super excited about something, it makes me wanna go poop! TMI right?, but it's true. There is no greater laxative for me than showing me a picture of someplace gorgeous that I've never been. It's why I keep travel magazines in a woven basket in our bathroom. The excitement for new adventures twists my stomach into knots. So, actually realizing I'm live on location of a place I would have seen in the pages of a magazine brings on a different excitement! LOL --- THE BRIDGE You simply can't get more picturesque than Will Henry Stevens Covered Bridge. A little research revealed this bridge was once considered the oldest covered bridge in New Hampshire. It was named Bagley Covered Bridge and it crossed the Warner River, until it was considered a hazard from its aging condition. The bridge was scheduled to be destroy until Milton & Arnold Graton, lovers of historic bridges, purchased it in 1966 and placed it in storage for the next 42 years. The bridge was built in approximately 1807 out of old growth pine. It is around 14 feet wide and almost 88 feet long. In February of 2008 it was gifted to the Bascom Art Center as a perfect entrance to their facility and reconstruction completed in 2009. This bridge looks like a totally new structure, but in fact is now over 200 years old. The design is Town lattice and uses over 1,100 wooden fasteners in keeping with the original 1800's bridge building traditions. I'm guessing the flares at the bottom were not original to the bridge, but are characteristic of Carolina-style covered bridges. SIDE NOTE: Famous people said to have once crossed this bridge are General Lafayette, President Theodore Roosevelt & President Franklin Pierce. --- FINAL THOUGHTS I am in awe of the dedication to conservation that led this bridge from New Hampshire to the Mountains of North Carolina. What love and genuine concern for the preservation of such an important artifact from a dying era! It truly brings a mist to my eyes to know that someone loved this bridge so much that they saved it, carefully dismantled it, stored it, nurtured it for 4 decades, and rebuilt it once they found it the perfect home. In Georgia, there were once over 600 covered bridges, but only 15 historic ones remain. Most met their end by arson or neglect. So I am very proud to see one of these beauties survived by being blanketed with a great deal of love. I wish we all honored such important structures & relationships in our lives and were less quick to deem things that were once important as antiquated and useless. I read an article about the father and son who saved the bridge, the Grafton's. It highlighted a quote which stated: "To me, to write-off the remaining usefulness of so faithful an old bridge... is like sentencing [someone] without hearing [their] witness. Should not this old bridge have a chance to be heard even through an interpreter?" AMEN 2016/119

Amazing to watch the shadow come around and morph into a bear! If you are in the area in mid-late…read moreOctober, make sure you check this out! Bear comes around 5:30 pm but definitely get there early as there is limited parking.

Are you looking for something to do this fall? Have you ever heard of the "Shadow of the Bear" in…read moreNorth Carolina? This was highlighted in "Our State" magazine, I think last year but I could have saved the article from the year before, but this was one of those items on my "local" bucket list to see. I love the Shadow of the Bear in Cashiers! The "Shadow of the Bear" is visible for 30 minutes daily (on sunny days!) between 5:30-6:15 PM from mid-October through early November as the sun sets behind Whiteside Mountain between Sapphire Valley and Highlands, North Carolina. It's best seen on clear days around 5:30 p.m., with the show lasting for about a half-hour. The photos below are from 2022; I'm pretty sure we'll visit again this year. PS I agree with Ginger L. that the camaraderie with all the people standing on the side of the road to watch is an experience in itself. A note of caution, to view the bear, you park your car on the side of a road hugging the edge of a mountain and people crossing the road that has a curve around the mountain so use caution while driving through the area and walking along the road!!!! But its all worth the view!!!

Its a long hot hike in the summer, but when you finally make it to the falls, the water is cold!…read more The climbing rope is not very safe, I slipped due to so many people being there and the rock being so slippery and had massive bruises on my knees for weeks. A little overcrowded in the summer.

Turtleback Falls was always so much fun. Everything in this area is spectacular. It is a giant…read morefalls shaped like a turtle's back and you can slide off of it! The rock surface is so smooth and when you slide off the turtle's back you fall 10-15 feet into freezing cold water. There is a hole on turtle back that you can slide into and lean your head back to find an air pocket. You can also swim behind the waterfall and just chill. On the opposite side of the catch pool (natural), you find a giant rock that you can jump off of. I'd say it's roughly 15-20 feet so you may want to wear shoes to assuage the impact on your feet.