Rod's Umstead Ruins Hike 2011

Back home, I did my first post-honeymoon hike. I went with Rod for his Umstead Ruins Hike, going around William B. Umstead State Park and seeing old homesteads and other sites and learning about the history of the area. We started at the Reedy Creek parking lot and head down Company Mill Trail to start. Early on, Rod pointed out a rock pile, a sign of an old homestead. Then on to the Company Mill Site. Here Joe, who was a child during the 1930s and lived in the area that is now the park, joined us to tell first-hand stories about the park's past.

We continued on off-trail to Camp Craggy, built in the 1920s and saw the old pond where people once swam, as well as the remains of the mess hall and council ring.

We continued on and saw the old homesteads of several of the area's previous residents and headed up Graylyn Trail to the King Cemetery.

We went back down the trail and had lunch at the Sycamore Creek Bridge. On the way back, we stopped to see a few more old homesteads and an old well.

We took Reedy Creek Lake Trail most of the way back, but cut onto Loblolly Trail for one last cemetery then back to the parking lot.

Here's a track of the route.