National Trails Day at Pilot Mountain

Yesterday, for National Trails Day, we headed to Pilot Mountain for a day hike. There was a charity bike ride at the park and so a lot of traffic and parking delays at the summit, so we hiked up along the Mountain Trail. We parked at the southern end of the Mountain Section of the park at the Corridor Trail parking lot and started our hike. The trail starts at the southern part of Pilot Mountain and makes it way up the mountain going in a clockwise direction. Although the trail is mostly a gradual slope up with a few ups and downs, at points it can be tricky to follow, so paying attention for the red blazes is important. Continuing up, we stopped at a few spots near some interesting rock formations as we got closer to the top and then met up with the Ledge Spring Trail. This last portion of the Mountain Trail here was definitely the steepest.

Turning right onto Ledge Spring Trail, we followed this trail along the cliffs as rock climbers were ascending and descending. When we reached Jomeokee Trail and turned left to do the loop around the Big Pinnacle.

Finding a nice spot under the rocks, we stopped for lunch here and then finished the loop around the pinnacle. We stopped at the Little Pinnacle Overlook for great views of Big Pinnacle from a distance as well as Sauratown Mountain and Hanging Rock further in the distance.

The weather was perfect for National Trails Day and the views were particularly good. Then we began our descent back down along the Grindstone/Ledge Spring Trail. We stopped at the top of one of the cliffs along the trail to enjoy the views of the surrounding countryside and mountains in the distance, then finished up the loop to get back on the Mountain Trail and head back down the mountain.

When we finished, we drove over to the River Section of the park to cool off in the river. We hiked down the short Bean Shoals Canal Trail down to the Yadkin River. It had rained the day before and so the river was deeper and faster than usual, so we decided not to risk getting swept away. On the way home, we stopped for barbeque in Winston-Salem and then headed home after another great day of hiking fun.