Kings Mountain State Park, South Carolina

Thank goodness it's camping season again!  After being stuck in the house for the past three months, working, helping the kids with their school work,  non-stop cleaning and wearing masks to the grocery store, I needed a break!! We booked Kings Mountain State park in South Carolina for a quick, peaceful trip, and that it was.  

Kings Mountain sits in the beautiful Piedmont region of South Carolina.  It is located 40 miles southwest of Charlotte in York County, and is a great campground if you want peace and quiet.

Like most state parks, there is only 30 amp hook-up, which usually isn't a problem if you don't need to run two air conditioners.  All sites are packed gravel, with no concrete pads available.  They do not have full hook-ups, but sites include water and electric with two dump stations on your way out.  The campground has several bathhouses, all of which seemed to be kept clean.  The sign on the door read only 3 people in at a time, but typically I was the only one in the one closest to our site.  

Kings Mountain Campground has: 115 standard sites for RV's and tents

10 tent only sites

15 equestrian campsites

30 miles of equestrian trails 

20+ miles of hiking trails

There is a little pond for fishing, but if you ask my kids, there weren't any fish in it because they didn't catch anything.  Be sure to bring your bug spray if you decide to fish as there are a lot of mosquitoes!  

Located near the campground is Kings Mountain National Military Park, a Revolutionary War battle site.  Throughout the year you may be able to see reenactments.  The trail throughout the park is paved, and you can complete a self guided tour with highlights of battle events throughout.

When we went, the hiking trails were closed due to debris from a storm.  This didn't keep us from hiking.  Crowders Mountain is a short drive from the campground with great hiking and breathtaking views.  After downloading the All Trails app, and researching our options, we decided to attempt the Rocktop trail.  This trail was 6 miles and three hours long.  

There were some steep spots, and rocky terrain, but when you get to the overlook at the summit, it was completely worth it!!  Be sure to bring plenty of water.  I saw several people without any and they were sitting down complaining of cramping of legs and very dehydrated.  

If you enjoy camping, and are ready for a trip outside of your house, this is a great place to go.  You will be able to sit back, relax and simply enjoy nature.  

Watkins Glen State Park

Sorry about not posting last week, but I spent an amazing week with my family, best friend, and her family exploring Watkins Glen, New York.  If you've never been, you have to go at least once!  There was so much to do, not only for the adults, but for the kiddos too!  I'm going to write about our camping fun later in the week, but today, it's all about Watkins Glen State Park.

If you are into hiking, walking, fitness or just beauty in nature in general, this place is amazing!  I could make this a very image heavy post, but I'm just going to show you a few, because it was stunning, and the pictures really don't do it justice.

If you've never heard of Watkins Glen, NY, it is located here:

There is tons to do, not only in Watkins Glen, but in neighboring cities like Corning

The great thing about the State Park is people of all different ages can walk it's many trails.  You can start at different locations and choose the difficulty you want.  We started at the bottom and worked our way to the top.  Once at the top, you can walk down a path with no stairs, walk back the way you came, or check out the snack bar at the top and ride an air-conditioned van back to the bottom parking lot.  

The falls were breathtaking!  There were so many of them, and each one was different.  You could see the way the water wore away the rock to form pure beauty in nature.

There were several falls you walked behind, so be prepared to get a little wet.  

We went the day after some rain, so there were several puddles that we carefully walked around.  I wore a pair of new sneakers and they only got a little dirty.  Sneakers or hiking shoes would be your best bet.  We climbed 832 stairs, so wear comfy shoes and depending on the weather, layer your clothes.  It was cool to begin with, but got warm with the walking quickly!

One of the many views from above.

I would highly recommend visiting this beautiful state park! My best friend that grew up in Corning, had never been until we went together, and said she'd be going back! Isn't it funny, each of us has beautiful spots close to us, but don't go to see them?  I am going to start taking the kids on more adventures right around us on those weekends we have nothing to do, so that I can say, we haven't left Ohio unexplored. 

If you have any beautiful spots that you would highly recommend, please leave them in a comment or share on twitter!  

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

E.E. Cummings