Jones Gap State Park (SC33 – Marietta)

This park holds a special place in my heart. Of the Upstate parks, this isn’t one I grew up going to (Table Rock takes that honor); however, this is one that I became familiar with around college and soon thereafter, especially once I started geocaching.

To get to Jones Gap, you take Highway 11 (which, as I commented while I was driving on it, any time you’re on Highway 11, it’s a good day). Then, when you get to the F-Mart, take that all the way up. But before you get to Jones Gap, you have to pass by one of my all-time favorite places: River Falls Lodge, which is where I cut my contra dancing teeth. It’s not something I do often at all (read: I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve contra danced in the past decade, and that is a crying shame).

Jones Gap is a park for hikers. And since our family isn’t quite old enough to go on any lengthy hikes, we did things a bit differently today. We left Columbia and met our friends the Griners at their new house up outside of Greenville. Then, Josh and I went up to hike while Tiffany and Christen stayed back with the kids, meeting us up at the park later.

Josh and I hiked the Rainbow Falls trail. It was a perfect day for a hike. Rain had just moved through, so the sky was so blue, and the weather just topped out in the 60s. The trees were just beginning the early stages of budding out.

There are worse things you could look at.

The hike itself ascends about 1200 feet in just over two miles. You first walk along the Middle Saluda River (which Teagan was intrigued to know eventually flows down into the Congaree). The cascades over the rounded boulders are a sight to see. Then, as you get closer to the top, you start seeing bigger rock faces until you finally reach the end of the trail.

The waterfall itself is about a 100-foot free-falling cascade from an overhang. The falls looks different than other falls I’ve seen in South Carolina, as most other falls are not free-falling and instead have the water sliding down a slanted rock face. These falls also have a huge rock face behind it and on either side, giving it a great backdrop.

Josh and I enjoyed our lunch there at the bottom, and then made our way back down. At the bottom, our wives and kids awaited us. They had been spending time climbing the big boulders at the bottom. We stamped our books, and while we were in the office/gift shop, the rangers gave our kids some fish food.

Fun fact: Jones Gap originally was home to the Cleveland State Fish Hatchery, SC’s first public fish hatchery. There still are remnants of some of the old ponds. One of the ponds still gets stocked with trout, and the kids had fun giving them something to eat.