Carl Sandburg Home NHS / DuPont State Forest

Visiting Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site | Hiking in DuPont State Recreational Forest | Caesar’s Head State Park, South Carolina | January 2023

Our first morning in Asheville was a rainy one, so we slept in, took it easy, and went out to get groceries for the week. After that, we combined our lists of things we wanted to do while there, and grouped them together by proximity. Since the rain was supposed to let up in the afternoon, we decided to pick one of the easier day trips for the afternoon. This lead us South of Hendersonville, to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. It turned out to be a good thing that we decided to do this today because right now the visitor center is only open on weekends!

When we arrived, we parked in the first lot and prepared ourselves for a wet hike. At this point, the rain was just a drizzle, and the trees high above us helped to shield us from the rain. From the parking lot, it was about a half mile hike up to the homestead and visitor center. We followed the trail to the left, avoiding a bridge that was closed, crossed over a stream, saw a small waterfall, and hiked up through the trees to the house. Curtis went in to get our cancellation stamps and learn a little about the site, then we went for a longer walk around the park. Because the clouds were obstructing any view, we decided to skip Big Glassy Mountain and just made a loop up and around Small Glassy Mound.

This historic site preserves the final home of Carl Sandburg, an American poet and author from the 20th century. He is best known for his biography on Lincoln, and for his poetry and prose on ‘the common American man’. President Johnson (LBJ), upon Sandburg’s death, stated “Carl Sandburg was more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius. He was America.”

Sandburg spent most of his formative years in the Midwest (a frequent subject of his poems), and the home itself was not owned by Sandburg and his wife until 1945, but over a third of his works were written here. Upon Sandburg’s death in ’67, his wife arranged for the transfer of the property to the US Government via their familial relationship with the Secretary of the Interior.

Once we were finished there, we continued driving Southwest to DuPont State Recreational Forest. Since the area had just gotten rain and the sky was still overcast, it seemed like the perfect day to hike to some waterfalls. Curtis found a loop trail that was about 3 miles long and would allow us to see two different waterfalls. We parked at the visitor center and set off on the loop going clockwise. The trail started off level and easy leading us through the woods, then as we approached the first waterfall, Triple Falls, it began going downhill. We were honestly very surprised with how big the waterfalls were, having only really seen them in pictures. We took the stairs down which lead us to the base of the middle of Triple Falls, where we had an up-close look at the top 2 waterfalls. After taking some pictures and admiring the raw power of the falls, we walked back up to a pavilion where we had a great view of all 3 falls that make up Triple Falls.

Left: Triple Falls; Right: High Falls

Next, we followed the stream and gradually regained elevation until we came to High Falls. First we walked down to the base of this waterfall, then as the loop trail continued we got another great view of the falls from above. All of the falls were very full, and the cool, cloudy vibes made them all the more beautiful.

Interestingly enough, most of the land, the two waterfalls we saw, and several others on the land, were privately held by the industrial chemical corporation DuPont until the early 2000’s. Then, after a series of land deals, conservationist action, and eventually a gubernatorial executive action, the land was purchased by the State of North Carolina and opened for the public only in the past decade. Some people would probably complain about ‘Government Overreach’, but we’re thankful that this area was preserved for the public and not relegated to yet another mountain top gated community.

Before finishing the loop trail, we went on a short spur trail to see a covered bridge near the top of High Falls. Just the day before we had visited Bunker Hill Covered Bridge West of Statesville which claimed to be one of only two covered bridges in North Carolina, so we laughed about how Curtis had now seen 3 out of 2 of these bridges. We think this one isn’t counted though because it’s newer.

We really enjoyed this hike and thought the waterfalls were both a great reward for the effort. If you’re interested, check out the official AllTrails listing here.

For our last stop on this rainy Sunday, we decided to drive just a little further South to enter South Carolina, if only to claim it for the year, and because we hadn’t been back since moving away in August of 2016. We knew that Caesar’s Head State Park was right across the border, and remembered that the best view was found just steps away from the visitor center, so we decided to just go there. As we drove up to the park, it was foggy and we were doubtful that we would be able to see anything, but when we arrived we were blown away by the view — possibly the best view we have ever had in South Carolina! The clouds filled the valley, but stopped short of the peaks in the distance — Table Rock, Pinnacle Mountain, and Sassafras Mountain, all of which we hiked in 2016. We joked about the last time we were here, how we hiked ten miles on the Dismal Trail in the heat and humidity only to find that anyone could drive to the best view in the park. (I don’t personally enjoy reading my writing from that long ago, but if you’re interested you can read about our time in the park here and see some pictures from the top on a clear day!)

We wrapped up our day by driving back to Asheville and relaxing for the rest of the evening. If we could have this much fun on a rainy day, we were excited to see what the next few nice days might hold!