First Glimpse of New Sassafras Mountain Observation Platform -- and a Bit of a Harangue

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If you have been following this blog for a while, you probably have seen that I have been to Sassafras Mountain -- the highest point in South Carolina -- quite often.  That is because it is not far from home -- about 28 miles, and because it has a few challenging curves in the roads leading to the top.  Interestingly, most of those curves are down on US-178 between Pickens and Rocky Bottom, not near the summit of the mountain.  Once you get to Rocky Bottom, turn right onto F. vanClayton Road, just past the entrance to the Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center of The Blind.  Watch for one unmarked left hand hairpin on F. vanClayton. 

Here is the route from Easley, where I live, to the summit of Sassafras Mountain:

Click here for interactive map.

It is a nice place to ride to and a nice place to see the world from, being the highest point around. 

I have kept up to date on the features of the mountain top over my ten or so years of riding.  At first, there was nothing at the top but a gravel parking lot.  There was no place to see into the distance whatsoever. I'll admit, that was a bit disappointing.  The road was potholed and rough, too.  There weren't many people who visited there as a result. 

A rustic platform was built and some trees cleared about eight years ago to give a nice view to the south and southeast.  Mountains and lakes were made nicely visible, and the platform was sturdy and unobtrusive, made, in part, of forest materials. That view from the platform made the trip to the top well worthwhile.  In fact, the place was ideal: remote feeling yet nearby, and quite beautiful.  The Palmetto Trail passes over the summit of the mountain on its way to the seashore, so you can walk a little ways -- or much further -- if you are so inclined. 

Beginning of Harangue

Then Clemson University graduate students in architecture and landscape architecture apparently decided that they should design and build a new platform, so they demolished the nice rustic one, and built a monstrosity out of mild steel and wood, poorly supported and rickety.  The steel parts are a mass of rust and have become bent by people standing on them.  The students did not properly take into account the abuse from people and weather that public structures receive.  I would certainly not want my life to be dependent on a structure they designed.  After I wrote to them about the poor structural integrity, they reinforced it with some steel cables, but the cables are installed improperly and did not correct the wobble problem.  Dan Harding, Clemson associate professor of architecture, spent our tax dollars for this thing and says that the platform "employ[s] best practices associated with sustainable construction and resource management."  From the looks of it now, it may be a pile of rusted wreckage soon.

Here is a picture of the end of the platform with the beautiful view beyond.

Fortunately, a bit later, the top of the mountain was cleared of scrubby trees so the visitor to the top has a 360 degree view from there. 

They also repaved the road to the top so it is nice and smooth.  That should have been where they stopped.  

Nevertheless, the "improvers" soldiered onward and decided to erect an observation platform at the top and some pit toilets at the parking area.  The contractor, Lazer Construction of Anderson, started in November of 2017 and isn't finished with the $1.1 million project yet.  It was supposed to be finished by May 2018, so it is coming up on a year late -- and a year without having full enjoyment of this special place. 

So efficient. 

End of Harangue (mostly)

Here is a photograph of the structure during construction.

There was a superintendent stationed at the construction site, so you could get fined by the Game Warden if you ventured up there.  (I didn't chance it.  That is someone else's pic above.) 

Here are some other pictures of the ramp leading to the new platform:

The original gravel parking lot is to the left.

The gate at the bottom was open and no one seemed to mind, so I rode up about half way to the platform from the gravel lot.  There is a nice concrete ramp and neatly-graded gravel elsewhere.  It looks as though the view will be nice from the top. 

There is a new gravel trail from the parking lot to the top as well.  It is a way to get there on foot without using the concrete ramp and without bushwhacking through the woods.

They put in a large new directional sign, too, down in the gravel lot.  The old one was a target for guys with shotguns and for large trucks turning.

The sign directs hikers to Table Rock State Park, Caesars Head State Park (more about that in a minute), and Chimney Top Gap.  I see they put a big rock between the sign and the road now to help protect it from errant vehicles. 

I wonder if they are going to do anything to prevent vandalism and traffic tie ups now that they are taking away our quiet place of respite and replacing it with more of a tourist attraction. Vandals may find this dark place to be ideal for their graffiti, and for using alcohol and drugs.  Some will use it as a place for their assignations, I suppose. 

...and the improvers won't be satisfied, even when the present construction is complete.  Phase two of the Sassafras project, which will require additional funding, is scheduled to include a picnic area, accessory trails, informational kiosks, and improvements to the old parking lot.

Well, I think I'll just have to enjoy it until they further "improve" it.  Then, we'll see. 

Anyway, I went back down the mountain to Glady Fork Road and turned right.  This road meanders to the north, in places along a river.  If you keep your eyes peeled there are some small waterfalls along the right side of the road.  There are no guardrails and the road surface is quite rough, but the ride is good enough to recommend.  At the end of Glady Fork, I turn sharply right onto East Fork Road.

After a few miles, don't miss the interesting vehicles and animals poised in a yard on the left side of the road.  And Big Hill looms ahead and requires you to negotiate a couple of tight curves as you go up.  Fun, and usually free of loose gravel.  Watch for drivers coming down the hill on the wrong side, however.

I follow east Fork to Greenville Highway, US-276, and turn right.  There are some rather straight sections through here and a few nice sweepers.  Dupont Forest (watch for the sign) is to the left as is Green River Road, a partly gravel route I have taken before.

Near the summit, lies Caesars Head State Park.  I pull in for a little rest and a quick look over the Blue Ridge Escarpment -- a drop of about 1000 feet here.

Once I have seen it all (!?), I continue to the south, down quite a few tight turns, until I get to SC-11.  From there it is a quick ride home over gently curving roads. 

Here is a map of the entire ride today, only about 75 miles:  

Click here for an interactive map.

Well, to recap today, I learned about the new Sassafras construction, and got to see the world from two high places.

Despite my harangue about the work on Sassafras, it was a good day to be out.
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Speaking of Waterfalls, This is My Favorite (+ Links to Others)

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In the previous post, I spoke of the fact that the recent frequent rains here in the Upstate of South Carolina had made the many waterfalls very full.

One of those I cited was Twin Falls, also known as Eastatoe Falls.  It is easy to get to and is quite pretty.  If you have it in you, you can also hike to the top of the falls for a look see from there, though there were lots of fallen trees the last time I tried to get there a couple of months ago.

Since I had a bright, clear day earlier this week, and the temperature was to max out at a balmy 50ºF, I took advantage of it to ride to one of my favorite places.  A little chilly, but I layered up and set out. 

Why is it a favorite?  Here's why:

• First off, it is a place with very nice scenery.  There are two tall waterfalls, large lakes, and generally things that are pleasant to look at. 
• Second, it is reached from home by two of three roads that are full of sweepers.  For me, the sweepers are enough of a challenge that they are exciting, but, in reality, they are actually rather mild for the aggressive rider.  I have been passed by other bikers like I'm standing still on this road on occasion. The speed limit, however, is 45 mph. 
• Third, it is relatively close to home -- a little over 40 miles.  A quick trip gets me there. 

Where is this paradise, you ask?

It is none other than Whitewater Falls. The falls is actually two falls, each visible from slightly different places.  Upper Whitewater Falls in just into North Carolina, and Lower Whitewater Falls is just south of that in South Carolina. 

Here is the map to the falls from the town of Easley.

The route is as on this interactive map

One of the better parts is US-178 between Pickens and SC-11.  That road extends from the lower right corner of the map and leads toward the northwest.  It has plenty of sweepers, is usually clean, and mostly not much traffic.  If you are a twistie junkie, then US-178 north of SC-11 is just the ticket.  It has many twists and turns on its way to Rosman North Carolina, then continues to the Blue Ridge Parkway and beyond on NC-215, if you like.  I am not going north of SC-11 today though.  
It is such a beautiful day, that I am enjoying the scenery and the road greatly.  I have sealed up any drafts around my neck with a balaclava and a neck warmer over that, so I am cozy and warm.  Too soon, I get to SC-11, and make the left turn there.  This is an almost straight section of road, where it is easy to exceed the 55 mph speed limit.  You do that at your peril, however, because the speed limit is enforced quite frequently by LEOs in cars and on bikes.  Along the way, you pass Keowee-Toxaway State Park where you can take a break, and Long Shoals Wayside Park is a little park that is a good place to stretch your legs. 

I turn right onto SC-130 and go about ten miles to the Whitewater Falls parking lot entrance, just beyond the North Carolina state line.  The curves are just right on 130, and I amble along enjoying every one.  The sky is beautiful -- partly cloudy, today.

About half the length of the road has recently been repaved, so it is nice and smooth.

I motor into the Whitewater Falls parking area, and shut down.  A man walking by asks how to get to the falls from here.  I explain that it is just a 1/2 mile walk up a paved path to an observation area, then, optionally, 154 steps down to a lower viewing platform if he had any energy left.  Just as I was turning back to my bike to secure my helmet to it, another family stopped in their car and asked where the falls was.  I told them the story as well.  It turns out that the mother of the family is originally from Pickens (a town I go through to get here) and was showing her family of five the falls she remembers from her youth. 

I secure my bike, set the alarm, and head off for the falls.

I can hear the roar of the falls well before I reach the overlook.  I am distracted from the path by this little dribble of a falls that is usually not present, but with the heavy rains is running freely.

I spend a minute or two enjoying this little one before I move along to the big one.

Here is what the falls usually look like, this photo was taken in July of 2008: 

When I get to the viewing area, I am not disappointed.

The falls is as full as I have ever seen it.  The width is about four or six times usual.

I stand and gaze.  What a piece of God's creation this is.  He has created this beauty for us to enjoy.  And enjoy it I am, on this beautiful day.  Here is a brochure for the upper falls. 

Listen for yourself:

Remember that this waterfall is about 400 feet high, so you can imagine how far away it is from the viewing platform. In fact, I can't even get its full height into my picture. 

I don't take the stairway to the lower viewing platform today, but I have nevertheless seen the best of the falls.

On my way back down the path, a take a picture of Lake Jocassee in the distance.

There is an overlook on the Wigington Byway just off SC-130 a little south of here that shows off this lake and the others south of it very nicely.

I put on my gear and head back out to the main road.  Just a short distance to the south, I turn left into the Bad Creek access road.  This leads to the Bad Creek Pumped Storage facility and to a housing development beyond it.  It also leads to a nice overlook for a view of Lower Whitewater Falls and Lake Jocassee.   The entrance to the road has a small Duke Power building and a high chain link fence, but you are allowed to enter.

The route from Whitewater Falls to the overlook on Lake Jocassee is as shown below.

The route is on this interactive map.

The Duke Power road is covered in tar snakes that are slippery when wet or very hot.  After a couple of miles of winding 'round the countryside, I turn slightly left into the overlook parking area.  Don't go blasting past that overlook, as there is a gate that is just around the curve to the left.

Here is a panorama of pictures from the overlook (almost all with my glove part way over the lens):

What's that off to the right?

 

That first panorama picture above shows Lower Whitewater Falls in the center distance.  The best view is from a boat, but if you go back up the Duke Power road and turn to the right on one opf the roads, that takes you to the trailhead for Lower Whitewater Falls.  It is a nice walk of two miles through the woods.  There is wreckage of a light plane that crashed in 1972 visible when the leaves are off the trees to the left of the falls.

This is a closer up view of the lower falls.

This is a view of part of the lower falls from the lake:

From: The Waterfalls of Oconee County, South Carolina

Oh, I forgot, here is better picture of my glove than the pictures above:

(I am sure you couldn't have gone on without seeing that.) 

As I prepare to leave the parking area, I check my GoPro to be sure it is working properly.

It is, as evidenced by it taking my picture as I tinkered with it.  And do you see my pretty MSF safety vest?  I wear it more lately because of fickle, inattentive drivers.

So how many times have I gone to Whitewater Fall either as a destination or as a stop on a longer ride?  I figure about 76 times out of 788 trips I have made since I bought the bike.  That's about 10%.  Me thinks I like to go there! 

Here are some of the other blog postings for rides that include Whitewater Falls:

• Dual Sporting Again
• Sweepers Galore 
• Same Route, Different Scenery 
• The Parkway, Some Knobs and Rocks, and a New Twisty Road  
• Oh No, Snow!  
• New Guys  
• Lake Country Route 

Here is a posting with a list of waterfalls that are easy to get to from your bike parking place, so you don't have to walk far in those boots that aren't made for walkin'.

• Walkin' to Waterfalls

I hope to see you on  the road, maybe even at Whitewater Falls! 
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A Two Hour Afternoon's Jaunt

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Here is another route from the local magazine called Motorcycle Lifestyle, published by Norm Blore around 2007 through 2009. It had lots of good articles about riding and related topics.

This one is called A Two Hour Afternoon's Jaunt because it could be completed in that amount of time if you don't stop too often and if you move right along. 

This route appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of the magazine.  Mr Blore described the route as follows:

Route length: 82 mile loop
Begin at the closest point to your location and ride clockwise or counterclockwise.  It feels entirely different in the opposite direction so you'll get two rides out of one route.  Watch for the lighthouse. 

Here's a fun route close to home.  It combines all kinds of interesting and picturesque roads which will bring a satisfying smile to both cruiser and sportbike rider alike.  You'll see more cows and horses than cars, and hundreds of goats.  

These are quiet country roads with farms and lots of driveways.  Please respect their space and keep your speed down. 

Here is the map of this route:

Copyright 2008, Norm Blore.

I start out from my town of Easley, SC and ride to the town Pickens, on SC-8.  I follow 8 northward to and beyond SC-186.  (See that intersection on the map.)  I follow 8 until just before reaching the crossroads at Pumpkintown.  Where SC-8 and SC-135 join is a place that once was a pleasant rest point.  It is called Edens Garden after the family that owns this little corner, some surrounding land, a house, and buildings.  There has not been much maintenance done in the last few years, likely because the old gentleman who owned it passed away.  It is a shame, certainly, because it was a restful place to slurp down a root beer or some snacks you'd brought along.

I stopped there, and rested a while, back in 2012.  The little private park was well maintained at the time.  Some years before those photos were taken, this was just a country road intersection, that people had dumped their garbage on.  Mr. Edens had turned it into a shady place to unwind.

See these pictures from back then: 

 

The view of the Blue Ridge Escarpment from the park is nice, too.

Edens Garden has gone downhill since then, unfortunately.  Look:

A shame, indeed. 

I mount up again, travel a little further on 135, and turn left onto Oolenoy Church Road, then jog a little at SC-288 onto Liberia Road.  This is a place where Africans settled many years ago.  There is a church along here that is called Soapstone Church for the outcropping of that soft type of stone adjacent to the building.  They maintain a church and former school building here, with a cemetery nearby.  The congregation also serves meals once a month to help fund the maintenance of the buildings. 

View of the Blue Ridge Escarpment behind the church sign.

The former school building.

The soapstone outcropping. 

Up-close view of the soapstone with the Blue Ridge Escarpment behind.

We live in a beautiful place, as evidenced by the fine views of the mountains. 

I take a detour from the map to cut over to US-276 and take this section of twisty road about seven miles to Caesars Head State Park.  Watch out, as there are some rough sections of pavement.  I stop there to take in the view, just a few steps from the parking lot.  I have been here many times before, so I only take one shot of the overlook and Table Rock Reservoir just this side of Table Rock Mountain.

I go back down the hill the same way I came, then go down Blythe Shoals Road to get back to the map route.  Blythe Shoals is a narrow road that runs along a series of shoals -- shallow, rocky sections -- of the South Saluda River.  Unfortunately, there is almost no place to stop and the shoals are privately owned, so there is no access.  I did manage to get this photograph.

I then cut over to Moody Bridge Road.  This is the road that passes Tall Pine Lake with the lighthouse in the middle of it.  You can see it in this aerial view, and from the roadside: 

There is a pulloff on the side of the road to park in.  The lighthouse is a picturesque and interesting sight that is quite unexpected amongst the many of the other points of interest in this area.

I cut across SC-11/US-276 to River Falls Road.   This road is fairly narrow and a little bit twisty in a few places with no warning signs.  I explored most of the roads near here in this posting.  Jones Gap State Park is also in this vicinity.  There are some good hiking trails there.

I turn to the right at Devil's Fork Road.  By the way, if you look at any of the map websites, you will see Tankersley Lake at this intersection.  Unfortunately the lake was drained several years ago and is grown up in small trees and underbrush now.  

I continue on to Gap Creek Road, where there are a number of summer youth camps.  There is also a gravel road named Watson Mountain Road.

The map shows that it runs into Awanita Camp, but the road sign warns that there is no place to turn around, and I don't think it connects any longer to the camp itself, which is accessed a little further north.  Some day I will explore further. 

At the end of Gap Creek Road, you turn north on US-25.  Be careful here, as 25 is four lane, divided by a concrete barrier that partially blocks the view, and the traffic is usually moving right along.  At the next interchange, take Bob's Creek Road, then turn right on Old US-25.

This section of road is very rough, but runs though a nice forested area that is part of the Greenville (SC) watershed for the municipal water system.  There are signs along here to warn that stopping is not allowed.  The water people are concerned that someone will dump something into the watershed, contaminating the water, I believe. 

I only stopped for a minute.  I promise, I did. 

Shortly beyond this sign, there is a turnoff to the left that goes to Saluda North Carolina.  The road is nice, though rough, and the town of Saluda is a good place to have lunch.  It is also very close to the twistiest road I know of, the steepest railroad grade in the United States, an interesting bridge/tunnel, and a pretty little park with a waterfall called Pearson's Falls.   I don't go that way today, however. 

Near the bottom of the grade on US-25, I turn sharply left onto Callahan Mountain Road.  I follow it for a little way to Poinsett Bridge, the oldest remaining stone bridge in South Carolina.  Just a little way up the road is Boy Scout Camp Old Indian. If you like bridges, Campbell's Covered Bridge is only a few miles from here. 

I continue following the map until I reach my starting point.  I have gone 131 miles, so that is about 49 miles further than the route.  Getting to the start of the route and detouring to Caesars Head made the difference. 

I didn't see any goats, but there were a few cows and horses along the way.  It was a nice time out to see the sights.  Try it for yourself when you can get away for a couple of hours.


Other maps from Motorcycle Lifestyle Magazine:

• The Pumpkintown Loop: Get Lost! -- Early Spring 2009 issue.  Explores "great roads you've never ridden", centered on the crossroads known as Pumpkintown.  56 miles. 
  
• Lake Country -- Fall 2008 issue.  Explores two of the lakes in Upstate South Carolina, Keowee and northern Hartwell.  120 miles. 
• A Two Hour Afternoon's Jaunt -- Spring 2008 issue.  Covers and area centered on Tigerville, SC.  82 miles. 
• Spartanburg, Saluda, Rutherfordton Route -- Summer 2008 issue.  This route goes into North Carolina, and includes the twistiest road I know of.  98 miles. 

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