Pilot Mountain State Park

July 25, 2006




Our time in this area of North Carolina has ended and once more we find ourselves on the road. Our final couple of days here were mostly spent hanging out with family, swimming, relaxing and doing such mundane things as packing and paying bills. We did manage to take in a movie, The Devil Wears Prada, but most of the time was spent is less thrilling tasks. It’s hard to believe how spread out all our gear can get after being in a place for only a week.

We did manage to get in another day of hiking, this time selecting a different, but still nearby state park, Pilot Mountain State Park. Located in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina…or Mount Pilot if you are a fan of the Andy Griffith show, the park features the most prominent mountain in the Sauratown Mountains, Pilot Mountain.

Pilot Mountain (elevation 2,431) juts dramatically in a rocky summit offering spectacular views of the surrounding foothills. Named Jomeokee or the Great Guide or Pilot by the Saura Tribe, the mountain is still used as a landmark for pilots landing at the airport in Greensboro when navigating.

The park itself is divided into two sections, the mountain section featuring trails leading up and around Pilot Mountain and a less visited river section ten miles to the south along the Yadkin River. We visited both. We hiked up and around the knob of Mount Pilot in a light drizzle first. It did not really take that long, so we decided to drive to the river section which was way less developed to hike the Horne Creek Trail. The creek winds through the park and the one dirt road in actually passes through the creek three times meaning that if you want to hike; you need to drive through the creek. Thankfully there hadn’t been much more than the drizzle rain which had stopped when we arrived so traversing the creek was no problem.



Both areas offered good hiking. I enjoyed the beautiful creek hike because of the beauty and abundance of wildlife we saw, plus the fact that we were the only people in that section whereas there were a bunch of people hiking the popular Pilot Mountain.




Today we are off again, heading to Asheville and the Smoky Mountains. Our time here has been wonderful and it will be hard saying goodbye to Marika, Brian & Marta. They have been wonderful hosts. Marika & Brian are both flying out to Colorado to attend the Folks Fest next month with us. We just have to get going to make sure we get then in time to meet them.