Visiting the DuPont State Forest was one of my favorite excursions on my North Carolina foliage trip. Even on a rainy day, I enjoyed the 10,400 acre forest which was lined with colorful autumn leaves. The DuPont State Forest is located in Henderson and Transylvania Counties between the towns of Hendersonville and Brevard.
Transylvania County is known as the “Land of Waterfalls.” The county’s mountainous geography allows for 250 magnificent cascades within a few miles of each other. Many of these waterfalls are easily accessible, making it a perfect leaf peeping attraction for families, young adults, and seniors.
Hiking
DuPont Sate Forest offers over 80 miles of well-maintained forest roads. While local workers can drive on these roads, visitors are only permitted to hike, bike, and horseback ride on the trails.
Be careful, many visitors do take advantage of horseback riding on these trails. This means unexpected horse “land mines” along the paths. The park works to keep the area clean, so these blemishes will be far and few between.
The trails at DuPont State Park are dog friendly, but be sure to keep Sparky on a leash at all times. This rule is for the safety of you, your animal, and other guests.
If you have a valid state permit, be sure to bring your fishing pole! Fishing is allowed in designated areas.
Waterfalls
DuPont State Forest is home to three of the Transylvania’s most beautiful waterfalls- hooker falls, triple falls, and high falls. Each of these waterfalls can be accessed by foot, on trails that range between 0.3 miles to 2 miles.
Along the trails you will come across covered bridge crossings, picnic shelters, and porta potty’s. Enjoy a packed lunch on the various picnic tables and benches that are found throughout the trails.
Directions
One difficulty I had was finding the exact address of DuPont State Forest. Upon arrival, I discovered that this is because there are many entrances to DuPont State forest. However, as a traveler with GPS, I prefer to have some address rather than no address. This is the address I plugged into my GPS: 1400 Staton Road, Cedar Mountain, NC
There are multiple entrances to DuPont State Park along Staton Road. Each entrance has a post that specifies which waterfall you can access by that entrance. Pick and choose, or see all the spectacular waterfalls!