Pinnacle Mountain Trail (Table Rock State Park SC)
Table Rock State Park fits the bill for the natural beauty attributed to scenic Highway 11. The towering mountain, which gives the park its name, serves as a backdrop for the 3,000 acre park and its facilities. Below this section of the Blue Ridge Mountains, South Carolina natives and visitors can enjoy Table Rock State Park cabins, a campground and an old-fashioned swimming hole on one of the park’s two lakes.
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Table Rock State Park hiking trails serve as an access point for the 80-mile Foothills Trail. South Carolina hikers can use to travel between several connected South Carolina State Parks. The Table Rock State Park hiking trails take hikers past mountain streams and waterfalls to the tops of Pinnacle and Table Rock mountains. While the park is well known to outdoor enthusiasts for its natural features, Table Rock also has its place in history. Many of the Table Rock State Park cabins and other structures built by the CCC remain standing and are on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Pinnacle Mountain Trail
Length: 4.2 miles one way
Type: Hiking Trail
Difficulty: Very Strenuous
Description: You will follow yellow blazes on this less trodden trail with several creek crossings and small footbridges amid the hardwoods and rhododendron that line the steep mountain slopes. The Foothills Trail follows the same route indicated by white blazes.You will encounter a small waterfall to the right and pass beneath a giant rock ledge, before you reach the junction of a 0.4 mile spur trail that leads to Mill Creek Falls. The spur ends at a wooden bridge where you can view the falls. Return to the junction and continue towards Bald Knob Overlook. After a steep ascension, the trail levels and joins the Mill Creek Trail. Continue hiking uphill to the huge sloping Bald Knob outcrop. Your reward is the view as you look out over the distant mountains to see Greenville and beyond. To continue to Pinnacle Mountain, walk uphill to the top of the outcrop and turn right into the forest. At 4 miles, the Foothills Trail will branch off sharply to the left marked by white blazes only. Going straight, you will ascend steeply to the tree-enclosed apex of Pinnacle Mountain. You can return the way you came, or follow the less strenuous, wooded Ridge Trail, to the Table Rock Trail and back to the Nature Center.