Foothills Trail: Rocky Bottom to Jones Gap State Park

This challenging and long parcel of the Foothills Trail offers many rewards to those who traverse it. Leave Rocky Bottom and begin the ascent of Sassafras Mountain, highest point in South Carolina. Pass by a large rock house to reach Chimneytop Gap. Keep climbing to make Sassafras Mountain and some views. Here, the Foothills Trail splits. The traditional route leaves south for Table Rock State Park, 9 miles distant. The alternative route, which this guidebook follows, stays in the high country, tracing the North Carolina–South Carolina state line along the Blue Ridge. It makes challenging ups and downs, crossing the historic Emory Gap Toll Road to meet another historic gravel road built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The state line ridge here oozes solitude and offers the best views on the entire Foothills Trail. Top out on pine-studded Slicking Mountain and leave the state line at Gum Gap, then enter Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, which encompasses portions of South Carolina’s Caesars Head and Jones Gap State Parks. Descend into the perched Matthews Creek valley, nearing Raven Cliff Falls. Gain views from very edge of the Blue Ridge before descending into the Middle Saluda River watershed, which some argue to be the most beautiful in the Palmetto State. (They will get no argument from me.) Pass more waterfalls along an historic toll road built in the 1850s before reaching trail’s end at Jones Gap State Park.