
A couple of weeks ago, we embarked on a short weekend camping trip to South Mountains State Park in Connelly Springs, NC. We have been to South Mountains before and hiked up to see the amazing waterfalls but we hadn’t ever camped out there so we thought we would give it a go. You have to reserve a campsite the day-of your adventure at the park’s visitor center and the fee is $12/group which is pretty cheap.
We wanted to camp near the waterfalls so we chose to camp at Upper Falls Campsite which actually ended up being a really short hike (1.4 miles) from the parking lot but it was beautiful and perfect for what we needed. Here is a map to help you out!
Can’t lie, the hike kicked out butts. It had been a while (about 6 months) since out last backpacking adventure and despite my own advise, I had not stepped foot on a StairMaster. We were constantly stopping, chugging water, and taking deep breaths. I stopped a couple of extra times to “take pictures” aka catch my breath.
The husband almost blacked out at one point, that’s when we realized we were pushing it too hard and needed to slow it down. This was our first hike of the year and really should have been taking it easy. It look us a little longer than expected but we made it to the campsite and it was fabulous.
Fully equipped with creepy outhouses, fire-pits and even a picnic table. We were good-to-go.
We surveyed our campsite and then decided to trek down to the waterfalls before night fall. The place was relatively busy, as it usually is when it gets warm. There were boy scout troops, families, horseback riders and mountain men with their trusty dogs.
Although there were a lot of people, there is enough space on the trails and around the waterfall for all to enjoy. Once you get to a certain point, you are met with wooden staircases that take you up to or down to the waterfalls depending on the direction you are traveling. They are beautiful but a little flimsy so you have to watch your step.
Climbing these stairs is extra exciting when you have a big pack on your back and requires a lot of concentration and balance… two things I am not exactly awesome at. I made it however – we took great photos and met some really nice people.
When we got back to our campsite, we were immediately ambushed by caterpillars – they were EVERYWHERE within minutes.
All over our tent, table, my clothes – it was insane. we hitched out tent and my brother “survivor-man mcgee” hooked up his tent between two trees.
We immediately broke into our food and ate beef-o-roni like it was 1992… straight out of the can. My brother had this amazing idea to pack cans of food and heat them up over the little stove so we stocked up on canned veggies and Chef Boyardee. They taste amazing but they are heavy and bulky – it was a great idea but I think I’m going to stick with the just-add-water food bags from REI. Talk about YUM.
Not shortly after we finished eating, the boys immediately went into fire-making mode.
Within 5 minutes we had a fire that could have heated a small house for a week – it was pretty epic and even the dog helped gather wood.
We then went and checked out the nearby creek and filtered some water for later.
The dog – no joke – went straight in and laid down in the water without hesitation.
It was pretty hot out and I know the dog was really tired, I was a little jealous that I didn’t have that type of abandon to just flop down in the creek.
Too freaked out by the possibility of snakes, it was all I could do to rock-jump to the largest rock in the middle of the creek and stand on that for a while.
I should have known this would happen but my husband and brother went into total mountain-men mode.
They made spears, tried to catch fish, ran around like Naruto and carved things into wood. It was out of control.
It started to get dark out and we were all exhausted so we called it a night. Now here is where it gets interesting – as always. The first time we camped outside in the middle of the woods was a horrible experience for me. At Linville, Moe was growling all night, I was up worried about vampires and axe-men and I didn’t sleep a wink. Guess what – it happened again.
I even planned for this in advance and took some over-the-counter sleep meds. I feel asleep for about 2 hours and bam! I woke up to Moe growling at something and I heard tree branches breaking and was certain that someone (or something) was hunting us down. It was ridiculous…. and lame. My heart was racing out of my chest and I even woke Chad up from his peaceful slumber because I thought I heard pans clanking in the forest. Needless to say, I only slept when the sun started coming up. I really need a remedy for this sleeping-outside anxiety. I love camping but I can’t keep this up if I can’t sleep.
After surviving the night, we ate and filtered some water, packed up the camp and went back to the waterfall which was on our way back to our car. 
The waterfall was just as beautiful the first day as it was the second. Roaring with gallons of rushing water, I was able to get some great photos and mess with the shutter speeds on my camera.
We took some fun family pictures and made it back to the parking lot with ease.
Overall, South Mountains State Park is the perfect getaway for a weekend camping trip.
It’s simple, beautiful and if you can make it through the night, safe. Be sure to share your South Mountains stories – we go a lot so if you run into a couple with the cutest dog on earth – be sure to say “hi”!
<3 Sam