Grand Highlands Nature Trails
Explore Grand Highlands’ natural playground—a billion years in the making and located within one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Our miles of highland nature trails meander through rich cove forests, bucolic rolling meadows graced with a vintage barn and expansive horse pastures, and then ascend to a high mountain ridge revealing breathtaking cascading layers of mountains stretching to the horizon in every direction. These woodland and grassy highlands beckon to be experienced… to be savored… to be celebrated… in every season.
When you’re inspired to hike further afield, there are two trailheads adjacent to Grand Highlands that are part of the acclaimed Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail system: Trombatore Trail and Bearwallow Mountain Trail, which connects to the Wildcat Rock Trail. This trail is the newest segment of the budding Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Trail loop, a route that will one day connect the conserved lands of Bearwallow Mountain, Florence Nature Preserve, Blue Ridge Pastures, and Wildcat Rock in a contiguous 20-mile loop. Conserving Carolina is spearheading a mission to one day see the Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail system expand to a length of 133 miles.
The “Father of the National Parks,” John Muir, had a gift for expressing the value of special natural places like these with succinct eloquence:
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.”
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”
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