sweetwilder

May 26, 2018

The impetus for visiting every North Carolina State Park stemmed from reading a blog, Journey Through the NC State Parks. During the course of a year, they traveled to all forty (40) state parks. I was really inspired by their dedication to travel across the state, ultimately deciding to take up the same venture.  Please check out their site, as they have really useful information and great pictures.

12,000 years before the European settlement of the United States, Native Americans mined the top of Morrow Mountain. Remnants of a large quarry are still evident today, where rhyodacite was gathered for production of spears, cutting tools and arrows. (*1)

So much of Morrow Mountain has a time immemorial feel. In antiquity, the peaks of Uwharrie rose 20,000 feet, but through the years they have worn down to less than 1,000. (*2) The paths feel as if they were paved; we being the latest in a history of peoples to set foot upon the trails.

Since we were in Matthews, NC for Memorial Day weekend, my father-in-law joined us for a day hike to this park in Albemarle, N.C. The weather was quite humid, rain alternating with sunny skies. We first ventured to the summit loop trail, a .8 mile, easy jaunt around Morrow Mountain filled with rocks. We then visited the local museum, former homesite of the first doctor in the southern piedmont, Francis Kron, and the shores of Lake Tillery.

I highly recommend this park for its history, views and sheer diversity.

https://www.ncparks.gov/morrow-mountain-state-park/history

https://www.ncparks.gov/morrow-mountain-state-park/ecology