January 19, 2026
I moved to Morganton in 2010, fresh out of law school. I had no money, didn’t know a soul in the area, only a quiet determination to practice law in the mountains. I had hiked some growing up and loved backpacking, but the outdoors wasn’t yet a daily rhythm of my life. The early months were stressful in the way only new beginnings can be. No roots. No community. Bills that felt heavier than they should. I needed an outlet that didn’t cost anything. So after work, I began driving twenty minutes to South Mountains State Park.
The first time I climbed toward High Shoals Falls, I was winded and unsure I’d make it. Over time, my legs strengthened, my breathing steadied, and eventually I reached the top without stopping. Some evenings I wandered along the creeks instead, studying stones beneath clear water, discovering wildlife I had only read about. Birds calling through the canopy. Copperheads curled in leaf litter. The distant warning of rattlesnakes. Those early days at South Mountains quietly shaped a lifelong love of the outdoors.
South Mountains State Park itself has a rugged story. Once heavily logged in the early 20th century, the land was later purchased by the state in the 1930s and 40s to preserve the recovering forest and protect the headwaters of the Catawba River. Over decades, trails were carved, campsites built, and waterfalls revealed to the public. Today the park spans more than 20,000 acres of hardwood forest, steep ridgelines, and tumbling creeks. It stands as both a reclaimed wilderness and a refuge, a place where time moves differently.
On this day, my daughter and I headed back to the park together. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, parts of the park had suffered heavy damage. Downed trees and washed-out tread forced the closure of the High Shoals Falls Loop Trail, a reminder that these mountains are alive and powerful. So we turned instead to Big Bear Falls. We hiked beneath broken limbs and fresh sunlight cutting through newly opened gaps in the canopy. We spent time along the creek, scrambling over rocks, dipping hands into cold water, discovering nature again through curious eyes.
