Hey there! Today we visit the Rose Hill Plantation State Park. This is a nice small park with a lot of history. They give tours but we arrived after the last tour so we explored the property on our own! The park has the mansion, rose garden, grounds and even a short trail. There is another trail that branches off this trail and goes to the Tyger river, however it was fairly late and we didn't have the time to hike the 2 miles to the river! The main mansion is nice, the outside is kept up good, although age and signs of wear are very visible. We didn't get a chance to explore the inside. Keep in mind if you want to see the inside you have to go on the tour so check the state park site for times on the day you want to visit.
The front of the mansion is hard to get a good picture of because of the 2 really cool old trees and the gardens in front. There are several benches around the trees and gardens, this will be a really nice garden and area in the spring and summer! Getting lost in the trees, dreamy? There are several other buildings on the property, a pavilion area, bathrooms, the ranger house and several houses showing the history of the industry and area. Lessons to be learned.. Neximus was learning what high tech meant back then! The nature trail is basically just a short (.5 miles) walk in the woods behind the mansion, if you want a good hike go early enough to make the Tyger river hike. With the walking around the trail and the property (We covered most of the property :) we just logged one mile. If you start at the pavilion you'll come back around behind the mansion by the back of the groundskeeper building. And make sure before you leave to ring the bell!! It's located behind the mansion, and yes, it works! Overall this is a nice park, with the history and the gardens this makes for a great morning or afternoon. It's about 20 minutes from Muskgrove Mill state park so you could (If you don't mind skipping out on a few things!) go to both parks in one day. Go visit on a quiet day take a seat on a bench in the garden and just relax! The gardens and house have intrigued us enough to where we will probably go back when everything is in bloom and catch a house tour. Be sure to check my site (www.centerlightstudios.com) for pics from this and the other state parks I visit! And of course, what old plantation visit would be complete without a ghost tour?? ;)
Hey there! Today we visit the second area of Musgrove Mill, the battlefield trail! In case you missed the last post this park has two areas separated by the Enoree river, both parts have hiking trails and are almost like two parks. So we split them up like two parks! This second area is about a mile drive from the main area and has just a gravel parking lot, however there is a handicap parking spot that is paved and the trail to the waterfall is paved! A lot of people just come here for the waterfall but they miss out on a great trail past it. I started the trail at horseshoe falls but there's a small walk to the falls from the parking lot. This trail is a right around 2 miles and a little hilly, it is more difficult than the main trail in part 1. Starting from the parking lot you have to cross the road and right past that is a cool old one lane bridge, we had to stop for a photo op! The trail to the falls is paved and well maintained. There are benches along the way and at the end of the pavement there's an overlook area for viewing the falls. Horseshoe falls is a really nice waterfall and shoals. I was able to get a lot of great shots of the falls. Here are a couple of my favorite but I'll put some more at the end of the blog post as I really like them all!
Once you finish at the waterfall you can continue on to the battlefield trail. This is where the pavement ends and you're on ground the rest of the way, well, aside from a few bridges. It is about twice as long as the main trail (see part 1) and has a lot more hills. The trail from this point is about 1.5 (sign says 1.3 but I found it to be a little off, maybe depends on how well you stay on the trail :) miles but closer to 2 miles when you include the walk from the parking lot. There are just a few spots with benches on the trail, this area of benches was off the main trail just a little bit. I thought it was part of the loop but it's just a dead-end with a group of benches. Probably why I ended up with more than the advertised 1.3 miles!
This trail has a lot of historical pointers and signs, they are all kept up very nice and informative. They give a very detailed description of where you're at and where the battle took place around you, history at it's best! There is plenty to see besides just the battlefield way-points. The streams and the diversity of the landscape make this a great nature trail just as it is!
This has been one of my favorite trails (and parks) - yes I am a history lover but all the other aspects make this a great, diverse trail. When you add the main area (see part 1) to this trail it makes for a great experience in history and nature and a really great park! I highly recommend this park, go grab a picnic basket (don't forget the food ;) and spend a day at this great park! Scroll on down to see a few more of the Horseshoe fall pics, then head over to my website (http://www.centerlightstudios.com/) to see all the pics from this and the other state park visits!! P.S. Here is one last area, if you go past the parking lot for the battlefield is the canoe/kayak launch. There was an old bridge here at one time and you can see this spot (see part 1) from the main area trail. More from Horseshoe Falls
