High Falls Loop, Triple Falls and Sheep Mountain Trail, Dupont State Recreational Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
5/19/2026	8.1 miles	4 hours 2 minutes	732'	2.2 mph	163.6

Parking: 

• High Falls Access

Map:

• Gaia GPS app
• Pisgah Map Co., Dupont 

Directions:

• Take the High Falls Loop Trail from the parking lot. Where it splits for the loop, keep left. Turn left onto Triple Falls Trail. Turn right to take the spur trail down to the base of Triple Falls. Climb back up the spur trail. Turn right onto the Triple Falls Trail and take it to the Hooker Falls Access parking lot. Turn around and hike back up the Triple Falls Trail. Turn left onto High Falls Loop Trail. Turn left onto Base of Falls Spur Trail and hike to the base of High Falls. Hike back up the spur trail. Turn left onto High Falls Loop Trail. Turn left onto Covered Bridge Trail. Turn left onto Buck Forest Road and go on the bridge until the Conservation Trail. Turn around and take Buck Forest Road. Turn right onto High Falls Loop Trail and walk a few feet until the intersection. Turn back and turn right onto Buck Forest Road. Pass by the parking lot. Turn right onto the paved Staton Road. Turn left onto Sheep Mountain Trail (a forest road). Hike to the end at paved Staton Road. Turn around and hike back on Sheep Mountain Trail. At the end, turn right onto paved Staton Road, and turn left into the High Falls parking lot.

A warm day, but we are back at Dupont before we get several days of rainy weather. Taking advantage of the fact that it's a weekday, we did the High Falls Loop Trail, which would be packed on a weekend. We enjoyed both the falls and let Krumm wade on leash in the water (no swimming).  We've done these trails a few times before, but they are always enjoyable. We still had energy, so we went across the street to hike Sheep Mountain Trail. This is a woods road we had never been on. The highlight on this road were the flaming azaleas in full bloom. Otherwise, it was only okay. It had no one on it, which we kind of expected. There are a couple of intersections on this trail which aren't shown on Gaia nor our paper map. We checked Gaia on the way out to figure out which way to go. On the way back, we didn't. We ended up missing a turn - the way we went looked more obvious than the trail but was the wrong way. We figured it out when we reached a power cut and turned around. So, I recommend using Gaia on this trail.

Photos in reverse order

Narrow leaved blue eyed grass

We saw this at the end of Sheep Mountain Trail.
There was no sign about not entering from where we started.

Where Sheep Mountain Road ends. 
It looks like you could theoretically pull in here and park in the one space that's here.

One of the places where there is trail (road) that's not on the map

Bowman's Root

Mountain Laurel

I think this is where we were off trail.

An intersection on Sheep Mountain Trail that isn't shown on the map.

Carolina Sweet Shrub

Pass by the gate

Our map calls it Sheep Mountain Trail.
The trailhead shows it as Sheep Mountain Road.

Returning to the parking lot.

This section of Dupont past the covered bridge is still closed.

The top of the falls

Triple Falls

Trailhead

Rocky Ridge, Switchback, Frank, and Plantation Trails, Dupont State Recreational Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
5/17/2026	5.9 miles	2 hours 57 minutes	639'	2.1 mph	155.5

Parking: 

• Sky Valley Road, at Rocky Ridge Trail. The road is a gravel road in good condition. Room for a few cars.

Map:

• Gaia GPS app
• Pisgah Map Co., Dupont 

Directions:

• Take the Rocky Ridge Trail. Pass the Switchback Trail. Hike to the Old CCC Road. Turn around and go back on the Rocky Ridge Trail. Turn left onto the Switchback Trail. Pass Stone Mountain Trail (likely permanently closed). Turn left onto Frank Street (a forest road) and hike to gate. Turn around. Hike back on Frank Street, passing the Switchback Trail. Turn left briefly onto Sky Valley Road and reenter the woods at Plantation Trail. This is a lollypop trail. Hike to the split and keep left at the split. Where you rejoin at the split, turn left. Return to Sky Valley Road. Turn left onto Sky Valley Road and return to the parking area.

We haven't been out to Dupont in a long time. We're attempting to hike all of the trails in the park by the end of this year, so we were eager to get back out there. Glen suggested today. I should have known better. It's a Sunday. Weekends are the worst time to visit Dupont. It was in the 80's today, so I wanted to do a hike by a lake so Krumm could cool off. Our first attempt was Fawn Lake. The parking lot was full (and the entrance is extremely rutted - yikes!). High Falls Access area was also full. Lake Imaging was not full, but the number of mountain bikers there on a weekend makes hiking unpleasant. Guion Farm Access had parking but was also busy. We continued on down Sky Valley Road to hike some trails we haven't done yet. This was perfect. It's a less used area. We only encountered 2 bicyclists and a group of 4 boys (all on Rocky Ridge Trail). It was a very quiet peaceful hike. 

We started out on Rocky Ridge Trail. The beginning was nice, but once past the Switchback Trail, it turns into mountain biking terrain (hard dirt, banked edges). We were gently hiking mostly downhill. We turned around at the paved road and started hiking back. We turned left on the Switchback Trail, which was nice. The terrain was nicer. I'm not sure why it's called the Switchback Trail, because it was level, and I didn't notice any switchbacks on it. It ended at Frank Street. We checked, and its actually listed as a trail on the map index. First, we hiked left. We got excited, because it showed a pond at the end. Well, the trail ends at a gate, and the pond is just beyond the gate. A sign says no hikers - private property. That means no swimming for Krumm. It was a nice gentle trail though. I thought it was pretty. We hiked back to Sky Valley Road. There was a mailbox at Sky Valley Road at Frank Street (a woods road). We thought that was odd. I peeked inside, and there was dusty mail there from 2023 and 2024, with the address being Frank Street. We decided we'd do the Plantation Trail as well, which is across the street. I also liked this trail. It was very easy and very peaceful. I wondered if it was a pine plantation, as we often had pine needles under foot. Krumm never got his swimming in.

Goat's Rue at the trailhead

Rocky Ridge Trail

A warm day. We stopped frequently to check to see if he wanted water.

Switchback Trail

Stone Mountain Trail, I think closed since Helene, likely permanently due to funding.
This is sad as it has a beautiful view on top.

Frank Street

The end of Frank Street. The pond is to the left.

Sky Valley Road

There's a sign about overhead dangers.
We only noticed one leaning tree, that didn't look like it was in any danger of falling.

Walking back to the car on Sky Valley Road