Corn Mill Shoals Loop, Dupont State Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
1/21/2024	4.1 miles	2 hours 19 minutes	461'	2.0 mph	40.3 miles

Parking: 

• Corn Mill Shoals Parking Area

Map:

• Pisgah Map Company, Dupont State Recreational Forest

Directions:

• Cross the street from the parking area. 
• At the intersection of the Longside Trail, keep right on the Corn Mill Shoals Trail.
• At the intersection of the Big Rock Trail, keep right on the Corn Mill Shoals Trail.
• At a Y intersection, keep left on the Little River Trail.
• Turn left onto the Cedar Rock Trail.
• Turn right onto the Big Rock Trail. 
• Turn right onto the Corn Mill Shoals Trail.
• Turn right onto the Longside Trail. 
• Keep left onto the Twixit Trail and hike to Cascade Lake Road.
• Turn around, and re-hike the Twixit Trail. 
• Keep straight on the Longside Trail.
• Turn right on the Corn Mill Shoals Trail. 
• Cross road to return to the parking area. 

This week, I'm trying 4-mile hikes. Dupont is a nice place to hike in the winter. My original plan was to do a loop hike on the same side as the Corn Mill Shoals parking area, but as soon as we started on the Wilkie Trail, we encountered a water crossing that we'd need to wade through. The temps were in the 30's, so we decided to come up with a different plan. 

The Corn Mill Shoals Trail is a wide, easy trail. When we got the intersection of the Little River Trail, there was a sign about a high-water crossing. We stopped and pondered, as we didn't know where the high-water crossing was. We met another hiker who told us we would be fine on the Little River Trail. We did actually encounter a water crossing which was higher than normal, but I doubt it's the one the sign was referencing. I did end up getting my shoes soaked - Glen was able to keep his feet dry. We turned onto the Cedar River Trail, and it was gorgeous. It reminded me of some sections of Harriman, with its exposed granite rock. I must do this trail again when things are green. Nice views from this trail as well. We did encounter some ice on various sections of our hike today, but we were able to skirt around it. We also did see a couple of mountain bikers. No problems parking this time of year at Dupont.