"Hanging Rock State Park" Hanging Rock State Park by jmpncsu

Hanging Rock State Park is a state park north of the Triad region near the Virginia border in Stokes County. The closest town is Danbury, NC, also in Stokes County. The park is about an hour north of Greensboro and Winston-Salem and about 2.5 hours from the Triangle.

Hanging Rock is one of the remaining mountains of the Sauratown Range and ancient mountain range that has been worn down by time. The other two notable peaks that remain in this range are Pilot Mountain in Pilot Mountain State Park and Sauratown Mountain, which is on private land. The Sauratown Mountains are sometimes called the "mountains away from the mountains", because they are separated from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. What remains of the Sauratown mountains are the erosion-resistant quartzite that makes up the ridges and knobs, such as Hanging Rock and Moore's Knob. Although the mountains are no longer high in altitude, ranging from 1700 to 2500 feet, they are much higher than the surrounding countryside at around 800 feet, and so provide magnificent views of the surrounding Piedmont and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and north. The park was established in 1936 through donations of land from the Stokes County Committee for Hanging Rock and the Winston-Salem Foundation.

Check out my tips for hiking and waterfalls, two of the most popular activities in the park. And my website has trail descriptions, more pictures, and an interactive map with trails and locations of points of interest in the park.