Part 1 of an 8 part series
Hiking near Charlotte @ Crowder Mountain
Thirty minutes from Charlotte is Crowders Mountain State Park, a 5,300 acre state park in Gaston County, North Carolina. It includes the peaks of Crowder’s Mountain and The Pinnacle with 11 hiking trails ranging from easy to strenuous.
Why Hiking?
Our family trip this summer takes us to Montana. We’re headed to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, and everything in between. Unlike most of our family trips, this one is going to involve a lot of exercise. To really experience these beautiful parks, it sounds like you have to do some hiking! In addition to some of the gear we need to buy, we also need to get into some serious hiking shape. Lucky for us, we live in Charlotte where there are a ton of hiking options all within 2 hours. During the next 8 weeks my husband and I will be taking on a different hiking adventure each weekend. For our first week we took on one of the most popular trail locations- Crowders Mountain.
Which trail should we hike?
I am ready to break in my new trail shoes, so I wanted to actually go uphill. I thought this would give us a good starting point to see what kind of “hiking” shape we’re actually in. We parked at the Linwood Access point where it was already getting pretty crowded at 10:00 am. The access point is important because there are actually three of them and different trails start from each.
- Linwood Access
- Visitor Center Access
- Boulder Access
The tower trail
I picked the Tower Trail because it was described as strenuous but it was only 1.8 miles. It ends at the radio towers near the summit of Crowders Mountains so I knew the view would be worth it. This trail is an old roadbed that begins with a gentle climb and becomes quite steep towards the end. As we started down the wide path through tall trees, I almost wondered if we should have picked a harder one. That quickly changed as the path got steeper and steeper. With burning calves, I was pretty happy to see the radio towers when we finally reached the top!
the summit
Reaching the summit, you definitely feel a sense of accomplishment. The 25 mile views of the Piedmont area below, while you’re surrounded by jutting rocks is well worth it. I had no sense of how quickly the elevation can change in just 1.8 miles. Here is where you have the photo ops and can refuel. Feeling adventurous? Climb out on the rock cliffs even if the sign does say you might fall to your death.
the Backside Trail
For the way down, we decided to jump onto another trail that connects at the summit for a change of scenery. As we climbed 336 steps down, I was so thankful we didn’t pick this one going up. It was quite a bit shorter at .8 miles back to the parking lot. Both trails are nicely shaded so even though the temperature made its way up to 80 degrees on the way down, there was always a nice breeze. I still highly suggest having water, good shoes that don’t slide on gravel, and dress in layers.
Time to hydrate
What else is there to do after going on a hike? Drink beer and eat pizza of course! There just happens to be an amazing brewery right on the way back to Charlotte called Cavendish Brewery. Located right in Gastonia in an old Studebaker dealership, you can order up an award winning beer and some of the best artisan pizza I’ve had in a long time!
Top Pick Beer: BoHo Pilsner
Top pizza pick: The Blackfoot
The Vibe
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