Hanging Rock: Where the Piedmont Finds Its Edge

Hanging Rock: Where the Piedmont Finds Its Edge

Hanging Rock State Park, an hour north. The Sauratown Mountains rise from the Piedmont plateau like geological afterthoughts, isolated from the Blue Ridge, all the more dramatic for their isolation. The Hanging Rock Trail: 2.4 miles to a quartzite cliff jutting over the Dan River valley. Views that flatland North Carolina doesn't prepare you for.

The rock at the summit leans outward — "hanging" over 200 feet of air. Sitting on the edge with feet dangling is either exhilarating or terrifying depending on your relationship with heights. Both reactions are correct. The Upper Cascades trail is a quarter-mile to a falls with a swimmable summer pool. The lake is stocked for fishing and open for boating.

$6 parking weekends. Trails from easy (lake loop) to strenuous (Indian Creek). Water, real shoes, swimsuit for the falls. The park fills early on summer Saturdays — arrive before nine or go weekday.