Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1.
Gaffney
Every spring the rosy blush of peach blossoms welcomes motorists to Rte. 11, Cherokee
Foothills National Scenic Highway. Come summer, roadside stands fill with the luscious
fruits, which make for big business in these parts—a fact emphasized by Peachoid,
Gaffney's million-gallon water tower, painted to look like a gigantic peach.
Just west of Gaffney the byway passes Cowpens National Battlefield, where a ragtag
bandofpatriotsmetamuchlargerforceofeliteBritishtroopsin1781.Despitetheseeming
mismatch,theskilledtacticsofGeneralDanielMorganearnedtheAmericansaresounding
victory—one in a series of triumphs in the South that helped pave the fledgling nation's
road to independence. Today an interpretive walk guides visitors through the now-peaceful
meadow that in Revolutionary times once rang with musket fire.
2.
Caesars Head State Park
Winding westward, the drive goes past Jones Gap State Park on the way to Caesars Head
State Park, situated just to the north via Rte. 276. The two parklands, linked by a five-mile
trail along the Middle Fork of the Saluda River, rank among South Carolina's finest wild
places. The road up to Caesars Head, a mountaintop monolith, rewards visitors with a pan-
orama of the Blue Ridge foothills, their green crests disappearing in the distance. At the
overlook's edge, sheer cliffs drop a total of 1,200 feet.
More than 50 waterfalls—among them some of the tallest in the East—splash down
from the heights of the Upcountry, as South Carolinians call these western mountains.
Raven Cliff Falls, north of Caesars Head, can be reached by a moderately strenuous two-
mile hike. At trail's end visitors look up to see a series of cascades that plunge more than
400 feet through a narrow gorge. In autumn, when the foliage of oaks, hickories, and
maples achieves its peak, Raven Cliff affords one of the state's most splendid scenes: a
misty tableau of yellows, reds, and oranges enlivened by the dancing silver water of the
falls.
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