Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina, 3560 feet
Pickens County,
northwest South Carolina on North Carolina border 30 miles northwest
of Greenville.
The summit, owned by
the Duke
Energy Company, is open to the public without restriction
(other than you have to walk 100 yards up a paved trail).
It straddles the North Carolina border. The most distinguishing
feature -- a fire tower -- has long since been torn down.
While the peak is a drive
up, if you choose to walk you could find yourself on one of the
most rugged trails in the Eastern United States. The 85-mile
long Foothills Trail which begins at Table Rock State Park winds its way along
the North Carolina and Georgia border passing en route Whitewater Falls, the biggest vertical waterfall
drop in eastern North America (2 drops of more than 400 feet
each) and coming within close proximity of Whiteside Mountain, NC, the biggest sheer
cliffs in North America. (400 foot drops) The trail also
takes you to the Chattooga River, the national wild and scenic
river on the Georgia border that was the setting for the movie
"Deliverance." The river drops nearly 50 feet
every mile.
The trail from Table Rock
to the summit is nearly 19 miles roundtrip and has nearly a 4,000
elevation gain and is quite strenuous.
Sassafras Mountain from Continental Divide Road just below the summit. There's not much to see on the summit now that the forest tower has been torn down. The USGS marker is about it.
Whitewater Falls, on the Foothills Trail, a short distance from the summit is the highest vertical falls in the eastern U.S.
