Earl Grey
10-01-2006, 22:13
Crowders Mountain State Park is a state park about 40 miles west of Charlotte. This mountain was once much higher like Morrow Mountain (http://www.mooncube.org/2006/07/26/morrow-mountain/) but over time the elements have worn it down to the present form. Also like Morrow Mountain the mountain is mainly composed of slate and rhyolite which are “erosion resistant” minerals. Crowders Mountain State Park actually contains two mountains, Crowders Mountain and Kings Pinnacle or Kings Mountain which was the site of an important Revolutionary War battle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kings_Mountain).
I arrived about 9:30am and set out for Crowders Mountain via the Rocktop Trail. This trail travels along the ridge of Crowders Mountain which means there are no water sources at all. Armed with 2 liters of water I felt this was enough to get there and back without running out. The Rocktop Trail gets it name fromt he sheer amount of rock you encounter along the way. There are many open rock faces along the way where you have to watch your footing as to not fall off the side. It was more technical than I thought it would be.
At the very top of the mountain is a radio/tv tower. To me this is very very ugly and I have a hard time understanding why the state would let a private business operate this there. Basically you come out of the Rocktop Trail into a clearing thats towers. Going past this leads to the cliffs area where you get some awesome views. The mountain rises about 800 feet above the surrounding plain which is called a monadnock in geological terms. It was a clear day so you could see for 20 miles in all directions.
I had lunch up here and talked with a few rock climbers then made my way back down via the Backside Trail which leads to the Crowders Trail. This trail is rather uneventful because it skirts the outside of mountain base but still is a nice walk back to the park office. I plan on going back and do the Kings Mountain trail soon. Be sure to check out the pictures (http://mooncube.org/v/Crowders+Mountain/).
I arrived about 9:30am and set out for Crowders Mountain via the Rocktop Trail. This trail travels along the ridge of Crowders Mountain which means there are no water sources at all. Armed with 2 liters of water I felt this was enough to get there and back without running out. The Rocktop Trail gets it name fromt he sheer amount of rock you encounter along the way. There are many open rock faces along the way where you have to watch your footing as to not fall off the side. It was more technical than I thought it would be.
At the very top of the mountain is a radio/tv tower. To me this is very very ugly and I have a hard time understanding why the state would let a private business operate this there. Basically you come out of the Rocktop Trail into a clearing thats towers. Going past this leads to the cliffs area where you get some awesome views. The mountain rises about 800 feet above the surrounding plain which is called a monadnock in geological terms. It was a clear day so you could see for 20 miles in all directions.
I had lunch up here and talked with a few rock climbers then made my way back down via the Backside Trail which leads to the Crowders Trail. This trail is rather uneventful because it skirts the outside of mountain base but still is a nice walk back to the park office. I plan on going back and do the Kings Mountain trail soon. Be sure to check out the pictures (http://mooncube.org/v/Crowders+Mountain/).