Caesars Head State Park

Caesars Head State Park is named for a dramatic stone outcropping perched atop the Blue Ridge Escarpment. This outcropping is a granitic gneiss, meaning that it is comprised of layers of metamorphic rock that have been recrystallized under intense heat and pressure from convergent plate boundaries. It is these same plate boundaries that create the Blue Ridge Escarpment's abrupt, 2,000-foot drop to the foothills below. Caesars Head gives hikers an easily accessible, panoramic view of this natural wonder, as well as the 13,000 acres of pristine mountain woodland that is the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area.

Here, the Middle Saluda River meets the stone outcroppings of the Escarpment, creating an array of dramatic waterfalls including the 420-foot mountain cascade that is Raven Cliff Falls. A network of easy-to-strenuous hiking trails meander through the park's forests, allow hikers to explore the area and even to hike all the way to the neighboring Jones Gap State Park.

The Middle Saluda River also offers some of the area's best fishing with brook, rainbow, and brown trout all calling these waters home. For those who prefer to look to the sky, the Caesars Head overlook is the ideal place to observe the annual migration of majestic hawks in the fall as they soar over a sea of orange, yellow, and red woodlands.