Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park contains three impressive waterfalls and a dam, which is great if you are like us and love finding areas where you can view many waterfalls in one location. To reach Big Falls you will pass the dam and Blue Hole Falls so in a short distance you’ll be able to view some of the most well-known areas of the park.
To reach Big Falls, you will start down walkway that goes around the side and behind the Visitor Center to reach the Enclosure Trail. You will want to go to the right when you reach the fork where the trail splits. This trail will lead you along the river. Before you get to Big Falls you will pass the dam, and Blue Hole Falls. After viewing Blue Hole Falls, continue south on the Enclosure Trail another 100 yards you will reach the remains of a paper mill, one of three that were built in this general area. Built in 1879, this mill supplied newsprint to newspapers throughout the Southeast.
There are a couple of places where the main trail will take you to a side trail that is lower. You will want to take one of these to see the waterfall better.
We found a couple of different places where we could cross to the lower trail. Take the one you feel more comfortable with, as it may be steep and/or uneven in parts. We weren’t shy about holding on to a near by tree trunk to steady ourselves if we felt it necessary.
After you view Big Falls, return to the Enclosure Trail. While the Enclosure Trail is technically a loop (approximately 2.7 miles), if all you want to do is see waterfalls, it is faster to return to the visitor center where the trail forks and go to the other side to view Step Falls also located inside the park. This is what we did on our trip and it was much shorter in time and distance.
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