Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Blue Ridge Foothills are beckoning us into autumn again. It’s cooler now, the air is crisper and Pearson’s Falls and Glen, our own national treasure, is starting to show its fall colors with dazzling displays of crimson and gold. 

Now is a perfect time and place for a visit to Pearson’s Falls and Glen. Take a saunter up the trail to the falls,  through the rich cove forest and along the edge of Colt Creek. Numerous visitors comment on the quality of the trails, the benches placed along the way and of course, the magnificent Pearson’s Falls. 

The trails today are carefully maintained by Andy Ruff, the operations manager, and Gene Justice, the part-time staffer. Each morning, a team member walks the trails to check for debris and any possible safety issues that may have been caused by severe weather and fallen trees. Volunteers also assist in the trail-keeping and when needed a professional tree service is contracted.

The Tryon Garden Club is grateful for the Pearson’s Falls Trail Maintenance Fund of the Kirby Endowment Grant and the Polk County Community Foundation which support the continued work needed to keep the trails in good shape and help to elevate the Pearson’s Falls experience for visitors of all ages. Thousands of guests from all fifty states and many foreign countries have visited the falls and many of them are making it an annual visit. 

“It’s a great art to saunter,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in 1862. He was then living on Walden Pond and speaking of moving slowly, pausing, looking, listening and taking in the natural world, deliberately.

It’s a wonderful time of year to practice ‘the art of sauntering’ at Pearson’s Falls and Glen. Stay a while and enjoy the incredible calm and beauty of a slow walk on our trails!

During the month of October, the gates are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In November, Pearson’s Falls gate hours change to our winter hours. The attraction is located at 2748 Pearson Falls Road, Saluda NC, 28773. For more information go to www.pearsonfalls.org or call 828 749 3031.

 

Submitted by Jim Welch