Who likes exploring new places?? WE DOO!!! I’m constantly on the lookout for new trails, new views, and new scents for the pups to sniff out. So, with my trusty park-finding methods, I scoped out Forty Acre Rock Preserve in Kershaw, SC.
I’m pretty sure Ringo was just as excited as I was to check out Forty Acre Rock as I was yesterday. And what a cool place it was! It checked off all the boxes for us… dog-friendly, not crowded, variety of scenery along the trail, and cool views!
Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve
Just an hour and a half south of Charlotte is a very unique park, named for the main attraction, a 14-acre granite rock. Why it’s called Forty Acre Rock and not Fourteen, I honestly have no idea. But, while the granite rock itself is only 14 acres, it’s panoramic views of the surrounding area does make is appear a whole lot larger. The park itself includes 2,965 acres of the most diverse protected area in the Piedmont region, according to the South Carolina DNR.
Ringo LOVES to explore with me, so we hopped in the car and headed south. If you’re new to hiking with your dog, be sure to check out our post on Everything You Need To Hike with your Dog. The hike to the rock is an easy one at only 2.4 miles out and back. The wide, sandy trail starts at the parking lot and takes you through a beautiful hardwood forest. At the end, it opens up to reveal the beautiful open “summit” and view of the surrounding area.
“The Rock” And It’s Microhabitats
The coolest aspect of this park is not the rock itself, but the vernal pools that form in its crevices and depressions. These pools fill with water in the wet spring and winter months and turn into unique microhabitats. The ponds are a perfect place for colorful mosses and lichens to grow. They are also some of the only places in the world where the endangered pool sprite still thrives.
While there wasn’t any water in the pools during our summer hike, the rock was still a sight to see. Ringo and I had fun running and playing on the rock, enjoying the panoramic views, exploring the hardwood forests, and lounging in the shade on a bed of pine needles. I can’t wait to go back in the Spring to see all the colorful pools!
Here are some pictures from our mini adventure.
More Than “Just” A Rock
In addition to “the Rock” there are also many other natural wonders to explore at Forty Acre Rock, including forests, a creek, beaver pond, a small waterfall, and even a cave. This small protected area is also a safe haven for almost a dozen species of rare, protected and endangered plants and wildlife. If you’re lucky, you may even spot some of the park’s larger inhabitants like deer, gray fox, and even bobcats. Okay, depending on the hiker you may or may not consider this lucky. The flat open granite area of Forty Acre Rock is also a great place for bird watching.
Check out my cute little bird watcher pointing in the pic below! 🙂
It was getting a bit warm as we finished exploring the rock, so we didn’t get to check out all of the park. I’m excited to go back and see the rest, hopefully on a cooler day, maybe even in the winter or spring to see all of the colorful plants that flourish in the vernal pools. Who knew there was so much biodiversity in this small natural area in South Carolina?
If you’re in the area and looking for a new place to explore, definitely add Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve to your list. It’s a truly unique place that you’re sure to enjoy. You can spend an hour or two hiking or you can spend the day, bring a picnic, and lounge on the rock admiring the view.
To learn more about this awesome park, check out the park website.
Thanks for reading!
Debbie & Ringo
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46 Comments
Ringo just had the best adventure. The photos are fantastic and you can just FEEL his enthusiasm. Great hike for any dog lover!!!
Thanks Kristen! He really loves hiking, especially when it means checking out a new place with new smells.
Ringo is such a beauty! So that is that view. 🙂 Natural is so fun to explore, isn’t it?
I love seeing your adventures. Thanks for sharing!
Nature is the BEST! I love exploring with the pups especially. I feel like it allows me to fully appreciate a new place and see it from a different perspective through their eyes. Thanks for reading about our adventure
Lovely place for an adventure. Mr. N would enjoy it too. I’m surprised dogs can be off-leash there though if there’s endangered species living there.
The pool sprites and other endangered species that live in the vernal pools are only present when they are full of water. So, in the wet spring and winter months, I wouldn’t let him run around and possibly disturb them. Since it’s summer/fall, the pools are all dried out and are just bare rock at the moment. That being said, nowhere here is off-leash friendly, we just do it when we have a trail or park to ourselves. And of course only with rock solid recall when someone does show up.
I love to hike in different locations during different seasons in order to see all of the changes in the scenery. It looks like you all had a wonderful hike with stunning photos. I look forward to seeing it during the winter months too!
I love doing that too! I can’t wait to come back in the winter when the pools will be full to see the pool sprites and the colorful lichens and algae. And thank you, so glad you enjoyed the photos! 🙂
I am in love with Ringo now! His expressions are so adorable and I love his teal bandana/scarf!
Aww thank you! He is a super expressive guy. And yes, I absolutely LOVE him in his teal bandana. He wears it so well 🙂
These are excellent photos! When we go on vacation, we take our dogs and usually make it a point to check out 1-2 places to go on a nice hike. We love exploring the outdoors with our dogs, especially in new places.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the pictures. I love how you vacation! It sounds a lot like what we do too. We take the pups on pretty much every vacation we ever go on and always find awesome new places to explore. That’s why we got our little camper too. It makes traveling to check out new parks and trails so much easier.
What a wonderful together time you and Ringo shared! Your photos are amazing and tell the story of your fun adventure. The pic of the two of you taking a break is adorable! I pinned it to my Pinterest “together times” board. Such a happy moment!
Thank you for the pin and the kind words. 🙂 I love this little dude so much. I think spending quality one on one time with the pups is so important. It’s a great way to have fun together and strengthen your bond.
Ringo looks like he had an amazing time!! The scenery looks amazing and the pictures are gorgeous. It’s the perfect combination of things I love – being in nature, hardly any people around to ruin the serenity, dogs running around having a good time and some hiking to help with my overall sense of well being.
That’s my favorite combination too!! Nothing beats quality time with your dog exploring a new place… especially when you have it to yourselves and you can really appreciate the tranquility. We both had a really great time. I loved watching him run around with his nose to the ground sniffing all the new smells.
What a neat place! My dad’s side of the family lives in Charlotte, so I travel there a couple times a year. I’ll have to remember this place next time we venture up there. It’s always nice to find to adventure spots nearby. I’ve been making a list of places for the KCC Adventure Team to hit once the weather cools of!
It was a really cool place to explore. I’m running out of places within a 2-hour radius of the city that I haven’t checked out. I will definitely be back in the winter and/or spring when the pools are full. It looks amazing in pictures. I’d definitely recommend checking this park out. Let me know if/when you’re in the area too if you’d like to meet up!
I have to tell you, seeing your adorable Ringo so happy and free to run and explore that gorgeous park, I am saddened I live where it is so hot most of the year. This park looks amazing! Ringo is one lucky boy!
Oh no.. I’m sorry it’s so hot where you are. What part of the world do you live in? It gets pretty unbearably hot here in the Southern US in the summer, but we lucked out with an unseasonably cool, overcast day, so we took full advantage. Ringo had a blast running around and exploring the rock. Thanks for reading!
I always enjoy learning of new beautiful sites through your blog. What a wonderful day in South Carolina! Beautiful photos make me feel a part of your day.
Thank you Heather! Hearing that makes me so happy. We had a great time exploring Forty Acre Rock. I love seeing Ringo run and check everything out wish so much excitement and pep in his step! 🙂
We LOVE exploring new hiking places too, it is our favorite activity to do with the dogs! These photos are lovely, looks like Ringo had a ball! Thanks for sharing.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Isn’t it the best? Nothing like a new place to explore with your dogs. So glad you enjoyed our pictures. We had a great time!
Gorgeous gorgeous! However, I saw dog slobber going on. As a cat find that totally repulsive. 😸
HAHAHA!! Dogs can be pretty gross creatures huh? I’m sure Jasmine would agree with you.
Ringo is one expressive pup! That shot of him yawning towards the top of your post is perfect. I appreciate how well you balance your photos. You get these great shots of your dogs that include the environment you’re featuring and you pop in these wonderful close ups that feature Doggie facial expressions of joy. Love it!
Thank you SO much. You just made my day! I love taking pictures on our adventures that capture both the beauty of the place we’re exploring as well as the joy it brings to my pups. Ringo is super expressive and so much fun to photograph 🙂 Thanks for reading
Oh Ringo is having a total blast! What gorgeous pictures too. This looks like one cool place to visit!!!
Ringo definitely had a great time exploring the rock and the woods. So many sights and smells to investigate. It’s so cute watching them scope out a new place. 🙂
Wow, 40 Acres looks awesome – and Ringo makes them acres look all the more enjoyable! I always like when people share their hikes and travels with us – it gives us ideas about where to visit. We’ll be hitting the road for a year pretty soon, so we will put this on our list. Thank you!
It was a really awesome place to visit. I love sharing insights and images of places we travel too, as well as reading about other people’s adventures. That’s SO exciting about your upcoming trip! Where are you guys headed?
What a nice place to hike. I’ve never been one to enjoy hiking. I always enjoyed going to the lake or the beach. My sister used to love hiking!
We likes lakes and beaches too! It’s okay, hiking isn’t for everyone. I love to hear that you’ve found other ways to enjoy the peace and serenity of nature! Thanks for reading
What a place! Cookie would have a blast. Any critters in those ponds?
No, not right now. In the summer and fall they tend to be empty, mostly because of the heat. In the wetter winter and spring months though, I’m sure there will be all sorts of stuff hanging out in the pools. Can’t wait to go back and check them out. Cookie would definitely love it here too! If you were closer, we’d love to plan a trip and get the dogs together!
Such a beautiful area to explore and you captured great photos. Lucky Ringo! He really seems to be enjoying the hike and the views. How amazing they allow dogs off leash. We have a few nice much smaller areas near us but the wildlife is all protected so dogs have to be on leash.
Thank you! It was so fun to watch Ringo run around on the rock and capture pictures along the way. I love capturing moments from our adventures to share and look back on later. They don’t necessarily let dogs off leash anywhere in our area of NC, but if your dog has good recall and is under voice command, it’s pretty accepted to let them off. If people show up or there is wildlife in the vicinity for them to potentially disturb, I put them back on. We try to balance fun with respect for nature and other hikers as best we can.
It looks like you had a great adventure! I’ve always been a big fan of moss and lichen, but I had to look up what a pool sprite is. I love that photo of Ringo sleeping/resting on the pine needles!
I had never heard of a pool sprite before either before reading up about 40 Acre Rock. I am really excited to go back in the winter and spring to see them in person. I’ve seen pictures of the colorful pools in the rainy season and they’re gorgeous! The picture of Ringo napping is one of my favorites too!! Thanks so much for reading about our adventure 🙂
Obsessed with that picture of Ringo yawning! What a great shot! You have me missing the east coast with adventures like these! We’re hoping to get out soon after our move with the pups before winter comes!
Thanks Jessica! That’s one of my new all time favorite pictures of him now too. 🙂 I forget where you just moved to? I hope you get to enjoy some adventuring once you’re all settled in. Hope the move went smoothly too. It can be such a stressful time.
I just love your photos and your adventures! Thanks for sharing information about your recent trip to a new place. I love the microcosms that you can find in vernal pools so I’m glad you found them too!
Thank you Bryn! I’m so glad you enjoyed following along on our recent mini adventure. I love capturing images of the views and, even moreso, the pups exploring and enjoying a new place. Can’t wait to go back and see the pools full and booming with life!
Looks like Ringo had a great time! I like the fact it’s a protected area, so you have the opportunity to see wildlife you wouldn’t see otherwise. Seems like my kind of place, especially since it isn’t real crowded. I hate crowds!
I hate crowds too! One of my favorite things about working for myself is the ability to set my schedule. Weekday adventures (especially in the morning or ones off the beaten path) usually mean empty trails and being able to experience a place without all the extra hustle and bustle of visitors. This was a really cool spot to check out, even more so because we got it all to ourselves. 🙂 Thanks for reading