Featuring picturesque views of the Dan River. The park has a shelter, restroom facilities and a ball field and provides access to the river for tubing, kayaking, canoeing, and water/beach fun.

The Upper Cascades Trail at Hanging Rock State Park is a 0.2-mil one-way gently sloping trail that leads downhill to a wooden observation deck with seating for safe views of the tall, burbling falls. A set of wooden stairs takes adventurous hikers and pets to a shallow catch pool at the base of the waterfall. The trail begins at the west end of the visitor center parking lot.

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail is as diverse as North Carolina. Along the trail, you may see mountain vistas, rolling Piedmont farms, picture postcard colonial towns, weathered tobacco barns, old textile villages, country churches, rushing mountain streams, coastal swamps, hardwood and pine forests, lighthouses, sand dunes, miles of seashore, and friendly people. 725 miles of the route are on trail, and connecting backroads and an optional paddle route allow hikers to trek across the state.The Piedmont Region provides various access points to Trail Segments 6, 7, 8 and 9.

The Hanging Rock Trail in Hanging Rock State Park is a one-way 1.3 mile trail that leads to the quartzite rock formation, jutting out over the landscape, that gives the park its name. Here, hikers can rest and enjoy spectacular views of the park below and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north. It takes most people about 1 hour to hike the trail and reach Hanging Rock. The trail begins at the top edge of the visitor center parking lot.

The Indian Creek Trail in Hanging Rock State Park meanders down the mountain, along the Indian Creek, through shady rhododendron thickets and open oak forests, and ends at the Dan River. The trail begins at the east end of the visitor center parking lot. Along the way you will find several waterfalls to explore: Hidden Falls and Window Falls.

The Sauratown Trail is one of the earliest long-distance trails in the state. Winding through farmland, forests, and country roads, this trail skirts the northern flank of Sauratown Mountain. The trail is unusual in that it is mostly on private lands, and is open to trail users through the generosity of many individual landowners. The Sauratown Trail is a part of the Mountains To Sea Trail (Segment 7) that connects Pilot Mountain State Park to Hanging Rock State Park. Open to hikers and horseback riders.

Hanging Rock State Park has offered the best of a traditional outdoor experience with 73-site campground, picnic grounds, stocked lake for swimming and canoe rentals and more than 20 miles of hiking trails that climb onto spectacular views and weave alongside clear streams and waterfalls. There is also access on the Dan River for paddling, 8.4 miles of mountain biking trails and rock climbing opportunities with permit.

The Dan River Access on the north side of the park provides parking and a ramp for fishing, paddling and tubing. Bring your own equipment or take advantage of nearby outfitters who provide equipment and shuttling services for kayaking, canoeing and tubing.

The Riverbluffs Trail at Hanging Rock State Park is a 1.3-mile loop trail that follows alongside the Dan River, past the rock formation called Matrimony Point, past the play waves in the river, to an old homesite. Here, hikers can spot old tobacco rows being erased by a tulip poplar forest. Parking is located off Flinchum Road at the Dan River paddle access.

We provide professional canoe & kayak rental and shuttle services on the Dan River at Hanging Rock State Park in the North Carolina foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Preserve Park Trip is 6.2 miles. This trip begins with a 5 mile paddle through the Hammer-Stern Wilderness Preserve. The trip ends with a spectacular paddle through a 1 mile section at Hanging Rick State Park, along the Dan River Bluffs, a short distance upstream of the DRC riverside shop where you left your vehicle and boarded our shuttle van.