October 14, 2012 Kings Mountain State Park

Established in the early 1940's, the State Park borders the National Military Park.  My brother and I went to Camp Cherokee in the State Park as did some of our children and now the third generation is attending.
We used to sing "There Was a Desperado" "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer", "Stewball", "That Good Ole Mountain Dew".  We ate in the mess hall where we chanted "  Bhah, bhah, strong and able, get your elbows off the table, this is not a horse's stable, but a first class dining table."  I remember coasting down the mountain with a counselor in a car who allowed Mary Moore, a year older than me, to sit in their lap and steer the car down the curves."

Today the extended family picniced at Lake Crawford, where there are paddle boats and canoes to rent but there is no longer swimming.  I remember that the Kings Mountain lakes were full of leaches and apparently still are.  Buddy says that fish love leaches and there is probably good fishing there.  All the little boys ran around and around with the bigger kids chasing them.  My brother has a new three month old grandson, so sweet.

I got to the park at 8:45 am so that I could get squatter's rights on a shelter (there are six).  Going into the park, two wild turkeys crossed the road.  I took the trail from the shelter to the visitor's center at the National Park and back (six miles) and saw a deer bounding through the woods on the other side of the creek.  I came to the primitive camp site and found 60 to 70 boy scouts saluting and raising the flag.  The trail follows a gurgling mountain creek and then up and down to mountain ridges.  The big acorns have fallen and are all under foot.  The hard wood tress are green, yellow and almost pink and here and there a brilliant red maple flashes its color.  I was alone in the woods until I met a couple with an 8 month old Yorkypoo and a five month old Bishon frisking about.

There are other trails and one as long as 16 miles.  There is camping with hookups.  A camp store. A playground.

You can bring your dog and even your horse, as there are equestrian trails.