Sweetwater Creek State Park

Ben and I went for a hike at Sweetwater Creek State Park yesterday. To reach this state park, you take Exit 44 off of I-20 West, turn left, then turn right onto Blairs Bridge Rd. Turn left at Mt.Vernon Road and you'll come across the park. Be sure to park in the lot where the Interpretive Center is or you won't be in the right spot to access the hiking trails (we found out the hard way).

We hiked the Red Trail, which runs along the creek and leads you to the ruins of a five-story mill from Civil War times. It is a wide, easy and lovely trail. You can hike another half mile along the creek from the mill. It is rockier and rootier, but worth the effort, and leads to a bend in the creek where the water flows down over the rocks. I would recommend a hiking stick for this portion of the trail. We returned to the car along the Blue Trail which is also spacious and well-marked. The Yellow Trail is supposed to be steeper so we saved it for another time. Our hike took a little over an hour.

Sweetwater Creek State Park is a beautiful place that will remind you of the North Carolina mountains. You won't believe it is just past Six Flags off of I-20. We sat and prayed a bit, thanking God for the beauty of his creation and apologizing for spending so much time in front of the TV or computer screen and not enough time outdoors. Stones abound here, in every size, but we did not build our own altar. Instead, I collected some bright red sumac leaves and arranged them on top of a flat grey stone. I knew my arrangement would be a short-lived one, blown away by the fall breeze, like the brightly-colored sand mandalas of the Buddhist monks.