Carrick Creek’s geologic diversity matches its biodiversity of animals and plants. Rocks and minerals are everywhere as rivers and creeks expose what is going on below the earth’s surface.

But first, do you know a rock from a mineral?

Minerals are characterized by their crystal structure, an orderly arrangement of particles in a specific pattern, and defined chemical composition. A visitor can easily find quartz throughout the creek as it is the most common mineral on the earth’s surface.

Rocks are composed of minerals and sometimes other materials that are fused, cemented, or bound together. Unlike minerals, rocks have an inconsistent structure.

Imagine a rock as a chocolate chip cookie, and its ingredients - sugar, flour, chocolate, butter - as minerals that make up that rock.

The rock cycle is an important model for understanding how rocks are formed and change over time. The following are the three major groups of rocks involved in the cycle:

Igneous Rock

Intense heat deep inside the earth melts rocks and minerals to create magma. Hot, liquid magma exits the earth's crust in the form of lava. Igneous rock forms when this magma or lava cools and solidifies. Granite, basalt, and obsidian are examples of common igneous rock types that are all very different based on their texture, grain size, and mineral composition.

Metamorphic Rock

Metamorphism is the physical and chemical change that rock goes through when subjected to heat and pressure. Marble, slate, schist, and gneiss, a widespread rock type at Carrick Creek and Table Rock, are common metamorphic rock types.

Sedimentary Rock

Weathering and erosion continually break down rocks, minerals, and organic materials into fine sediment. Younger layers compress older, lower layers of sediment over time. Chemical and physical processes bond the compacted layers creating sedimentary rock. Sandstone, shale, and limestone are examples of common sedimentary rock types.

Erosion along Carrick Creek provides a glimpse into hidden soil layers, or horizons, that can take hundreds to thousands of years to develop. Think of soil as a work in progress and horizons as chapters in its life story. Most soils have three major horizons (A,B,C) and some, including that of Carrick Creek, have an organic (O) horizon.

Horizon O (humus or organic): This layer is formed primarily by decomposing vegetation such as leaves and animal remains or wastes.

Horizon A (topsoil): Decaying organic material, mineral content, and biological activity characterize the topsoil layer. It is the most fertile horizon for supporting plant growth and that of other organisms. Worms, bacteria, tree roots, and fungi in the topsoil contribute to the nitrogen cycle, a process by which nitrogen gas is returned to the air in a form that plants can use.

Horizon B (subsoil): Water leaches downward through the topsoil carrying finely decayed organic materials and minerals to the subsoil. The subsoil contains humus and clays, the finest soil particles. Exposed subsoil makes for poor growing conditions and is often the result of unchecked erosion.

Horizon C: The lowest soil horizon contains mostly inorganic material and weathered rock fragments. Horizon C is the parent material that formed the inorganic make-up of upper horizons.

Bedrock: At the base of the soil horizon is bedrock. Bedrock is a consolidated (solid, dense) stratum of rock that resists water seepage, thus confining water to reachable depths. In some cases, bedrock prevents water from reaching deeper aquifers.

Many roads and trails in the area have a rusty red color due to iron compounds in the soil. The processes by which iron compounds produce a rusty nail and a rusty trail are similar. Iron compounds corrode when exposed to water and oxygen. During the corrosion process, an iron compound’s surface is oxidized through an electrochemical process that results in a reddish substance, iron oxide or "rust."

Amphibolite is a common rock type that once covered the dome of Table Rock Mountain. Over millions of years of uplift and erosion, the weaker and less resistant amphibolite has weathered away to reveal the harder, more resistant granite-gneiss of the dome.

Amphibolite is composed primarily of two mineral families, amphibole and feldspar.

Amphibole contains the elements iron, magnesium, calcium, and aluminum. Minerals weathered from amphibole enhance nutrient-rich soils that support diverse and rare species of plants in the area.

Feldspar, the most abundant mineral group, makes up over 60% of the earth's crust. Feldspar contains aluminum silicates of soda, potassium or lime. The alumina and alkali content of feldspar is utilized to produce glass products, ceramics, and cement. Feldspar weathers into sand and eventually clay materials.

At Carrick Creek, a visitor may recognize amphibolite by its dark color marked with specks of black and white that give it a "salt and pepper" appearance. The mineral hornblende (amphibole) forms the black or dark green bands, and plagioclase (feldspar) forms white bands. It can be distinguished from granite-gneiss by its darker color and tendency to break in angular patterns.

Table Rock Mountain’s striking dome is a massive exposure of granite-gneiss rock that originally formed several miles below the earth’s surface. Approximately 460 million years ago, the ocean floor of the African Continental Plate was slowly colliding into the eastern edge of the North American continent. The event created a subduction zone - a point where one tectonic plate dives under another as it moves toward the mantle. In the process, the ocean plates partially melted and released magma above the subduction zone, yet below the earth's surface. The molten magma crystallized to form Table Rock's breathtaking dome of granite-gneiss. Millions of years of mountain uplift combined with erosional downcutting exposed the dome to the surface to the earth’s surface.

Minerals and granite in Table Rock granite-gneiss are ordered in ribbon-like foliation patterns. Light bands on granite-gneiss in the area are generally composed of quartz and feldspar and dark bands are composed of hornblende and biotite. Granite-gneiss is resistant to erosion and is distinguished from amphibolite, another common rock type in the area, by its lighter gray color.

Table Rock's granite-gneiss dome was once molten magma solidified several miles under the earth’s surface during the Ordovician era (495-440 MYA). Hundreds of millions of years of uplift, erosion, and exfoliation eventually exposed it to the surface. Geologists call igneous rock bodies that formed below the surface, but are now exposed, plutons and, if over 40 square miles, batholiths. The name is inspired by “Pluton,” the Roman god of the underworld.

The Table Rock formation was pushed toward the earth’s surface by uplift from the collision of tectonic plates as weathering and erosion removed less resistant rock layers from its top. Wind, rain, and stream erosion continue to carve out coves and streambeds.

Half-Dome, a granite monolith in Yosemite National Park, is perhaps one of the world’s most familiar batholithic structures. Forty Acre Rock, a popular hiking destination in the Piedmont of South Carolina, is a pluton at under 40 square miles.

Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral found in many shapes and forms along the Carrick Creek streambed. It is a valuable mineral resource that is found from South Carolina's mountains to the sea. Crystalline structures of quartz rocks fracture into sharp edges, which made ideal material for early Native American arrowheads. Nineteenth-century miners sought the presence of quartz veins that indicated the presence of gold, a mineral that is sometimes emplaced in quartz during crystallization. Quartz sand mines throughout the state provide the primary material for glass and concrete. Beach sand (of which quartz is the major component) itself is managed as a resource supporting South Carolina's coastal tourism industry.

Sand at the beach was eroded from quartz deposits found upriver, as far up as the mountains. Quartz, or silicon dioxide (Si02), is a common rock-forming mineral, and one can find quartz stones or sediments in nearly every streambed in South Carolina. The crystalline structure of quartz has component ions, atoms, and/or molecules packed in an orderly fashion. Various structures of quartz appear in many varieties and colors; opaque and white (milky); semi-transparent or transparent brown (smoky), purple (amethyst), red (rose), or completely colorless. Quartz crystals have six-sided prism faces that always form a 60-degree angle. The duration at which magma cools determines the size of quartz crystals, with longer cooling periods resulting in larger crystals.

A hiker might notice wart-like formations on stone surfaces along the Carrick Creek streambed and trails. These “warts” may indicate the presence of feldspar, a mineral type that is more resistant to weathering than the rock formation around it. The earth's crust is composed of nearly 60% feldspar, its most common mineral group.

Feldspar is found in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock. The name derives from the German word for "field stone." As it weathers, feldspar releases nutrients such as potassium that are beneficial to vegetation and agriculture. Clay contains a great amount of weathered material from feldspar.

Abandoned mica mines in Table Rock State Park’s vicinity speak to valuable geologic resources found in the upstate. Large pieces of mica were historically used in windows, roofing materials, stove doors, goggles and jewelry, and continue to be used in electrical and heating insulation, paints, and roofing materials. Its slight transparency and resistance to heat are desirable for many of these products. Mica at Carrick Creek can be found embedded in rock, or as shiny flakes or sediment.

The word "mica" originated from the Latin word "micare," which means "to shine." The mica mineral group (SiO4) has flat, smooth and shiny surfaces due to a near-perfect cleavage. Crystallized minerals break along cleavages, which are parallel, crystallized planes in mica. Cleavage planes result from the orderly make-up of atoms, ions and/or molecules in crystalline minerals. Mica is less resistant than quartz, and mica sediments are flushed out and down the waterway easily.

The Carolina Gold Rush, the first in the United States, originated in 1799 when a 12-year-old boy discovered a fourteen-pound nugget in a North Carolina creekbed. Unaware of its value, his family used the object as a doorstop until a jeweler appraised it in 1802. The rush was on as eager miners explored mountain streambeds and surface quartz veins for the precious metal. In the same year, gold was discovered in Greenville County, South Carolina. In 1827, a large-scale gold mining operation began in Kershaw, where a landowner found a large nugget glittering in a stream bed. The Haile Mine was the richest single mine in the eastern United States, and by 1829, it was shipping to the Philadelphia Mint.

Early prospectors profited from streams that exposed deposits of valuable minerals weathered from mountains and hills. Gold deposits in South Carolina are sometimes found in quartz veins, often located below the earth’s surface. The large nugget had likely eroded from an exposed vein and was deposited downstream.

The geologic landscape of Carrick Creek is in constant motion, a feature that is mostly imperceptible to the human eye. Physical force slowly breaks rock formations, rocks, and minerals down into smaller particles. The abrasion of storms and rushing water, expansion of ice, plant growth, and geologic uplift are all forms of mechanical weathering.

Abrasion: Water and wind scrape sediment and particles across rock, functioning like a piece of sandpaper. The process also removes additional sediments and particles from rocks and minerals. Abrasion is one of the most visible forms of weathering along Carrick Creek.

Frost Wedging: Cracks in rocks often contain water, especially in humid climates such as the Blue Ridge Mountains. Freezing and thawing of water cause ice to expand and contract, wedging and weakening the rock material.

Biomechanical: Tree roots shape the landscape by growing under, in between, and through rock formations. Rocks are fractured and rubbed by the pressure of growing roots.

Pressure Release: Pressure was released when Table Rock's dome reached the earth's surface and shed its overlying rock layers. This reduction in pressure fractures rock layers as they contract. Fractures cause the rock mass to peel away like an onion in a process called exfoliation.

Water is a chief agent in chemical weathering, a form of erosion caused by chemical reactions in contrast to mechanical forces. Chemical weathering causes rocks and minerals to decompose or transform into new substances through changes in chemical structure. There are four primary forms of chemical weathering, all at play in the vicinity of Carrick Creek.

Solution: Mineral materials may detach from a rock in a liquid substance and dissolve into their component ions. Bicarbonates or ionic salts, created by this process, represent the major dissolved load of rivers. Limestone caves and sinkholes are examples of landforms shaped by solution. Calcium carbonate, a major component of limestone, dissolves easily in acidic solvents produced by organic materials.

Hydrolysis: Hydrolysis occurs when mineral substances react and/or decompose when subjected to water’s hydrogen or hydroxyl components. Feldspars break down into clays through the process of hydrolysis.

Oxidation: Minerals may react to oxygen in the air or water and transform into oxides. Oxides can weaken or soften rocks, minerals, and metals. Iron, a common mineral in rocks, is oxidized to become iron oxide or rust.

Biological: Acidic compounds released by plants and animals chemically weather rocks and minerals. Lichens and fungi break down minerals by releasing acidic compounds that slowly "eat" away at the rock. Bacteria also secrete acidic compounds.

In 2018, 123.45 inches of precipitation were recorded over a year at the nearby Walhalla Fish Hatchery in Mountain Rest, breaking a state record in South Carolina. Rainwater is the primary agent of soil erosion, especially in humid areas such as the Blue Ridge Mountains and upper Piedmont. Rainwater creates erosion in many forms, and one can see evidence of it throughout the Table Rock landscape.

Splash Erosion: Like small explosions, the impact of raindrops agitates tiny particles of soil, sediment, and weakly resistant rock.

Sheet Erosion: Rain accumulates on top of surfaces that are unable to absorb its load. Flowing sheets of rainwater remove soil and sediment as they move down-slope toward drains, creeks, and other waterways.

Rill Erosion: Rainwater can cut out small channels called rills as it flows over the soil layer. Rills may become gullies, a more severe form of erosion.

Gully Erosion: Networks of rills sometimes form gullies. Gullies are trenches formed from erosion that widen from successive actions of erosion agents. Heavy rains are capable of removing large loads of soil from gullies.

Stream erosion is one of the most powerful and visible forces shaping the landscape of Carrick Creek. The flow of the creek continually transports organic matter, dissolved materials, sediment and stones downstream. Larger flows are capable of moving boulders and trees. Once immersed, the materials scour the area like sandpaper as they flow downstream. The scouring action carves out the streambed, adding even more material to the sediment load of the river. Downward stream erosion, also called downcutting, is a primary factor in shaping channels, valleys and canyons.

Moving water is one of the more apparent agents of erosion on the landscape, but there are several other forms shaping Table Rock and Carrick Creek.

Wind Erosion: Table Rock's dome is exposed to the effects of wind erosion. Wind scours the landscape’s surface like sandpaper as it carries large loads of sand and sediment from place to place. Wind erosion is most common in dry areas such as deserts and beaches. Dunes are created as wind deposits sand in a single location.

Ice Erosion: Ice scrapes materials off rocks and soil as it moves across their surfaces. Moving glaciers are the most severe form of ice erosion.

Gravity: Hills and mountains with steep gradients such as those around Carrick Creek experience erosion created by gravity. Materials move down-slope in a process called mass movement. Creep, rockslides, and potentially destructive mudslides are all forms of mass movement.

Wave Erosion: The hydraulic action of waves and the abrasive elements in seawater can remove sediment and rock from the coast. Coastlines that experience severe wave erosion generally have bluffs or cliffs. Carrick Creek experiences some wave erosion, mostly in turbulent areas near waterfalls.

Even clear water such as that of Carrick Creek has a certain degree of sediment load. A stream's sediment load is composed of suspended and/or dissolved rock and mineral particles. Scientists study sediment load to determine shapes and drainage patterns of streams, and as a health indicator for aquatic ecosystems.

There are three major forms of sediment load:

The stream's dissolved load is the smallest, invisible component of sediment load. Particles of the dissolved load are taken into solution due to rocks’ chemical weathering and transported as chemical ions.

The suspended load consists of fine sediments such as silt and clay. These materials are usually deposited in still waters such as lakes, floodplains and coastal areas.

The bed load consists of coarse particles that are too heavy to be suspended by the stream current. Sand, pebbles, and gravel slowly slide and skip along the bottom of the stream bed. Increased streamflow may temporarily suspend these materials.

Sediment load can indicate changes in watershed conditions caused by climate, erosion rates, vegetation, topography, and land use. Changes in sediment levels may affect the health of the entire ecosystem. For example, to reproduce effectively, salmon and trout need gravel streambeds for spawning and egg survival. Silt and clay introduced by flooding or excessive erosion can destroy these spawning beds. Stream deposits also represent huge potential sinks for, and sources of, contaminants.

Partially adapted with permission from: http://www.gcrio.org/geo/stream.html

Deposition is the process by which flowing water transports material from one place and deposits it in another. If you place a handful of sand or silt in a creek and watch it flow downstream, you are witnessing stream deposition in action. Every landform in South Carolina is shaped in some form by this process.

Rocky landscapes of hills and mountains influence deposition in the Blue Ridge landform. Steep elevations have fast-moving waterways that move sediment and dissolved elements quickly downstream. Boulders, rocks, and pebbles move slowly yet steadily down the streambed at different rates. Fast-moving water in creeks and rivers is generally cold, clear and flushed of sediment and silt.

Streams and rivers become slower and broader as they enter the Piedmont’s gently sloping topography. Sediment introduced by rain runoff from clay surfaces of the Blue Ridge and Piedmont landforms may color water brown or reddish-brown.

Sand, clay, and marine fossils characterize the Sandhills landform. Over 100 million years ago, accumulations of quartz sand, eroded from upstream mountains, were deposited at this ancient shoreline where the mouths of waterways entered the sea.

The landscape of the Coastal Plain ranges in elevations from 125 feet to sea level. Streams and rivers occasionally flood out over the flat terrain. Flooding distributes the river’s current across the floodplain, and loads of sediment and silt are deposited in the slower, less turbulent water. Deposition in the Coastal Plain contributes to interesting landforms such as floodplains, meandering rivers, oxbow lakes, sandbars, swamps and wetlands.

Sediments that survive the trip downriver, and are deposited, accumulate at the waterway’s slow-moving mouth, within the beaches and Coast of South Carolina. Uniform size and resistance to weathering are typical of sediment and silt deposited in deltas, marshes, and beaches. Mineral salts weathered from rocks upriver are part of the river's dissolved load and enter the ocean at the river's mouth.

To learn more about the journey and transformation of sediment from the mountains to the sea, a group of students analyzed sediment samples from the Middle Saluda River near Table Rock and Myrtle Beach. The following are the results of their study:

• Table Rock sample contained many types of minerals and rock fragments. Myrtle Beach sample contained mostly quartz grains with few other minerals.
• Table Rock sample contained a combination of rounded and angular grains. Myrtle Beach sample contained well-rounded grains.
• Table Rock sample contained poorly sorted grains. Myrtle Beach sample was well-sorted and all grains were about the same size.

What does this tell us?

• Minerals that are more resistant (quartz) survive the trip across the landscape.
• Minerals that are less resistant dissolve easily in water, and may dissolve into their component ions, which include sodium, magnesium and chlorine. The ocean is salty because of these ions, which also help to regulate the pH of streams.
• Weathering causes sediment pieces to get smaller and more rounded with the distance traveled. Depending on the flow of water, only pieces of a certain size can be transported. Deposition usually sorts minerals by size.

Content adapted with permission from SC Maps: "What Happens to Sediment from the Mountains to the Sea”

Mountains such as Table Rock are formed by processes occurring many miles below the earth’s surface. The outermost “plates” of the earth shift, collide and divide in a process that mostly goes unnoticed on the surface. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are the most dramatic evidence of such activity, while mountain building mostly is imperceptible and occurs over hundreds of millions of years.

Tectonic plates have been shifting since they formed nearly 4.6 billion years ago, at the beginning of geologic time on earth. Plates periodically collide or separate, changing the Earth’s physical geography. Plate tectonics is the theory behind how and why continents stay on the move.

The earth consists of a crust, mantle, and core that get hotter and denser with increasing depth. Oceanic and continental crusts, along with the upper mantle, compose the lithosphere, which is divided into moving slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The greater tectonic plates of the rocky lithosphere hold the Earth's continents and oceans while slowly sliding atop the molten "plastic" of the Earth's outer core, or asthenosphere.

Events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are commonly associated with activity at fault zones between plates. Faults are fractures between two blocks of rock that move relative to each other. Mountains are formed by converging and diverging boundaries of plates, and by uplift caused by magma rising and pushing up against the Earth’s crust.

Volcanic activity and collisions of the earth's crust form mountains over hundreds of millions of years. There are three major types of mountains.

Fold Mountains form as tectonic plates collide, pushing up the earth's surface to create massive "wrinkles" in the landscape. Take a piece of carpet and push it from both ends. What happens? The nearby Appalachian Mountains are an example of fold mountains.

Dome Mountains form from the uplifting of a tectonic plate as magma deep within the earth rises and pushes up the crust without erupting. The magma cools and solidifies to form the basis for the mountain. Table Rock mountain, and nearby Sassafras and Caesar’s Head mountains are examples of dome mountain building.

Fault-Block Mountains: A fault is a place where layers of the earth's crust slip and slide across one another. Plates either dropping below or pushing above the landscape form fault-block mountains. The Teton Range is a dramatic example of fault-block mountain building.

Volcanic Mountains: Ruptures in the earth's crust sometimes occur where tectonic plates converge or diverge. Molten rock, or lava, and gases escape through ruptures during periods of volcanic activity. Accumulations of hardened molten rock in the vicinity of a rupture may form mountains over time. Mount St. Helens is an active volcanic mountain in Washington state. It’s eruption in 1980 was the deadliest and most destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.

Rock layers are peeling away from the Table Rock's dome in the manner that layers peel away from an onion. This geologic "peeling" is called exfoliation. A visitor can see evidence of the process on a massive scale atop Table Rock's dome, and on a smaller scale on boulders and rock faces near the creek.

Why does this process occur?

Weathering and erosion shed away less resistant rock overlying the more resistant layers of Table Rock’s signature dome of granite-gneiss. Once released from the downward pressure of overlying rock, additional layers of rock underneath are free to expand and fracture. Fractures run in curved sheets and peel in parallel layers, like those of an onion. Freezing and thawing water may upset layers causing them to cleave off the granite mass.

On a smaller scale, rocks along Carrick Creek's streambed show signs of exfoliation. A "hollow" sounding rock is the result of gaps that form between exfoliating layers of rocks. The exfoliation process may also produce small terrace-like ridges seen on boulders.

Table Rock Mountain is considered an "exfoliation dome." Other exfoliation domes include Stone Mountain, Georgia; Looking Glass Mountain, North Carolina; and Half Dome in Yosemite.

The surface of the land - soil, organic debris, and vegetation - around Carrick Creek is sliding down the side of Table Rock’s mountains and hills in a process called "creep." Creep is the slow, nearly imperceptible downhill flow of the soil layer due to gravity. The rate of creep may be affected by environmental factors, including humidity, erosion, vegetation, and soil type. Leaning telephone poles and homes, and curved tree trunks may indicate the process of creep at work on the landscape. Creep also influences the area’s water chemistry by introducing organic debris, soils and clays into the creek.

Creep is the slowest form of mass movement, the general process by which material is transferred downslope due to gravity. More severe rates of mass movement create rockfalls, rockslides and mudflows.

Slope gradient helps geologists determine the rate of mass movement of the soil layer. The steeper the slope, the easier it is for soil to creep down its sides. Gullies, stream erosion, and poor construction practices may cut into the slopes’ sides, causing rapid mass movement in the form of landslides and rockfalls.

Citizens of Greenville, South Carolina tap an extremely clean reservoir of water because of protected watersheds around Table Rock. Watersheds, also called drainage basins, are areas where water flows downhill toward a common water body. Watersheds are defined by drainage divides, or high points on the landscape where rain or snow runs down one side or the other.

We all live in a watershed. Smaller watersheds are part of larger watersheds. Watersheds are obvious in areas with mountains and valleys where water flows toward rushing creeks and rivers. Watersheds are less obvious on landscapes with little relief such as plains and flatlands. Water in flat areas usually collects in lakes and wetlands.

Major drainage divides are well known. The Continental Divide is a boundary where water on one side of the divide flows toward the Pacific Ocean, toward the Arctic or Atlantic Oceans. The Eastern Divide is a boundary where water flows toward either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.

Rain on the north slope of Table Rock Mountain will flow toward the Table Rock Reservoir. Rain on the south slope may enter Carrick Creek through one of its tributaries. Carrick Creek eventually enters the Middle Saluda River, a part of the largest watershed in South Carolina, the Santee watershed. Waters of the Middle Saluda River flow into the Saluda, Congaree and Santee rivers before finally draining into the Atlantic Ocean over 250 miles downstream (SCDNR).

Adapted partially, with permission, from: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/kids/watershed.php

Green Creek enters Carrick Creek at a near right angle along the trail. The point at which two streams or rivers join to form a single waterway is a confluence. A river's confluence represents an increase in a stream's volume as two waterways become one.

Further downstream, Carrick Creek eventually joins the South Saluda, which combines with the Middle and North Saluda Rivers to form the greater Saluda River, a major waterway flowing through the Piedmont of South Carolina. Near Columbia, the Saluda and Broad Rivers combine to form the even larger Congaree River.

Seepages along Carrick Creek reveal layers of groundwater beneath the soil's surface. Groundwater is water that fills the open spaces and pores of soil and rock material. A well is simply a large hole that reaches below ground into an aquifer, a pocket of groundwater.

Gravity causes water to sink down through layers of soil, sand, rock and gravel. At a certain point, water reaches the saturated zone, a point at which the ground is completely soaked. The top of the saturated zone is called the water table. The water table may be close to the surface of the ground or hundreds of feet down, depending on aspects of an area's geology, gradient, soil type and climate.

Groundwater is revealed in several ways. A well is created by digging down to the water table and into the zone of saturation. Springs and seepages are formed by water moving along the water table or along an impermeable surface, and then released at exposures in the soil.

Flood events may carry heavy debris such as stones, small boulders and downed trees down waterways of the surrounding hills and mountains. Bone dry gullies fill and drain the area of surplus runoff, swelling lower creeks and rivers with the extra surge of water and debris. Evidence of recent flooding can be seen as piles of debris accumulate along creek snags or high water areas.

Flooding across cleared or exposed terrain may increase levels of sediment and runoff pollution into streams and rivers. Changes in water quality caused by floods can be detrimental to aquatic animals, such as trout and salamanders, or as drinking water for humans. Heavy downhill erosion can also scar the landscape by forming deep gullies and landslides.

While a flood can transform Carrick Creek into a raging torrent, a major drought can shrink it to a trickle of its former flow. As creeks become shallow during periods of drought, aquatic animals such as fish may become isolated in puddles, pools and small ponds cut off by the reduced flow.

Water temperatures can rise, as shallow water is more vulnerable to sun and heat. Warm water can kill or sicken aquatic animals, as oxygen levels decrease and body temperatures and water-borne bacteria increase. Standing or slow-moving warm water is conducive to algal growth and decomposition that can further choke the stream of oxygen.

Long periods of drought can kill trees, increasing deadfall while decreasing the cooling shade of the canopy. Animals may starve when the food chain is interrupted by a decrease in edible vegetation. Black bears, a rare sight in Table Rock and Carrick Creek’s more public areas, may be tempted to explore campsites and trash bins as their natural supply of food and water dwindle in more remote drought-ridden areas. In 2016, drought reduced Carrick Creek to a trickle while creating conditions for wildfires that ravaged the area.

Water is literally as "old as the hills" - in fact, it is almost as old as the earth itself. Water in Carrick Creek might once have been part of an ancient sea teeming with trilobites, a polar ice cap, a cloud, or the Ganges River. The earth recycles the same limited water supply that has sustained life for hundreds of millions of years. The water cycle is the process that keeps water in continual motion and hard at work.

There are three primary processes involved in the water cycle, also called the hydrologic cycle:

Evaporation is the process by which solar energy transforms liquid water into vapor, water's gaseous state. Water within plants is evaporated into water vapor through a process called transpiration.

Condensation occurs when water vapor cools in the atmosphere and condenses into tiny liquid water droplets, creating clouds and fog.

When tiny droplets of water collect and become too heavy to be supported by the atmosphere, they fall to the earth as precipitation. Rain, sleet, snow, dew and fog are all forms of precipitation.

Precipitated water is set in motion yet again after it hits the surface of the earth. Some water runs off into streams and rivers flowing toward the sea. Water may also soak into porous soils to become groundwater. Plants absorb precipitation and return it to the atmosphere through transpiration. In extremely hot areas precipitation may evaporate immediately back into the atmosphere.

All ecosystems are unified around a need for water, and Carrick Creek plays an integral part of the landscape it passes through. Animals such as raccoons hunt for fish, crayfish and insects in its flow. A diversity of forest dwellers regularly travel to its banks for a drink of water. Hemlock and rhododendron thrive in saturated and acidic soil that collects along the streambed, the product of precipitation eroding area rocks and minerals and running off into the watershed. In contrast, conifers such as loblolly pine that require dry soil are found above and away from the streambed.

As the stream influences the terrestrial environment around Carrick Creek, the surrounding landscape influences its aquatic environment. Insects that fall off trees become part of the aquatic food web where fish or salamanders may consume them. The shade of low-hanging hemlock branches and the thick tree canopy above help to keep the stream cool. These are ideal conditions for trout and colder climate amphibians, and for the macro-invertebrates that amphibians eat - an often overlooked yet crucial part of the food chain.

Aquatic plants and microorganisms need essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that wash into the stream from the soil, and from decomposing plants, animals and their waste products. Chemical and mineral matter is also introduced into the stream as rocks and minerals erode, further shaping the stream's water chemistry. Carrick Creek’s fast moving stream is constantly flushed of nutrients and considered nutrient-poor while ponds, slow rivers, and lakes below the creek are generally more nutrient-rich.

A rotting tree stump near Carrick Creek is a zoo of activity. Take a closer look to see a microcosm at work.

Decaying organisms and organic matter release nitrogen compounds and nutrients that are the "food" of decomposers such as bacteria, bugs, and fungi. Bacteria transform the dead tree's unused energy into carbon monoxide and new forms of nutrients. Special enzymes in fungi help break down more complex tissues and materials in the wood. Mushrooms, a form of fungi, are easily spotted growing on or near rotten stumps.

A rotten stump is also host to various ants, millipedes, and slugs that consume decaying material. Beetles lay eggs on the stump so their larvae may eventually feed on the soft wood. Termites consume the rotting wood. In a symbiotic relationship, protozoa in the termite's hindgut process the cellulose, which feeds their termite host.

The food web further expands around the stump as mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians feast on the rotten stump's smaller dinner guests. Nutrients and organic materials in the soil build up as the decomposing vegetation breaks down. Eventually, the stump disappears, completely recycled through the process of decomposition.

The Carbon Dioxide-Oxygen Cycle is an ecological and chemical engine essential to life on earth. Great forests and oceans of the earth do much of the work so it is easy to see why their conservation is vital.

Your body obtains about 10% of the energy it needs to function through food and water, and about 90% from oxygen transported through the body in your bloodstream. The oxygen in your body, like the water in the creek, constantly cycles through the ecosystem and the organisms it sustains. The carbon dioxide-oxygen cycle is the process by which these gases move continuously through the environment.

In photosynthesis, plants, algae, and some bacteria use carbon dioxide to convert energy from the sun into food they can use. Oxygen is released as the waste product. Photosynthesis carried out by phytoplankton generates about half of the oxygen on our planet. The oxygen produced from photosynthesis is passed on to organisms when they breathe.

Respiration is the process by which organisms breathe in oxygen to help fuel the cells throughout their bodies. Carbon dioxide is the waste product of respiration. People and other organisms release carbon dioxide when they exhale, which continues through the cycle when plants process it during photosynthesis.

In decomposition, fungi and some forms of bacteria derive energy by breaking down dead organisms or wastes, which decay into smaller materials in the process. During decomposition, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Again, it is used in photosynthesis, thus completing the carbon dioxide-oxygen cycle.

Many trees near Carrick Creek have an upward bend at their trunks resulting from branches and leaves reaching for maximum exposure to sunlight beaming through the canopy. While soil at the foundation of the trunk creeps downhill, the upper part of the tree realigns itself to maximize the process of photosynthesis.

Plants exhibit behaviors, called tropisms, in response to stimuli. A plant's response to light stimuli is a process called phototropism. Gravitropism is the tendency for plants to grow upward and away from the pull of gravity while their roots grow downward. Thigmotropism is a response some plants have to touch. Peas exhibit this behavior as tendrils on a vine "grab" and pull the plant upward along a trellis or other support. All three plant tropisms are at work as a pea plant positions itself to maximize photosynthesis and stabilize its foundation.

Beyond undeniable beauty, Carrick Creek’s waterfalls provide a clear example of the erosive power of fast-moving water, as the stream steadily downcuts through rock layers. Once surrounded or encased by weaker sedimentary rock, some harder rocks eventually form into sharp drops or palisades of a waterfall. Water pours over the ledges, wearing down the underlying rocks, as a “plunge pool” gradually deepens and widens at the base of the waterfall.

Carrick Creek Falls is one of the largest and most photographed waterfalls along the trail, and a visitor can easily access its plunge pool from the trail. Plunge pools can serve as distinct ecosystems, hosting various aquatic and semi-aquatic organisms, including salamanders and macroinvertebrates. Waterfalls help sustain life in these stream pools with continuously flowing water, turbulence that constantly diffuses oxygen into the pool. High levels of dissolved oxygen (DO), in addition to clear, cold water conditions, are essential for trout that live and breed in the upstate of South Carolina.

In addition to serving as recreation outlets and life-sustaining agents, rivers with waterfalls can be used as hydroelectric power sources. Niagara Falls is the most powerful in all of North America. Located between the U.S. and Canada, Niagara Falls is exceptionally wide, dumping an average of 4 million cubic feet of water every minute. Compared to the falls, the Niagara River is an otherwise narrow conduit. As its water approaches the broad mouth of the falls, the rushing river increases in velocity. Upstream from the falls, its powerful force can be harnessed to produce hydroelectric power for surrounding areas.

The falls at Carrick Creek are characterized as "cascading" or "tiered,” describing how water flows over separate and distinct steps, each with decreasing elevation in stream flow direction. Some of the falls at Carrick Creek maintain close contact with bedrock and are considered "horsetail" falls because of their long, slender, and feathery appearance.

The tree canopy is the forest’s uppermost layer, between its tallest, or emergent, trees and the understory layer. The canopy serves several functions that ensure the forest ecosystem’s health while functioning as habitat for tree-dwelling creatures. Its shroud of foliage protects the lower forest layers from severe wind or weather, while providing shade that helps maintain cooler temperatures on the ground and in the water below.

Hemlock, White Pine, Red Oak, Hickory, and Sweet Birch, a tree that smells like wintergreen, dominate the canopy in southeastern cove forest ecosystems like Carrick Creek. Different species of trees occupy different forest layers at different heights, and some are more likely to be found near the water than others.

As mature trees in a forest ecosystem fall or die, spaces in the tree canopy open up to growing saplings and smaller species of trees in the understory layer like American Beech and flowering Dogwood. The influx of sun and nutrients allows these saplings to develop and eventually occupy their predecessors’ spaces.

The canopy also influences other forest layers, such as the shrub layer, which lies beneath the understory. Animals that live in the forest canopy may feed on nuts and berries that sometimes fall to the forest floor, where these fruits might propagate new life in the shrub layer. On the ground, animals such as chipmunks, deer, and bear feed on nuts and berries that fall from the canopy as well.

Very little sunlight makes it to the forest’s bottom-most layers: the herbaceous and forest floors. For this reason, plants in these layers normally have relatively short life spans. Here, the decomposition of fallen leaves and organic materials releases nutrients back into the soil and, in some instances, decaying specimens serve as makeshift habitats for other forest plants and animals.

Salamanders are elusive creatures that occupy damp, cool crevices in folds along the stream banks, and under logs and rocks near Carrick Creek. Various salamanders have evolved with different behaviors and physical characteristics, although they are all classified as amphibians. Like other amphibians, salamanders are endothermic, as their environments regulate body temperatures. Unlike scaly reptiles, salamanders have smooth skin, wet from secreted mucus that is sometimes poisonous when ingested by predators. Slimy salamander skin affords protection from bacteria and helps in swimming through water or slipping away from predators. As opposed to frogs, salamanders never lose their tails as they develop from tadpoles. In fact, salamanders can regenerate lost limbs and tails.

The variety of characteristics among salamander species is astounding, and habitats can be as diverse as adaptations. In numerous instances, habitats seem to have influenced these adaptations. Some salamanders live in caves or in trees, while several terrestrial species lay their eggs among rocks and damp debris or even underground. Many tree-dwellers have "sticky" fingers to help them climb, while terrestrial, rock-dwelling salamanders have evolved with flatter bodies and tails. The more aquatic species have tails that are more lateral to help them swim.

Most salamanders need damp environments or water to either lay their gelatinous eggs or live out the juvenile stages of their lives. Some species of salamanders experience metamorphosis in their life cycles and might develop gills or lungs or both. Southern Appalachian and dusky salamanders, common to this area, have neither gills nor lungs, instead breathing through their skin. One of the largest salamanders, the mudpuppy, is fully aquatic, living and breeding entirely in water, while retaining gills throughout their lives.

The rare green salamander is the only arboreal, or tree-dwelling, salamander living in South Carolina, though it can also be found in rocks and cliff faces. The green salamander exhibits a range of adaptations, including toe pads similar to those of tree frogs, that help it to climb. It is the only salamander with green coloration in South Carolina, an adaptation resembling lichens and mosses in its habitat. Its critically imperiled status is likely the result of several factors including habitat destruction, climate change, illegal pet trade, and invasive fungi.

A semi-tropical climate and plentiful water make Table Rock State Park the perfect environment for frogs. Although adults have lungs, frogs also extract oxygen from moisture on their skin, thus requiring damp conditions in order to breathe. Two common species that can be found at Table Rock are the American bullfrog and the gray tree frog, both of which need water for breeding grounds to lay eggs, and where tadpoles can metamorphose into frogs.

Still and slow-moving water at Pinnacle Lake is a perfect habitat for bullfrogs in particular. Depending on the region in which they live, bullfrogs typically lay eggs between May and August, from which tadpoles will hatch within five days. The tadpoles remain buried in the mud throughout the winter, emerge in the spring, and transform the following summer.

Frogs are so vulnerable to predation that some species participate in synchronous reproduction, whereby they all reproduce at one time to increase the odds of survival for offspring. Fish, birds, raccoons, and snakes are among some of the predators of frogs. Frogs, in turn, will feed on insects, worms, spiders, centipedes, minnows, fish, crawfish, snakes, and other frogs, whereas tadpoles filter algae and plankton through their gills.

Many species of frogs have developed behavioral and physical adaptations to ward off predators. The gray tree frog, a common local species, can change colors to blend in with its surroundings. It has sticky pads on its toes and fingers that help it grip the vertical surfaces of trees. Other species, like the spotted pickerel frog, excrete toxins through their skin. Wood frogs produce a glucose that allows them to freeze for up to two weeks, while hibernating during harsh, cold conditions.

Trout thrive in clear, cold, oxygen-rich water and are highly vulnerable to pollution and temperature changes. Protected natural areas such as Table Rock State Park safeguard water quality in the watershed. Fast tumbling water like that of Carrick Creek introduces oxygen from the air, thus increasing dissolved oxygen levels conducive to trout populations. The cooling shade of trees draping over streams is vital to maintaining life in the watershed, and deforestation can adversely affect water temperature.

Upper Piedmont and Blue Ridge rivers are known for their trout fishing, and anglers base their tackle on the fish’s food cycle. "Dry" flies are those that resemble insects that land on the water after falling off trees and plants, or emerge from the water after reaching maturity. Grasshoppers, dragonflies, mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies are popular dry flies. "Subsurface" flies resemble aquatic prey such as insect larvae, nymphs, and worms. "Wet" flies resemble minnows or leeches.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) stocks public waters to maintain a viable trout fishery. Hatcheries raise brown, brook and rainbow trout cultured to a catchable size of 9-12" before they are released. Fingerling trout are also produced to enhance the trout fishery. The hatchery produces and stocks approximately 500,000 trout a year and keeps very large trout (5-15 pounds) on display for public viewing.

Some text adapted from SCDNR resources by permission.

Shiners, part of the Cyprinidae or minnow family of fish, are easily spotted in lower sections of Carrick Creek stream, including pools below waterfalls and slower moving water. Shiners are an integral part of the food web and often indicators of cool, high quality and unpolluted water in the stream ecosystem. These small fish eat algae and macroinvertebrates such as insects and their larvae, and in turn are preyed upon by larger fish such as trout, and by birds such as the kingfisher or merganser duck.

The yellowfin shiner, named after the yellow edges on their fins, is a species found at Carrick Creek and are more abundant in streams at higher altitudes in South Carolina. Greenfin shiners are another common species found upstate where they prefer cool, clear pools of water with sandy or rocky bottoms. The greenfin is a crevice spawner that deposits eggs in the crevices of logs and rocks.

Chubs, another Cyprinidae or minnow family of fish, are also small fish one might see at Carrick Creek. The rosyface chub, named for its red forehead, often schools with yellowfin shiners and are found in the Saluda, Savannah, and Altamaha river drainages of South Carolina and Georgia. It inhabits the pools and margins of riffles in small streams and the banks and eddies of larger streams. As habitat, the rosyface chub prefers sandy or rocky bottoms of waterways and requires clean gravel in fast riffles for reproduction.

Carrick Creek and its network of waterways, including Pinnacle Lake, are teeming with small aquatic organisms including stoneflies, mayflies, midges, damselflies, crayfish, scuds, clams, caddisflies, leeches, water beetles, and water pennies. These are called macroinvertebrates, "macro" meaning viewable with the naked eye, and "invertebrates" meaning animals with no backbones. Most macroinvertebrates need cold, clear, and oxygen-rich water, all characteristics of Carrick Creek’s water quality. Conditions for habitat and survival drop with warmer, sediment-laden, or oxygen-depleted water.

One may find insect species under rocks in and around the water where they live, reproduce, and carry out their life cycles. Most aquatic insects pass through several life stages as larva, nymphs or pupae, and adults to varying degrees. Dragonflies live in the water as nymphs for up to six years. After they have developed wings, dragonflies may live only two months, during which they reproduce. Some species such as mayflies, stoneflies, and damselflies do not enter a pupal stage and instead emerge as winged adults.

A lack of invertebrates disrupts the food chain and ecosystem. While aquatic insects eat algae, plankton, and diatoms, they are preyed upon by crayfish, salamanders, frogs, fish, turtles, birds, and otters. Scientists consider macroinvertebrates an "indicator species" or "keystone species." Measurements of their health may reveal something about the overall health of the environment in which they live. The presence of macroinvertebrates is usually a sign of good water quality, although some species are more sensitive than others. Caddisflies and mayflies are extremely sensitive indicator species, while dragonflies are a bit more tolerant. Invasive zebra mussels are a macroinvertebrate so tolerant that they prefer pollutants, and are used as an indicator of poor water quality in places like Florida's Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Other indicator species at Carrick Creek besides macroinvertebrates include crayfish, frogs, and salamanders.

A lucky visitor might get a glimpse of a peregrine falcon, a raptor reintroduced in the 1980s, soaring across the cliffs of Table Rock Mountain. Its high ledges are attractive as nesting spaces for this rare bird of prey. The Peregrine falcon is mainly a predator of other birds that range in size from a hummingbird to a small Canadian goose. The falcon uses its powerful talons to grab birds in flight, though it sometimes captures mammals and reptiles from the ground.

Not long ago, chances of sighting a Peregrine falcon at Table Rock were practically none, after the species was devastated by a history of poor land-use practices. Toxic chemical insecticides such as DDT, once widely used in agriculture, were responsible for the decline of the Peregrine falcon from the 1950s to the mid-1970s.

DDT moved through the food chain in animals that ingested the substance, and birds of prey were particularly vulnerable. DDT caused significant thinning of the bird's eggshells, which often broke prematurely under the incubating egg’s weight. In 1972, a ban on DDT use in the United States began the recovery period for bird populations affected by the toxin. In the mid-1970s, studies estimated that the Peregrine falcon population declined to just 324 nesting pairs in all of North America.

Peregrine falcons and other birds of prey such as the bald eagle and the California condor are making a comeback. Peregrine falcons made a return to Table Rock after the South Carolina Department of Resources re-­introduced a nesting pair in the mid-1980s. Falcons have fledged in the area nearly every year since 1990, likely the first nesting pair’s offspring.

At Table Rock State Park, armored trash receptacles have tricky little levers recessed into the handle that baffle black bears searching for an easy meal. Black bear sightings in recreation areas are rare, but some conditions may entice the occasional bear to drop in. Messy picnickers, campers and hikers who leave behind food remnants and garbage increase the likelihood of attracting this visitor. Black bears may detect this potential meal from miles away, as their keen sense of smell is 2,100 times that of humans.

Drought is another condition that may increase bear activity in recreation areas. A prolonged lack of rain stunts or prohibits growth of foods that bears naturally consume. The black bear's diet includes high carbohydrate foods such as grasses, nuts and acorns, herbaceous flowering plants, and fruits such as blackberries or blueberries. Occasionally black bears eat insects and beetles, and most rarely vertebrates, usually in the form of carrion. This low fat, low protein diet makes the fatty foods that humans consume even more of a treat to them, though this treat might be considered the unhealthy "junk food" of the bear diet.

The black bear may also find itself looking for an easy meal at the end of winter and just prior to spring. The forest has not yet yielded its bounty of natural foods during this time of year, and bears are craving a long-overdue meal after hibernation. During hibernation, black bears burn their store of energy obtained from a diet of plentiful berries, nuts and acorns eaten the previous summer and fall.

If you see a black bear, appreciate that you are in its backyard as much as it is in yours. Peoples' desire to approach, and even feed, wild animals overcomes common sense, putting themselves and the animals at risk. Black bears naturally fear humans in the wild, but areas with a history of easy access to human food reduce their fear.

Listen to the chorus of sound around Carrick Creek - frogs, crickets, flowing water, and above all else, the sound of birds. Bird watching, sometimes called "birding," is a hobby and a science that requires keen eyes, an understanding of bird habitat, and a listening ear. Birds hide easily in the dense forest and tree canopy, but their songs and calls, or vocalizations, often reveal their whereabouts.

Bird songs are more musical and complex than bird calls. Male birds generally emit songs in the breeding season, competing with other birds of the same species in a sort of "sing-off" to find a mate and establish territory. Birders often have colorful devices to help them remember the sound of songs. Common songs one might hear near the creek are those of the Carolina Chickadee, a four­note song sounding like "fee-bee-fee-bay." The Chestnut-sided Warbler sounds like "please, please, please to meet 'cha." The Wood Thrush, common in upland deciduous forests, sings, "Ee-a-lay."

Bird calls are shorter, nonmusical vocalizations such as a whistle, grunt or warble. About half the species of birds in the world do not have songs, but most employ calls. Calls are used to communicate with other birds, a flock, or a family, and may indicate warning, flight, identification, hunger or a potential food source. The common raven has one of the broadest "vocabularies," including the ability to imitate human sounds, but its baritone croaking usually identifies it.

Scientists analyze and study bird vocalizations in researching the health, population, identification, and behaviors of birds. Smart bird watchers learn various songs and calls of area species before going birding. There are several phonetic, mnemonic, and audio references for songs and calls available free online, so follow your ears to find the birds!

In spring and fall, tree swallows are frequent visitors to the South Carolina Coastal Plain but relatively new to the state’s Piedmont area. Migrating tree swallows commonly overwinter in South Carolina, but they have only recently begun to nest here. Based on sightings during May between 1996 and 2000 in Oconee and Abbeville counties, nesting behavior was suspected but not confirmed. Another adult male was observed by itself at Table Rock State Park in June of 2000, a sighting unusual for that region and time of year, and well into the breeding season. While the birds nest periodically in northeastern Louisiana, northeastern Mississippi, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, and western North Carolina, these areas were thought to be the limits of the southeastern breeding range. The first verified nesting behavior in South Carolina was reported from Table Rock in April of 2001, when some tree swallows were found nesting near the Visitors Center, and where five nestlings were banded and released.

Tree swallows are cavity nesters requiring either natural or hand-built hollows to build their nests. Woodpeckers or sapsuckers often leave behind hollows, and tree swallows may occupy these, in addition to nest boxes set up for bluebirds and other species. Tree swallows typically construct nests from moss, grass, and aquatic plants placed within tree stumps or branches. Tree swallows also nest in steel drums, holes in the ground, and under eaves of buildings located in open areas near water. Water is vital to tree swallows as its staple diet is flying insects that usually begin their life cycles as aquatic insects. Nesting season begins in tandem with the early spring explosion of insect populations that occurs with warmer weather.

In mid-April of 2001, a few tree swallows were observed landing on a bluebird nesting box about seven feet from the ground, in the middle of an open lawn between Lake Oolenoy and the Visitor Center. Tree swallows typically lay between two and eight eggs at the rate of one egg per day. Between May 4 and May 29, nine eggs were laid at the park. By the middle of June, five nestlings had hatched but were not banded until June 25, just two days before the juvenile young fledged from their nest.

Tree swallows exhibit co-parenting behavior, with both the male and the female remaining active in foraging for and feeding young nestlings until at least three days after fledging. The parents of the young tree swallows at Table Rock were believed to have been feeding their fledglings when the nestlings were spotted, days after they had left their nest box and were seen perching in the branches of an old oak tree found between the lake and the parking area. The following year, in 2002, at least three fledglings were hatched in the same nest box, after a pair of tree swallows built a nest there.

Bird banding is common for research of tree swallows and other species, such as ruby-throated hummingbirds. A tag is attached to a bird's leg to monitor its movement, migration, and behavior. Studies show that tree swallow nesting and migration patterns are occurring much earlier in the year than even twenty years ago, and that this trend may be related to global warming.

White-tailed deer are widespread east of the Rocky Mountains, especially in South Carolina, where the variety is found in every part of the state. For this reason, the white-tailed deer is the state animal of South Carolina, along with ten other states. Named for the white undersides of their tails, which are seen pointing upward as the animals take flight, white-tailed deer use their tails to signal danger to one another. They also communicate danger, reproductive readiness and their mere presence through bleating, snorting, grunting or wheezing sounds, as well as through the release of pheromones from scent glands, and the territorial marking of trees.

At between 130 and 300 pounds, mature male white-tailed deer are some of the largest wild mammals in South Carolina. Deer are mainly herbivores, feeding on grasses, twigs, fruits, and flowers. Deer are highly adaptable to various habitats, and when resources are scarce, they will migrate to forests near residential or business communities. Natural predators of deer include bears, coyotes, foxes, cougars, wolves and bobcats, although their leading predator is humans.

It may be surprising to find that deer, a frequent sight at Table Rock State Park, were virtually eliminated from the region as of 1900. White-tailed deer were common to much of the continent before European settlement, but populations dwindled with increased hunting and habitat loss due to agriculture. In the 1950s, proactive natural resource management, re-introduction of the animal, and strict hunting regulations began to revitalize deer populations in the state.

The bobcat is named for its stubby tail and a noticeable bobbing gait caused by relatively long hind legs. A bobcat is the most predominant type of wild cat found in the United States, ranging from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and the only wild cat you will find in South Carolina. Their reclusive nature and nocturnal hunting habits make them an extremely rare sight at Carrick Creek.

Bobcats are very territorial, and individuals usually occupy a radius of between .02 to126 square miles, although females usually roam less than males to find prey or to mate. Bobcats prefer surroundings that afford small enclosures or dens in which to rest, escape from predators or inclement weather, and bear young. They are highly adaptable to different habitats, and can be found in swamps, mountains, deserts or urban edges, but prefer woodland areas. The forest at Carrick Creek provides an abundance of dense vegetation in which bobcats can hide and stalk their prey.

Bobcats are fierce hunters at the top of the food chain, and are crucial to controlling their prey populations. Bobcats normally become active hunters a few hours before sundown and continue until the middle of the night. Protected by their spotted, camouflaged coats, they lie and wait for prey to wander near and then pounce with sharp, retractable claws, seizing and biting their prey through the neck, chest or at the base of the skull. In the southeastern United States, cottontail rabbits are a major food source for bobcats, although they are known to eat just about anything, including rodents, fish, insects, birds, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, beavers, skunks, minks, dogs, cats and even deer. They will also scavenge on food sources killed by other predators when prey is scarce, or bury leftovers of larger animals under leaves, so that they can return to feed at a later time.

Although bobcats and their cubs face natural predators such as coyotes, eagles, and owls, the primary threat to bobcats has been humans who have decimated natural habitat and over hunted them for sport and fur. In South Carolina, the bobcat has been designated a protected species, and can only be hunted during a specific season between Thanksgiving and May.

At the base of Carrick Creek, a visitor might spot a wood duck at Pinnacle Lake. This duck species is one of the few that nests in South Carolina, and it can be found throughout the state year-round. For these reasons, it has been designated the official state duck.

Wood ducks are considered to be “perching” ducks, meaning that they perch in trees, and on top of logs or stumps near water. They prefer shallow lakes, ponds, marshes, and forested wetlands as nesting sites. Wood ducks lay eggs in tree cavities left by squirrels and woodpeckers, or inside thick brush. They often use handmade nesting boxes, carefully constructed above water on poles with shields to protect from climbing predators like raccoons or snakes.

A brood of hatchlings remains in the nest from eight to ten weeks, when they jump to the ground or water down below and feed on aquatic insects. Adult wood ducks will also eat insects in addition to berries, seeds, and grains. The mother protects hatchlings for another eight to ten weeks until they can fly, but must be careful of predators such as snapping turtles, bullfrogs and snakes.

Eastern Hemlocks are one of the most common trees at Table Rock. Among other species like yellow poplar, hemlock branches dominate the canopy, and trees are easily identified along the water at Carrick Creek where their roots help to control erosion.

Eastern Hemlock trees are conifers, evergreens that have needles instead of leaves. They are often found at relatively high elevations, between 2000 and 6000 feet above sea level and tend to grow near water in cool, moist climates and in rocky, well-draining soils, often on hillsides. They are a canopy tree with large, draping boughs that are crucial to providing cooling shade to plants and animals down below.

An impending crisis facing hemlocks in Table Rock State Park is the wooly adelgid beetle infestation. Adelgid beetles are an invasive species thought to have come from Asia by way of Virginia, hitch-hiking on birds, hikers and other visitors. Their egg cases look like cotton underneath the branches of the hemlock trees. Around South Carolina, they have been found on the Chattooga River, at Caesar's Head, and at Table Rock.

From observation of other areas with this particular problem, it is likely that red maple will fill in the spaces where hemlocks get wiped out. If hemlocks are decimated, they will not be easily replaced. While a mature hemlock can be as tall as 173 feet, it can take 10 years for a red maple to reach just 20 feet. The absence of hemlocks could leave gaping holes in the tree canopy, allowing in dangerous amounts of sunlight that could pose a threat to the entire ecosystem at Carrick Creek.

The two methods presently used to fend off the adelgid beetles involve biological or chemical deterrents. Scientists have found success in the introduction of predatory beetles to affected areas, but this biological method may not be a quick enough fix to combat the problem.

Some chemical "injections" and sprays on trees have been effective, but these methods require thorough application, and are not always practical for large stands of Hemlocks. As a last resort, blighted trees are cut down to prevent further infestation.

Trails around Carrick Creek are lined with Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel trees, both species belonging to the heath family of plants. Heaths are common in the Appalachians and surrounding areas where the alpine environment consists of acidic soils and cooler climates. Heaths do not fare well in soils with lime content, a characteristic of soils found in the state’s lower elevations. Blueberries are also part of the heath family, and are usually found in the higher elevations of South Carolina.

Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron share many traits, and because they often grow next to one another, are somewhat difficult to differentiate. Both have long dark green leaves that emerge in star-shape clusters. Both are shrubs that may grow to tree size in some conditions, and both are poisonous to many animals, including cattle, horses, and deer. Mountain Laurel is sometimes called "Calf-kill" or "Lamb-kill" for the potential to harm such animals if ingested.

Rhododendron can be distinguished from Mountain Laurel by its slightly larger leaves. Another way to distinguish the plants is to examine the bark. Rhododendron has smoother bark lacking the vertical fissures of Mountain Laurel bark. Rhododendron flowers tend to have more defined petals while Mountain Laurel has more of a bell or saucer shaped flower. Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron begin to bloom in the upstate in late spring and mid-June in higher elevations.

Stumps found in the surrounding forests are ghostly remnants of one of the most dearly loved and missed trees of the Appalachian forest, the American chestnut. The American chestnut now lives mostly in memory, the victim of an exotic blight that killed trees across the Midwest and eastern United States. Scientists believe the chestnut blight began in the early 1900s with the introduction of a non-native Asian species of chestnut. First identified in trees of the New York Zoological Garden, by the 1960s the blight had devastated the majority of American chestnuts in the eastern United States.

The loss of the American chestnut altered the nature of eastern hardwood forests forever. Its abundant nuts were a primary seasonal food for many animals, including deer, black bears, and wild turkey. The loss of its large and bountiful foliage and shed leaves altered the forest floor’s character and the chemistry of the soil beneath. The loss of shade provided by the tree, which could grow up to 100 feet in areas such as the Appalachians, changed the nature of the understory, as weeds and bushes populated bare sunlit spaces. These factors impact species habitat and diversity while providing an important example of how non-native or invasive species can create an imbalance in an ecosystem.

As part of the ecosystem, humans were also negatively impacted by the loss of this important resource. American chestnuts were an important commodity as food, timber and tannin. Tannins derived from the trees were a primary tanning agent of the leather industry, with large tracts owned by companies for that purpose. Appalachian people once stockpiled the delicious, easy-to-preserve nuts for long winters, and sold them in markets by the wagon load. The wood was greatly desired for its scale, durability, and rot resistance, making the tree’s decimation also the ruin of a large timber industry built around them. A number of historic structures at Table Rock are still in use, thanks to the resilience of American chestnut lumber.

Today efforts to restore the tree are promising yet slow. American Forests described the tree as being in a "coma," as root sprouts and small trees may grow in the vicinity of American chestnut stumps but fail to reach maturity because of the ongoing blight. Attempts at repopulating the American chestnut by creating blight resistant hybrids provide hope but will take several generations of cultivation to establish.

Assorted ferns and mosses line the forest floor and herbaceous layer at Carrick Creek. Ferns and mosses were some of the earliest flora to evolve on land, and considered to be among the more "primitive" plants. Both are spore-bearing plants, meaning that they reproduce through spores rather than flowers or seeds. Ferns have a vascular system that transports water and nutrients throughout the plant. Nonvascular mosses, with the exception of club mosses, filter water and minerals between cells. For this reason, ferns are considered to be more advanced.

Most ferns and mosses prefer a lot of shade and moisture making Carrick Creek an ideal environment with suitable growing conditions. They will readily grow on porous surfaces that stay moist, including wood, brick, and rocky outcrops where even the tiniest amount of soil has been trapped. Velvety mats of mosses die and decompose, enriching and adding to the soil depth of the forest. Ferns are often among the first to grow in their spongy soil beds.

There are about 500 species of ferns and mosses in the southern Appalachians. At Table Rock this includes running pine moss, a rare groundcover club moss, also referred to as foxtail club moss. Ferns that cover much of the landscape around Carrick Creek can easily be identified by their "fiddleheads" and emergent leafy fronds. Entire fronds and parts of fronds on a single plant often alternate between being sterile and fertile, and species can be evergreen or deciduous. The variety of ferns at Table Rock is staggering, and most of them are named after a resemblance to something. Examples include the deciduous rattlesnake fern, named for its fertile frond's likeness to the rattlesnake's rattle and the northern maidenhair fern, which secrete water without being wet. The Christmas fern is commonly used for holiday decorations, and the evergreen cut-leaved grape fern has saw-tooth fronds and spore cases that resemble bunches of grapes.

Wildflowers at Table Rock are seasonal attractions, with the upstate area home to the greatest diversity of wildflowers in the state.

By mid-spring, one might spot the delicate white petals and yellow stamens of bloodroot blooming in the moist environs of the creek. Extracts of this herbaceous plant were once used as a folk remedy for warts and skin ailments but are deemed toxic in modern medicine.

Dogwood trees exhibit their white blooms by late spring and are easily spotted amongst tree stands lining the highway near Table Rock. The term dogwood is derived from "dagwood," a term related to hard wood ideal for making daggers, arrows, and other sturdy tools.

Early summer begins with pink and white clusters of rhododendron and mountain laurel lining Carrick Creek. Into midsummer, Queen Anne's lace makes its debut in fields surrounding Table Rock State Park. One theory behind the nonnative flower's name is inspired by a contest that Queen Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), an avid lace maker, conducted to produce a lace pattern as beautiful as the plant's flowering cluster.

During midsummer, scan the floor of hemlock and rhododendron forests for white-veined, bluish-green leaves and vertical white flower clusters of the downy rattlesnake plantain. Its name is derived from soft hairs that cover its petals and leaves, and it is used as a folk remedy for snakebites. The flower's patterned leaf surfaces resembling snakeskin may have inspired the connection between the remedy and the plant.

Late summer through early fall ushers in blooms of our official "State Wildflower," the tall goldenrod. This important, heat and drought-resistant native plant can be easily seen in fields and meadows, or along roadsides and ditches. The tall goldenrod's abundant yellow flowers are a bounty of nectar for bees, butterflies, wasps, and other flying insects. They are also a hunting ground for such predatory insects as the praying mantis. Goldenrod has a history of folk remedy applications, including use as a medicine for cramps and boils. Additionally, dyes derived from the flowers have been used on wool, silk and other fabrics.

The preceding plants are a tiny sample of the wildflowers one might spot in Table Rock State Park. Make sure to drop by the Visitor's Center for lists of area flowers.

And remember don't pick the flowers!

Living off the land was necessary for the Cherokee and early settlers of the geographically isolated Appalachian Mountains. Rough terrain and flooding made farming difficult in many coves, hills and "hollers," and often trading posts and other conveniences were not available in the backcountry. Poverty in mountain areas also contributed to a need to cultivate wild foods. The Appalachians are one of the most biodiverse areas in the Southeast, and nature provided early settlers with abundant game animals, medicinal herbs and edible wild plants.

For backcountry settlers, hunting was a way of life and not a pastime. Deer, bear, wild turkey and squirrel were abundant game that provided food and fur. Fishing for brook trout, turtles and other aquatic animals also provided people with a source of meat and protein. The abundance of game was matched by an abundance of wild edible foods, many of which the European colonists learned to identify from Native Americans. Common edible plants in the upstate include blackberry, elderberry, blueberry, and black cherry. These fruits were eaten raw, dried and preserved, and eventually used in jams, jellies, and wine. Acorns and nuts were also abundant in hardwood forests. Before the chestnut blight devastated the American chestnut in the mid-20th century, the tree was greatly relied upon for its bountiful yield of large, sweet chestnuts.

Living off the land also meant one's medicine cabinet was derived from nature. Medicinal plants, sometimes called “folk remedies,” were widely used by Native Americans who passed on this information to early European settlers. Yellow root, toxic in large doses, was used in tea to treat mouth sores and ulcers and skin ailments. Cough medicines were made from coltsfoot and black cherry. Jewelweed provided relief from poison ivy, and goldenseal, now endangered, was used for minor aches and pains. Many of these wild, edible and medicinal plants are still consumed or used by people who live in the Appalachians.

Do not eat any wild plant without additional supervision or identification provided through a knowledgeable source. There are as many poisonous wild plants as there are safe ones to ingest, and some are difficult to distinguish. Many parks do not allow cultivation of wild plants.

Due to an abundance of rocks, minerals, and flowering plants, Carrick Creek is an excellent source of nutrients for mature butterflies, while the forest ecosystem affords plentiful vegetation for egg-laying and caterpillar feeding. Some species that occupy Carrick Creek include our state butterfly, the eastern tiger swallowtail, as well as the cloudless sulphur, falcate orangetip, Diana fritillary, hackberry emperor, and monarch, which are known for their annual, long­distance migration between Canada and Mexico. All butterflies are classified among winged insects that experience metamorphosis. They are perhaps best known for their life cycles.

Butterfly life cycles consist of stages including egg, larva, pupa and adult. Eggs are normally found on leaves of plants, and many species require specific types of plants on which to lay their eggs. Monarch butterflies, for example, require milkweed, which is somewhat toxic. Eggs are often disguised as bird droppings to deter predation. Their hard outer shells are lined with a waxy material that prevents the developing larva from drying out. During cold months, the eggs of some species are capable of dormancy, allowing metamorphosis to continue in warmer weather.

Larval stages are entered into as caterpillars, which spend the majority of their time eating leaves of host plants. If these plants are toxic, as in the case of monarchs eating milkweed, caterpillars themselves assume these toxins as an added defense mechanism against predators. Caterpillars have evolved to advertise their toxicity through bold coloration, and even into adulthood, they will often have "eyespot" patterns, which distract predators from their most sensitive parts. Some also have hairs or bristles to protect themselves.

A fully mature larva will normally anchor itself to a leaf’s underside to produce a hormone that helps it develop into a pupa, characterized by the butterfly's cocoon or chrysalis. This is where butterflies develop their four distinctive wings, which are covered in tiny, colorful scales. From the chrysalis, butterflies emerge as fully mature adults, which feed on flower nectar. In fact, butterflies are very important to the pollination of flowering plants. Their long mouthparts called proboscis, result from the co-evolution of this mutually beneficial relationship.

Somewhere on the forest floor of Carrick Creek, an eastern box turtle, an omnivore, slowly hunts for worms, insects, berries, vegetable matter and mushrooms. Many of us have encountered this species found from the mountains to the sea of South Carolina, the most common terrestrial turtle in the Southeast. Although the box turtle resembles a tortoise, a land-dwelling animal in the same family, it is more closely related to aquatic turtles.

Down the creek in Pinnacle Lake, one might spot familiar aquatic turtles such as the yellow-bellied slider and the common snapping turtle in the still, deeper and warmer water. Here turtles feed on fish, insects, crayfish, aquatic plants, and in the case of the snapping turtle, the occasional duckling. The small and agile musk turtle, or "stinkpot," is primarily aquatic but occasionally spotted on land, sometimes basking in overhanging branches. The stinkpot gets its name for a pungent musk it secretes from its glands when disturbed.

A newcomer to the area, the red-eared slider is a non-native aquatic turtle that spread in population beyond its native home of Mississippi, Kentucky and Cumberland Valley with the pet trade. Interestingly, the red-eared slider's popularity as a pet increased significantly as the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became a hit in the 1980s and early 1990s. Many of these highly adaptable turtles were released into the wild by their owners, and have since appeared in a wide range of states including Maine, Florida and Hawaii, and worldwide in places such as the U.K., Thailand, and South Africa. As an invasive species, this aggressive eater competes with native populations of turtles for food, upsetting the balance of the ecosystem.

Few forest animals generate more alarm and excitement than the snake. The chance of sighting a poisonous snake is slim, as venomous snakes are less common and more fearful of humans than the more widespread non-venomous snakes. Hikers injured by snakes often make a careless choice to disturb, or even handle, the animal. Precautions can be taken by keeping an eye on the trail, and hands out of cracks and crevices, of logs or rocks.

The harmless eastern garter snake is the most frequently identified non­venomous snake in the Southeast and found in a range of habitats from the mountains to the sea. Like many snakes, it is semi-aquatic and sometimes spotted around wetlands, streams and ponds where it hunts for small fish and other semi-aquatic animals. The eastern garter snake also plays an important role in the food web as a predator of insects, earthworms, amphibians, and small rodents, and as prey for snapping turtles, hawks, foxes, skunks and raccoons.

The black rat snake is a much larger non-venomous snake common in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge landforms of South Carolina. Growing up to six feet long, this impressive snake is a frequent predator of mice, rodents, birds and bird eggs. Black rat snakes are notorious for consuming entire clutches of wood duck eggs.

One might spot the northern water snake, a common non-venomous water snake of the southern Appalachians, swimming in Pinnacle Lake downstream. Northern water snakes are often mistaken for the venomous cottonmouth, also known as water moccasin. The snakes are both dark brown in color, have relatively wide girths, and feed on amphibians and fish. Cottonmouths, however, live in warmer lowland areas of the state, and can be distinguished by their triangular-shaped heads, a common characteristic trait of venomous snakes.

Copperheads are the most common venomous snake of the upstate. The snake's tan, copper and brown colored skin is well camouflaged against the brown leaf litter of the forest floor.

One is most likely to see a snake in the spring and early summer after the cold­blooded reptile emerges from hibernation to seek food and a mate. Snakes are most active in temperatures between 70 and 90 degrees. During extreme heat, snakes may seek shade in rock crevices, stumps, old logs, stumps and leaf debris. During cooler temperatures snakes are sometimes seen sunning on rocks and roads that absorb and retain the heat of the day.

Lizards are the most abundant reptile with over 3,000 species spread across every continent except Antarctica. As spring temperatures warm up, a visitor is likely to spot a lizard basking on the nature center’s deck or a rock along Carrick Creek. This behavior is essential, as lizards, like the other reptiles, bask in the sun to raise their core body temperature. Warm blooded (endothermic) animals, such as birds and mammals, generate their own body heat, and maintain it at an optimal level under normal conditions. Reptiles are ectothermic, or "cold-blooded," animals that cannot generate their own heat. A reptile's body temperature changes with the outside temperature. Cooler temperatures disable its ability to move, transport oxygen, and digest food.

During the winter, lizards and other reptiles enter a period of dormancy, securing shelter and protection from the cold in leaf debris, decaying logs and stumps, or deep holes, cracks and crevices in earth and stone. Reptiles are adapted to warm environments, and are most active in temperatures between 65° to 85° degrees Fahrenheit. The cooler climate of the Blue Ridge area limits the diversity and population of reptile species at Carrick Creek, with lizards being the most abundant and frequently spotted of the reptiles.

The common eastern fence lizard is a diurnal reptile, or reptile that is active during the daytime. It is the only lizard native to South Carolina that has rough scales, and is most often spotted on trees where its camouflaged scales and climbing ability render it safe from predators. Like a squirrel, the eastern fence lizard will continually move to the backside of the tree to avoid being spotted by an observer. It lives primarily on a diet of insects and spiders, and is sometimes preyed upon by red fire ants, which can easily kill the lizard with a few poisonous stings. Scientists believe red fire ants, native to South America, were introduced by trade ships in the early 1900s. A recent study suggests that fence lizards are adapting to the invasive predator by evolving longer legs and defensive behaviors that allow the animal to shake off the predator.

The five-lined skink is a common lizard found throughout the eastern United States, and one of the few found in the more mountainous areas of South Carolina. The lizard is easily identified by its five yellowish stripes and blue tail, both of which tend to fade to brown as the animal ages. The habitats of five-lined skinks are moist forest areas where they frequent old stumps, logs, ground debris, trees, crevices, wooden structures, and fences. The five-lined skink and the eastern fence lizard both can detach their tails if a predator grabs onto them, thus distracting the predator to free themselves. The tails eventually regenerate.

The original inhabitants, the Cherokee, called this place “Sah-ka-na-g,” meaning “The Great Hills of God.” The physical environment helped to shape their spiritual beliefs that featured an enormous spirit who loomed over this mountain range. His shadow formed a bluish haze from which the mountain range derived the name “Blue Ridge.” The names of the two dominant landforms, Table Rock Mountain and Stool Mountain, also remind us of how their belief system included their physical surroundings. They believed that the spirit sat on the lower Stool Mountain and ate from the higher, flatter Table Rock Mountain.

In 1785, the treaty of Hopewell laid out a boundary of American settlement ceding land in the region from the Cherokee to the federal government. Like many treaties between the federal government and native people, this one was broken by white settlers squatting on the Cherokee side of the land, expansion beyond the boundary, and eventual displacement and devastation of indigenous inhabitants. The Cherokee phrase “talking leaves'' originates from the Hopewell Treaty as such promises would blow away like leaves in the wind when conditions no longer suited white settlers.

In 1935, Pickens and Greenville counties donated approximately 2,860 acres of land to the federal government, laying the foundation for a park. It was the Great Depression (1929-1939) and many people were desperate for work. Under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a federal relief project called the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was formed to employ people in building parks and preserves across the country. The CCC developed many landmark structures at Table Rock State Park including roads, trails, shelters, cabins, fish hatcheries, ponds and lakes. Many of these structures are still in use and are included on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today Table Rock Park is one of the most popular attractions in the South Carolina State Park system setting new records for visitation in 2020 and 2021.

National and State Parks, refuges and preserves are established because of the tremendous foresight of those who wanted to see nature's beauty preserved for future generations. We show our appreciation for this idea after visiting these areas when we "leave only footprints and take only memories." And pictures of course!

Here are some guidelines for low-impact and "Leave No Trace" recreation in the park:

• Follow marked trails only. Who knows what forest dweller's home you might step on if you get off trail? And when in groups, hike in a single-file line to prevent erosion of the surrounding landscape. It will be easier to find your way home on a trail that is kept clearly marked!
• Obviously, put all trash in proper receptacles to prevent pollution of the environment and to preserve its natural beauty. A piece of trash will easily interrupt a hiker's exploration of a wild, and seemingly uncharted territory. Help keep the mystery alive for the next person.
• Take only photos. Table Rock has hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. If everyone picked a flower or took home a stone, we'd put quite a dent into the sensitive ecosystem of Table Rock. Who knows if that rock is home to a critter, or if that flower is endangered? And what if it were the only flower left of its kind? Photograph the evidence instead, and you might become famous!
• Camp only in designated campsites. Although some parks allow backcountry camping, Table Rock does not. Camping, even with the greatest care, leaves a noticeable footprint on the land.
• Fires in many parks are prohibited, or only allowed in designated fire pits. A poorly tended fire at Jones Gap, a state park up the road from Table Rock, recently destroyed 300 acres of woodlands.
• Do not feed wild animals. They are cute, but you won't be saying that when they steal your picnic, or even worse, show you who's boss. Animals that are fed learn to stay near humans, a situation potentially harmful to both.
• Don't use soap or detergent in creeks, lakes, rivers or streams. How would you like it if someone put soap in your mouth? Animals, plants and microscopic organisms need their water to stay clean of contaminants just like you do!

These are only a few guidelines for low-impact enjoyment of the park. For a more detailed list of guidelines, visit the Leave No Trace website.

Both national and state parks offer numerous opportunities for employment. Park rangers play a significant role in preserving these wild, historic, cultural, and scenic areas and come from numerous backgrounds. Some rangers specialize in interpretive roles that inform the public with stories behind the environment both natural and cultural. These rangers often work with teachers and students to broaden classroom work with field trips to the “outdoor laboratory.” Staff in these positions may have education in environmental science, ecology, biology, forestry or history. Other rangers maintain the safety of park resources and visitors as law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency responders.

National and state parks are extremely popular destinations for travellers and vacationers. Staff with hospitality management backgrounds ensure that visitors have a comfortable and safe stay, are directed to areas of interest, and help manage restaurants, stores, and overnight facilities such as campgrounds, cabins and RV parks. Maintenance staff specialize in a range of areas including house cleaning, road and trail maintenance, and groundskeepers.

Research opportunities abound at parks where natural and cultural landmarks are preserved and maintained for the public. Scientists such as biologists, zoologists, arboriculturalists, ornithologists, dendrologists, and geologists study these wilderness landscapes and, in turn, further interpretation for the public. In addition, archaeologists and historians study human history and play a critical part in research and interpretation. Parks often support university research studies as a means to protect fragile ecosystems and cultural resources.

Table Rock Mountain and its landscape of waterfalls, hidden springs, rich flora and fauna have captured the imaginations of humans for thousands of years. The following Native American legend imagines the creation of Table Rock's inspiring dome:

“In the days of extreme witchcraft, the witches had planned a convention and needed a place to meet. They chose the flat top of our mountain. The morning session had ended and it was time for lunch, but they had no table on which to spread their lunch. They bewitched the wind and commanded it to blow the rock clean. The wind blew - and it blew and blew, until there was nothing left on the rock. So, they spread their lunch on it. But, there were no chairs and they knew their mighty Wizard, The Old Man of the Mountain, must be provided a place to sit. So the witches made ready the little hill into a stool for their ruler. He sat on this stool and ate from the table of rock. So, this welded the name Table Rock to the mountain and The Stool to the nearby hill, and the wind is still keeping the rock clean.”

Content adapted with permission from SC Maps: "What Happens to Sediment from the Mountains to the Sea”

Hiking trails are an essential part of providing access to Table Rock's natural beauty. Official park trails are built and maintained by a crew, often a combination of park staff and volunteers. Modern trail builders ask and answer a lot of questions before creating a route.

Examining the soil type and gradient of an area informs the builder of what to expect during times of high precipitation. The potential for erosion and pollution are important factors. Is this trail sustainable after it is created? Will runoff from the trail contaminate a nearby stream or wetland? Trail builders also route trails to avoid the habitat of animals and plants vulnerable to human intrusion. The projected number of visitors also adds to the mix: what is their goal - to get to the top of a mountain, an overlook, or the edge of a stream?

Eventually the process of trail building begins. The site is surveyed, the trail mapped, and the labor of clearing the path follows. Some trails are eventually rerouted if foot traffic creates too much impact on an area. Table Rock's steep elevations, wet climate, proneness to erosion, dense forests, and high visitation increase the amount of work it takes to ease your trip into the wilderness.

The well-traveled Carrick Creek trail incorporates several different materials and techniques. Asphalt is used nearest the nature center where foot traffic is more extreme, creating the highest potential for erosion damage. One ascends the Carrick Creek streambed on natural stone "steps" shaped by a trail crew for safety and convenience. Wooden platforms and stone pavers elevate a hiker above boggy areas where water seepages soak the trail. Finally, a bridge across Stair Step Falls ensures a hiker's view and safety across the slippery streambed. Most of these trail components are "organic" in that they shift, as gravity and erosion alter the lay of the land.

Beyond the falls at Carrick Creek, hikers begin a steep climb toward the dome of Table Rock. Trails traversing steep terrain are often designed as a series of "switchbacks" that zigzag their way upward, following the contours of the land. Hiking uphill "as the crow flies" is not only physically challenging, but eventually carves out gullies that erode quickly during heavy rain events. Trail crews design switchbacks to provide a less taxing and less erosive way to ascend the mountain.