DuPont State Recreational Forest is a nearly 11,000-acre wooded wonderland bursting at its seams with spectacular waterfalls, scenic granite domes and inviting backcountry. An outdoor enthusiast’s paradise, it offers nearly 90 miles of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails to explore its charming beauty. Rolling hills tucked between high mountains peaks host the upper reaches of the Little River and six of western North Carolina’s most visually stunning waterfalls.
Thanks to its beauty and ample accessibility, DuPont is among the state’s premiere outdoor recreation destinations. Among waterfall enthusiasts, DuPont’s falls consistently rank as the most impressive in all of North Carolina.
DuPont Forest is the northern bookend of lands that form a contiguous corridor of more than 23,000 acres of conserved natural lands along the southern Blue Ridge Escarpment extending to the Mountain Bridge Wilderness in South Carolina.
DuPont’s story represents a landmark achievement for land conservation in western North Carolina. With Conserving Carolina as the catalyst and facilitator of partnerships, 7,600 acres of what became DuPont State Recreational Forest was purchased by The Conservation Fund, then by the state of North Carolina, in 1996. Another 500 acres were purchased for addition to the State Recreational Forest in 2000.
In addition to helping make possible the acquisition of the large anchor tract of DuPont, Conserving Carolina provided a buffer of permanently protected natural lands around DuPont’s boundaries. Since the Forest’s inception, Conserving Carolina has conserved nearly 3,000 acres adjacent to its borders, including more than 100 acres at Terra Nova Center Retreat and our largest-ever conservation easement totaling 2,600 acres at Green River Preserve, both immediately to the south. Conserving Carolina also facilitated the acquisition of several hundred acres that have been added directly to the lands of DuPont State Recreational Forest, including the northern slopes of scenic Stone Mountain.