Fort Mountain State Park We visited this park in early/mid November for 10 days. Keith and I hiked and played hard every day here- despite the early winter storm 🌨, gusty breezes 💨and freezing temperatures ❄️that finally gave way to beautiful crisp days☀️. The park is rich in history but we are not history buffs so we will leave you to get that info from your friend, Google. . 🥾The trails: Get a trail map!! These are awesome trails and varied trails with lots of elevation. The Gahuti is the most known hiking trail here and we never saw another hiker on the trail except each other when our solo hiking excursions crossed paths. The most popular trails here would be the trails to the CC C Tower and overlook and the “wall”- just know these are not easy hikes due to them going up hill. The most stroller/limited mobility friendly trails are the lake trail and the Cool Springs overlook. . Most of the trails except the Gahuti are multi use and there is a strong community of mountain biking here. We didn’t bike the trails here with our hybrid specialized bikes because we felt the trails (other than the lake trail and the park roads) to be too technical for us due to the major elevation changes, loose gravel and rocks. . *Sidenote .

1. You do NOT need a permit or notify park office to hike the mountain bike trails anymore.
2. If you hike a lot- be aware that some of the double blazes signaling trail split ahead actually already happened by the time you see the blaze. In addition, some trail signage is only on one side of trail or in one direction. (We are one of those couples that creates new hiking loops using existing trails so the signage was a little confusing at times.)
3. The bike trails are not blazed. We suggest everyone wear a helmet not just the required 16 years and younger group.

. ⛱🛶🏊🏼‍♀️The lake area- a small 17 acre spring fed lake is here for your fishing, paddling and swimming pleasure. The area also has putt putt, the only playground,seasonal concession and rentals, beach area and a super nice walking trail for everybody. . 🚍The campground consists of large spacious gravel sites that are well maintained. In the winter, you have lost a lot of privacy foliage but still nicely spaced apart. All sites are 30/50 amp with water. Grey water drains are located around the campground. There is a dump station. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring too. Remember, there are a lot of hills here so expect this when walking to bathouses from most campsites. We had inconsistent cell coverage even with a Winegard booster with AT&T and Verizon. Mornings were best reception and evening were not so good.
. 🏕Other camping options include, walk in tent camping, pioneer campground for groups, backcountry campsites and super cool and private platform (aka squirrel’s nest 🐿) campsites. . 🏡There are also beautiful cabins with lovely views on the mountain side. Most have mountain/forest views and a very few are near the lake. Realize that most of these are on large hills 🏔 so there will be a nice walk to the lake/recreation area. . We really enjoyed the hiking here so much we never kayaked or fished the lake...(also due in part to the cold temperatures). Our 10 days went super fast and we were never at a loss for something to do. You will truly enjoy this park with its history, mountain and lake views. Happy Camping! Pamela and Keith