Foothills Trail 15M Run - South Carolina
West from Cheohee Road/Hwy 107 (out and back)
MM 6 to MM 13.5 along Chatooga River
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
This was my first venture onto the Foothills Trail
since moving to South Carolina.
It was a section I had not previously seen when
I ran here with a group three years ago.
The trail descends downhill for 2.3 miles
from its Hwy 107 crossing at Cheohee Road.
Most of the header video above left
shows this beautiful winding trail.
It is wide here, but soon narrows with all
manner of terrain switch-ups and obstacles.
At the bottom are Pigpen and Licklost Falls
which are featured in the second video at left.
This is also where the green-blazed
Chatooga River Trail branches to the left.
After checking out the falls, I continued to
follow the Foothills Trail west,
following the Chatooga River on my left,
sometimes up close, but several times
the trail wound its way up to the ridge
above and almost out of ear-shot from the river.
After two-and-a-half hours and 7.5 miles
I turned around and completed the
round-trip in 5 hours.
The Foothills Trail is generally
aggressive and technical, fairly narrow and
often banked toward the river.
The fall foliage was worth the venture
in and of itself.
Temps varied between 58 and 68 degrees
between 10 am and 3 pm.
I felt reasonably fresh, but still ran with
a hobbled knee, and not much spring.
I enjoyed the run without falls or stumbles,
stopping often to photograph the beauty.
The GoPro battery died before I wanted it to,
so I certainly will be returning to enjoy
and photograph this trail again.
This was my first venture onto the Foothills Trail
since moving to South Carolina.
It was a section I had not previously seen when
I ran here with a group three years ago.
The trail descends downhill for 2.3 miles
from its Hwy 107 crossing at Cheohee Road.
Most of the header video above left
shows this beautiful winding trail.
It is wide here, but soon narrows with all
manner of terrain switch-ups and obstacles.
At the bottom are Pigpen and Licklost Falls
which are featured in the second video at left.
This is also where the green-blazed
Chatooga River Trail branches to the left.
After checking out the falls, I continued to
follow the Foothills Trail west,
following the Chatooga River on my left,
sometimes up close, but several times
the trail wound its way up to the ridge
above and almost out of ear-shot from the river.
After two-and-a-half hours and 7.5 miles
I turned around and completed the
round-trip in 5 hours.
The Foothills Trail is generally
aggressive and technical, fairly narrow and
often banked toward the river.
The fall foliage was worth the venture
in and of itself.
Temps varied between 58 and 68 degrees
between 10 am and 3 pm.
I felt reasonably fresh, but still ran with
a hobbled knee, and not much spring.
I enjoyed the run without falls or stumbles,
stopping often to photograph the beauty.
The GoPro battery died before I wanted it to,
so I certainly will be returning to enjoy
and photograph this trail again.
