Journeying along the Indian Creek trail to Hidden Falls and Window Falls offers guest a quick easy hike within Hanging Rock State Park. Only an hour away from Winston-Salem and Greensboro, this is an excellent park for a quick getaway.

As you enter the park, winter views abound along the 1.7 mile entrance road to the visitor center. The massive parking lot should be an indication of how busy this park can get, so if at all possible check it out on a weekday or in the off season. Before heading out, be sure to stop by the visitor center, equipped with clean restrooms, snacks, and a complimentary trail map.

If not up for the longer Indian Creek trail, be sure to head down it for just over half a mile to be rewarded with two waterfalls along this short, easy section of trail. Most people include this as a more relaxing finale to the parks namesake, the Hanging Rock trail.

Beginning at the very end of the parking lot, the trailhead is marked with a sign including the mileage to each fall. The path descends slowly at first, passing numerous picnic tables and several picnic shelters. To the right, views of Hanging Rock can be seen through the trees.

The trail is blazed with red squares; however, you will also notice the white circles designating that this is also part of the Mountains-to-Sea trail that stretches from Clingman’s Dome in the Smokies to the North Carolina coast. At .4 miles, a short side trail to the right leads to the small Hidden Falls. Continuing on to .6 miles, the trail descends two stone staircases, both with viewing platforms for Window falls, nestled under rock ledges.

Here the Indian Creek and Mountains-to-Sea trails continue along the creek. Getting down to the falls is easy as it is entirely downhill, which of course means that hiking back to the parking lot will be completely uphill. It’s a short trek, but worth the time.