Mayo River State Park
Mayo River State Park is the thirteenth park in out 2025 North Carolina State Park Challenge. This Park isn’t one I had heard much about, but during this heat wave it was at the top of our list. We started out at the Fall Creek Waterfall that has a small pond in front to cool off in. With the water coming over the falls the pond was very cold and refreshing on a hot day. There are a lot of rocks that are super slippery so you have to be careful when moving around- there are also signs that say to be careful and not to climb the falls as you could fall and get injured very easily. After a quick morning dip, we headed down the rest of the trail and actually found out that the river was our favorite part of this park. There were some shallow parts that allowed for Axel to play and run in the water and some drop offs to allowing swimming without too quick of a current. The only down side was that there were a lot of horse flies, but as long as we kept moving on the trails or were swimming they weren’t much of an issue. I found the little stretch between the parking lot and the falls to be the worst area for the horse flies.
At the end of the Mayo River Trail there is a Beech Tree marked with three yellow rings, this indicates the North Carolina & Virginia Border. After multiple dips in the water, we headed over to the Mayo Mountain Access. We hike the shortest trail, just to stretch our legs without overheating- it was a quick 0.5 mile Inner Loop Trail, but we were sweating! So we strolled around the pond a bit (and watched the MANY geese that were swimming around) before heading to the Park Office for our passport stamp. The office was closed when we got there, but they keep a box right by the door with park maps/brochures, directions to the other accesses, and the stamp. So we stamped our own passport then hopped back in the car with the air conditioning for the trip home! This really is a park I haven’t heard much about but thoroughly enjoyed on a hot day!
Park Details:
ADDRESS: 500 Old Mayo Park Road, Mayodan NC 27027
HOURS: November-February: 8a-6pm
March-April & September-October: 8am-8pm
May-August: 8am-9pm
VISITOR CENTER: Park Office located at the Mayo Mountain Access
PASSPORT STAMP: Located in a box outside by the door of the Park Office
ENTRANCE FEE: No Entrance Fee
TRAILS: 4 miles of hiking trails
ACTIVITIES: Hiking, Fishing, Paddling, Swimming
DOG RULES: Dogs are not allowed in Park buildings. Dogs must be on a leash no longer than 6 ft, please pick up after your pet!
Check out our videos about this Park on instagram @axel.theadventurepup
