Watery Ways: Tour the Hendersonville, NC Lake Country by Electric Bike

When you read a lot of Edwardian era novels (think Pride and Prejudice) you find out that back in the late 1800s the English version of a trip to the Carribean was to go to the Lake Country. Which is like scenic and stuff apparently. Obviously I don’t live in England – for starters, I’m not really sure what the chips in fish and chips are supposed to be – but with some creativity I was able to build my own Lake Country itinerary. Albeit in Hendersonville. So come along for a nice ride on pavement and gravel roads while you visit Lake Lanier (the North Carolina version), Lake Summit, Lake Sheila, and Orchard Lake on a fun ride with a few historical stop offs and a trip through downtown Saluda and Tryon.

How you get there: You want to park at the Blue Wall Preserve 35.184545, -82.248597. Come early, the parking is popular, but it’s a safe place to leave a car for an extended period.

Time for the ride: I clocked this one in at 47.7 miles in a lollipop loop.

Best season to do this ride: Any time of year, though you will find the traffic is significantly higher during summer and leaf season. I did the ride in winter to enjoy the empty lake cabins and serenity of winter at a summer vacation destination.

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Route to Ride

Starting off at the Blue Wall Preserve you get out on Dug Hill Road and ride down to Lake Lanier to turn left on East Lakeshore Drive. This particular lake has been a spot of relaxation and vacation since it was first developed in the 1920s. You’ll see occasional glimpses of this vanished past in the old stonework and the tea house that reside along East Lakeshore Drive. The route goes up and down mildly as it rides between lake houses both old and new, inspired and frankly uninspired vernacular architecture. Stay on Lakeshore Drive all the way around until you cross the bridge over the dam at the base of the lake with those old style light poles on it. At the end of the bridge hang a left to descend to Tryon on Lakeshore Drive.

Lakeshore Drive drops down to 176, and you’ll begin your ascent to the mountains here. 176 passes the only grocery store on this route – the Tryon IGA – shortly thereafter, then rides through downtown Tryon proper. Continue on 176 after passing through downtown Tryon – you’ll need to hang a left to stay on it at the stoplight at the gas station, but you’ll be treated to a fantastic mural on the back of said gas station after you finish the turn. 176 from here passes through a variety of mountain house architecture, before bottoming out in what was once old farm fields that people now live in. You’ll pass the Caro Mi Dining Room, which has been there so long no one remembers when it first started (but probably before Interstate 26 was built back when 176 was the only way to get up to Hendersonville). The Norman Wilder Forest is also on this route. You’ll pass briefly through a gorge at the parking are for Melrose Falls, then continue up 176 along the side of the mountain.

Keep riding up 176 until you get into Saluda, where the Wildflower Bakery is usually open and has food available if you need a chance to warm up (or cool off). Saluda’s picturesque elementary school and general mountain town feel are enjoyable, especially since you’ll be riding right through downtown on 176. It’s been fixed up a lot since I was a kid – it’s not as creepy as it used to be, and worth stopping to explore as well since after all this is a Lake Country tour – you’re supposed to go do the touristy thing on this one. At the end of downtown 176 turns left and crosses the railroad tracks to continue.

You’ll continue up 176 till you reach S Lake Summit Road on your left. This is a gravel road the winds up hill just before the train trestle crosses 176. Turning onto this you’ll be treated to a well maintained smooth crush and run surface with some highly enjoyable switch backing as you head out the through the woods and descend to Lake Summit. You’ll stay on Lake Summit Road all the way around the lake – enjoy the vacation cabins, VRBO rentals, and general sense that this place is busy in the summer (but beautiful and quiet in the winter). The road reaches the far end of the lake where you’ll find a cool old steel trestle bridge, now out of service but visitable by bike (though not by car, it’s heavily placarded as no parking). You will not be able to cut down on Green Cove Entrance Road – this stretch is inside a private summer camp and is heavily placarded as no trespassing.

Instead, cross the bridge and ride up S Lake Summit Road to the intersection with Old Highway 25. In winter Old Highway 25 is not an especially high traffic road, particularly in the direction you’ll be going as you turn left on it. You’ll stay on Old Highway 25 till you reach Mountain Page Road and hang a left on it. Ride off through the mountains till you reach Trammel Gap Road. Hang a right on this to go out to a little oasis called Lake Shelia. The loop around this lake is not as scenic as Lake Lanier or Lake Summit, but it’s low key and low traffic, which makes for a nice break. You’ll have to ride back out to Mountain Page Road to continue though.

You’ll ride a few hundred feet on Mountain Page Road then hang a right on Mine Mountain Road to go over to Orchard Lake. Orchard Lake is inside the Orchard Lake Campground and to be frank, you can’t see an announce of water from the road. To However, during the primary tourist season when the campground is busy you can ride in from the Palmetto Trail trailhead on the backside of the campground and check it out without anyone really knowing you aren’t staying there. Otherwise, there isn’t much scenic to this stretch around the campground, which is best experienced by hanging a right on Fork Creek Road and riding south around the campground perimeter.

Continuing on Fork Creek Road you’ll pass the remains of an abandoned and unloved farmstead and an old country church. Melrose Lake Road is placarded as private, so no go on adding that to the lake tour unless you’re hiking up the Palmetto Trail on foot. Therefore, you’ll continue down Fork Creek Road and as you descend towards Pearson’s Falls the ride starts being fun again! The downhill winds down between two mountain sides with a few houses perched precariously along the edges. It’s fairly scenic and the water, while mostly out of sight, can still be heard rushing along somewhere in the distance as you go down. You’ll bottom out at Pearson Falls Road, with the old bottom of the Saluda Grade with its abandoned track and runaway train line going up the mountainside in front of you. Someday they’ll be a rail trail here, so if you like old stuff you may want to stop now and check it out before it gets redeveloped. You’ll hang a right on Pearson Falls Road and ride back up to 176, then it’s back down 176 and back up to Lake Lanier to return to the car and finish out the ride.