Kings Mountain National Military Park

After checking out the amazing Peachoid, Noelle, Sierra and I headed further up I-85 and briefly into North Carolina. We exited the interstate and quickly headed back into South Carolina and into Kings Mountain National Military Park. We parked the car outside the visitor center, ate a snack

and then checked out some of the exhibits inside. After that, we hit the trail. We opted to hike the short 1.5 mile Battlefield Trail.

The was on a paved trail through a pleasant section of woods.

There were lots of points of interest along the way to stop, admire and read about. Our first stop was a set of monuments that were dedicated to the memory of William Chronicle, a major in the American forces.

From the Chronicle Monuments we made our way further along the trail, crossing a small creek several times on bridges.

The next major point of interest was a plaque that had been affixed to a boulder that marked the spot where President Hoover addressed a crowd who had gathered for sesquicentennial of the Battle of Kings Mountain. There were apparently over 75,000 people crowded together on the slopes of the mountain to hear Hoover speak. 

Soon after the Hoover Monument, the trail started to ascend to the spine of Kings Mountain. We came to the Centennial Monument which had been built in 1880 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle.

We then our way over to the most impressive of the monuments: the US Monument.

The US Monument is like a small version of the Washington Monument in Washington DC.

From the US Monument the trail started to descend. We soon came to a stone marking the spot where British Major Patrick Ferguson fell.

Nearby we found Ferguson's grave which was originally marked by only a cairn of stones. Today there is also a headstone.

From Ferguson's grave it was a short walk to the visitor center where Sierra enjoyed climbing on the low wall outside.

Inside she was able to earn herself a medal for hiking the trail and becoming a patriot.