Hanging Rock State Park and Pilot Mountain State Park are in the Sauratown Mountains, the easternmost mountain range in North Carolina. Because these mountains are surrounded by valleys 800 ft. in elevation, they’re not considered part of the Blue Ridge and are sometimes referred to as “the mountains away from the mountains.”

The two parks are connected by the Sauratown Trail, a 35-mile section of the MST. Their exposed cliffs and rocky knobs rise 1,500 ft. out of the valley and can be seen for miles around.