Rocktop Trail in Crowders Mountain State Park North Carolina is one of the more interesting hikes near Charlotte. There are three popular hikes in the park. There is one route to Crowders Pinnacle, an out and back hike of 2.0 miles plus the short walk from the Visitor Center to the trailhead. Two basic routes go from the visitor center to the Crowders Mountain lookout. Both follow the Crowders Trail to Sparrow Springs Road. Across the road you have the choice of continuing Crowders Trail or taking Rocktop Trail. Rocktop is a little shorter in distance but is rated strenuous compared to the longer Crowders Trail which is rated moderate. They wind up at the same place so the elevation gain of 937 feet is the same. Crowders Trail has 336 steps in the last quarter mile while Rocktop is all about steep and rocky trails up and down. More elevation changes with many small scrambles over granite outcrops. From the photographer's perspective, Rocktop is the way to go.
The shot above is only a few hundred yards into the trail. This is the first big granite outcrop off to the right side of the trail. If you explore this detour there are steep cliffs which drop more than 100 feet as well as many ledges where there are views of the surrounding countryside. There is even a place where you can see Crowders Pinnacle about 2.5 miles away.
Here's a small granite tower just 100 yards further down the trail. You are walking along the ridge line here, one of the few places open to the sky. The trail follows the ridge but most of it has tree cover of Virginia Pine and Hickory with an understory of various shrubs including mountain laurel.
There should be a scale that rates how difficult it is to get a great shot. Let's make it a 5 star scale. Say you are getting a hypothetical city skyline shot from the public viewing area of a downtown skyscraper. There's a parking garage at the bottom of the building with a elevator directly to the viewing area which is open 24 hours. If you can't get a decent image there, you might want to consider a different hobby. So we'll give that a rating of 1.
On that scale Rocktop Trail is a solid 4 stars. Can't give it a 5 because the park is only an hour from the city, and the visually interesting part of the trail starts only a mile from the Visitor Center. The problem is that most shots are under cover of old pine forest. So the light is both bright and dappled. State Parks don't open before sunrise and close after sunset. So getting the blue or golden hour shots require camping overnight. In this park there is no RV specific area, so camping means a tent you put up yourself. I'm going to say sleeping on the ground to get a magic hour shot automatically increases the difficulty rating one star.
An additional issue with photography in this type of forest is that its' difficult to isolate a feature and find a composition with a specific focal point. Everything becomes a texture of bright spots and deep shadows. The basics of strong composition require a focal point where the contrast is at it's maximum. As in all the visual arts, that's not a hard and fast rule, but a good place to start.
Maybe photos that illustrate the trail and photos that make great visual images cannot be one in the same. Trying to accomplish that might be counter productive. When you are standing there looking at the forest scene, it looks great, but when you see the image the next day, not so much. It could be that instead of shooting at f/5.6 and f/8.0, this kind of photography really needs an ultra fast prime. The first (top) shot was at 16mm, the vertical composition was made from two frames stitched together at 18mm, and the lower image at 35mm. All done with my 16-50 f/2.8 kit lens. Might be that what's really needed more careful composition shot at f/2 or faster.
I know everybody is different, but to me locations with a one star difficulty rating are less interesting. Part of the whole photography experience is about getting shots that the tourist with a point and shoot will never get. The challenge is part of the fun. For photographers that like a challenge, Rocktop Trail will fill the bill. It's physically demanding enough to give you a sense of accomplishment for carrying your gear up the mountain. And it's photographically challenging to capture the wonderful views.
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