Hunger Games Fans – Arena Sites – DuPont State Park
On our first day of our Hunger Games Fandom weekend, we took a trip to District 12 in the morning.
By the afternoon, we were hiking in DuPont State Forest, just south of Asheville, North Carolina. DuPont State Forest is the location of many of the scenes in the arena of the Hunger Games movie. Some great information can be found on this Asheville Visitor’s site.
The two main sites that we visited were Triple Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Triple Falls was our first stop and it was definitely an easy hike. We parked at the Hooker Falls parking lot, which is about one mile away from the Visitor’s Center.
If you take a moment to walk up to the road and look down at the river below, you will see where the director had Katniss jump back and forth on the rocks for scenes in the movie. She heads to the left bank, then to the right bank. It is fairly zoomed in during the movie, so no one is the wiser about her travelling from one side to the other.
Once you have taken in the scene from the road, you can walk back down and follow the path for Triple Falls. Head all the way to the top. There is a pretty steep climb, but it is fairly short. You’ll have a beautiful view of all three waterfalls on your way to the top.
Once you finish your climb, there are stairs on your left to take you down to the bottom of the uppermost waterfalls. This is not one of the movie set locations, but a beautiful place to explore.
Once you are done exploring the upper section, make your way down to the bottom of the last waterfall in the series. To accomplish this, you can climb back up the stairs, hike down the path and enter at the very bottom and then walk along the flat rocks to the lower waterfall. Or you can climb down the rocks from the top.
We choose to climb down the rocks. The rock area on the right side of the photo below was very dry and had ledges, so it felt fairly safe on the day we were there. Water conditions change each day, so please be wise. There are signs everywhere reminding folks that death occurs at the waterfalls every year.
The area below this bottom waterfall is where most of the filming at Triple Falls occurred. It was here that Katniss heard the announcement that there could be two winners. She found blood and followed its trail which eventually led to Peeta, camouflaged in the rock.
Oh, there you are Peeta. Or is that a dead tribute?
This area is magnificent. There is plenty of flat, dry rock, so have a good time exploring.
As you wander down the rest of the rocks, you’ll find a popular swimming area. Bring a bathing suit and join in the fun! It’s what the cast from the Hunger Games did.
Our next stop was Bridal Veil Falls, which we tackled the following morning and I’ll tackle in my next post.
She believes that creativity, laughter, and fun are the backbone for engaging and inspiring homeschools. You can find her encouragement and tips on this blog, Mary Hanna Wilson.
She is an enneagram 7 and an extrovert. She enjoys traveling, tea (iced or hot), good conversations, and books. You can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.
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