Hiking Trails Blogs

This is a can’t-miss hike if the weather cooperates. Table Rock, the stone uplift that forms the Linville Gorge’s most prominent peak, has amazing vistas at the top. About a mile and a half south, the Mountains to Sea Trail skirts the ragged ridge of The Chimneys, one of the most impressive assortments of rock formations in a gorge full of them.

Starting at the Table Rock picnic area, I hiked to Table Rock Summit first, then backtracked and headed down to The Chimneys, then took a little detour down an unofficial trail to the eastern rim of the gorge. I put in about four miles; you could do a lot more, but you’d be walking away from the most compelling reasons to be there.

Bear in mind that Table Rock’s picnic area is a popular tourist destination; gawkers can clog the trails (and fill the parking lot). You can’t avoid them at the the top of Table Rock, but the summit area is big enough to support lots of people. Few venture more than a half-mile south toward The Chimneys — once you pass their grazing range you should have much of the place to yourself.

The hike starts out at the north end of the parking lot, following the Mountains to Sea Trail for about a half-mile, then taking a right turn and climbing to the summit. Let’s see some scenery:

About a quarter-mile up the trail, this impressive stand of angled stone looms over the Mountains to Sea Trail.

Fall color is coming in, one splish and splash at a time. The hike to the summit is just under a mile. At about a half-mile, there’s a trail junction with the left turn heading downhill and the right going up. Bear right and keep going. As long as you’re heading uphill you’re going the right way.

Here’s one of the views from the top.

Here’s one looking southward. There are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore — just mind your footing; it’s a long way to the bottom.

Looking out from a rock overhang on the way back down.

When you get back to the parking lot, walk to the far end and get back on the Mountains to Sea Trail. You’ll pass through a picnic area and a few campsites; not far from there, a big overlook appears over to the left.

Here’s the view from that overlook.

Tree and rocks near The Chimneys. This section is visually spectacular — but it’s also fairly small. Once you’ve passed it, the trail reverts to tree tunnel. But there is an unofficial trail that heads down to the east rim of the gorge, with tons of gorgeous overlooks. Here’s a view looking upward toward from that area:

This section of trail is a bit faint and overgrown, but it can be followed if you pay close attention. This is another of those “best explored with a GPS unit” paths.

One very cool thing about this section of the forest: it’s dominated by one of the trees that’s already turning color.

More trees near the east rim of the gorge.

This was my view when I broke for lunch.

Another view of Table Rock from near the east rim.

Warning for those thinking of exploring the east rim section: the edge of this area is a series of sheer cliffs plunging several hundred feet into the depths of the gorge. Visually spectacular, but fatal if you fall. The trails are very faint, if visible at all. This page at Linvillegorge.net links to all the site’s GPS tracks; best to stick to the main trails if you don’t have a GPS unit.

From the east rim area, I found an even fainter trail back up to the Mountains to Sea Trail and headed back to the parking lot.

My favorite dead-tree shot along the way back.

My best advice for this hike: wait for optimum weather — clear skis, light breezes, mild warmth. This is a visual route; no point going when fog socks in the canyon or gale-force winds make you fear for your life.

Links for this hike:

• My previous Linville Gorge hikes.
• GPS tracks at EveryTrail.com
• Linvillegorge.net

View Untitled in a larger map

Seeing the Linville Gorge from its heights a couple weeks back gave me a burning itch to check out its depths the next time around. One of the easiest ways to go deep is to find the Spence Trail on the east side of the gorge on Table Rock Road. The trail descends relatively gently to floor of the gorge, where a footbridge crosses the Linville River and more explorations await on the Linville River Trail.

I figured taking the sane, reliable route would drain all the drama from this week’s update, so I found a nearby unofficial trail from the good folks at Linvillegorge.net, uploaded one of their tracks to my GPS unit, and charged forth into the forest.

What happened next demonstrated beyond doubt that the proper response to a burning itch is to consult a medical professional. I’ll stop short of saying “don’t go this way if you’ve got a lick of sense,” but I will say you’d better damn sure know your way around a topo map and compass. The longer I was out there, the louder the voices in my head were screaming, “dude, you are toast if you drop your GPS unit down a crack.”

I started out on the southeast side of Hawksbill Mountain on a faint rumor of footpath called Ledge Trail. It’s barely visible from the road, though not impossible to find. It’s just south of a gravel road that looks like it goes down to a campsite. It’s wild and overgrown, but reasonably easy to follow if you pay attention.

The fun started on the next section: a cut-off trail that tracks over to Spence Trail. This section might best be called “GPS-only” — parts of it are visible for extended stretches, but other parts fade into the hillside, or get obscured by large rock formations.

As long as you stay on track, you eventually intersect with the Spence Trail; from there the hiking is almost comically easy in comparison.

Let’s see some pix:

These two trail ribbons mark the turn-off to the Ledge Trail connector, which runs over to the Spence Trail. Ribbons like these mark a few of the key turns. You wish there were more but then you remember, “moron, this is Designated Wilderness; you’re lucky somebody left these.” There’s one point down the trail where a pink marker seems to clearly mark a leftward turn in the trail; perhaps 20 feet down the trail, another tiny red ribbon marks another left turn; took me about 15 minutes to find that turn, even with my GPS.

These rock overhangs never fail to impress me.

So after scratching and clawing my way over to the Spence Trail, I headed downhill to the Foot Bridge crossing the Linville River. The closer you get, the louder the Linville River roars down the canyon. The bridge crossing is all you need to see why people keep coming back here, crazy trails and all.

The river pools in many places near the Foot Bridge; just hanging out here and soaking up the view would be the perfect way to consume a few hours, but I wanted to head downstream, so I picked up the Linville River Trail just up from the opposite bank.

I hiked less than a mile south along the Linville River Trail; felt like I might’ve straggled into a suburb of Bedrock here.

The great temptation of the Linville River Trail is deciding when to scramble down to the water’s edge. I found one opportune ravine and headed down to this small waterfall, had some lunch, and slogged back up the hillside.

I headed back the way I came and paused for another shot at the Foot Bridge over the river.

Saw these very interesting wildflowers along the way.

Also liked the way this shot came out looking vaguely like something Jackson Pollack might have painted.

Retracing my steps back up the connector trail, I realized something you can never forget in the Gorge: going up an almost invisible trail is an order of magnitude more strenuous than going down it. The connector trail is all uphill and requires navigating around a few huge boulders. By the time I got back to the Ledge Trail, I was just about spent, physically and mentally. This ones one of the rare times I just wanted this hike to be over.

Reading my gripes might seen like reason enough to confine your travels to the officially designated trails, which are ragged enough, but remember there are only 18 official trails in Linville Gorge Wilderness, vs. more than 80 documented by the hardy travelers at Linvillegorge.net. You can’t be faulted for wanted to stray beyond the trails the Forest Service approves of.

Just make sure you bring extra batteries, and you actually know how to navigate with a GPS unit. And have a fallback plan for when your gadget falls down a crack (I’ve found that preparing for the worst is the best way to keep it from happening).

Links for this hike:

• Everytrail GPS tracks
• Last week’s Hawksbill Mountain hike.
• Linvillegorge.net
• Linville Gorge fact sheet

Google map for this hike:

View Linville Gorge Wilderness, Ledge Trail to Spence Trail in a larger map

I’ve been meaning to get back to the Linville Gorge Wilderness for months now, but I’ve been waiting for the local heat index to move from its usual summer setting (Generally Insufferable) to its early autumn range (Mildly Annoying). Last Sunday we finally got a hint of the cool days to come, so it was a perfect time to take up a recent visitor’s suggestion to explore Hawksbill Mountain, a jagged peak on the east rim of the gorge.

Hawksbill from about 1.25 miles away — at the Wiseman’s View overlook on the gorge’s west rim.

With a summit of just over 4000 feet, Hawksbill is one of the high points of Linville Gorge Wilderness. It’s always cooler the higher you go, but most of the hiking at Linville Gorge starts high and dives low on steep, treacherous trails that are tiring enough in sane temperatures. I’m like, sure, if you want to face 95-degree heat and humidity you can swim through because that kind of thing interests you, then head right to the Gorge in the middle of July. Otherwise, wait for more tame temperatures.

Left turn at the half-mile point.

Hawksbill is a training-wheels hike for the Gorge’s terrain. It’s only .8 of a mile to the top, but with 770 feet of ascent (average grade: 18%) you’ll be working up a sweat about a hundred yards in. It’s tree tunnel and roots for the first half mile, then you turn left and start slogging up a steeper, rockier trail. Great views start opening up pretty soon, hinting at the most spectacular views to come.

The Blue Ridge from an overlook along the trail. Most of the lower elevations were fogged in, providing that head-above-the-clouds perspective prized by hikers everywhere.

Eventually the trail evens out near a large rock beside a flat area that looks like a nice campsite. If you look closely, you’ll see a little trail over to the right of the campsite — this is the trail to the summit. This picture was taken about half-way up.

Here’s one view from the top.

Here’s another.

Yeah, just another mind-blowing panorama under perfect skies and cooling summit breezes. Why would anybody ever want to hike up here?

Well, there’s only so much splendor I can stand before my feet get the itch to start hiking again. I headed back down the trail to the junction where it’s a right turn back to the car and a left turn toward the gorge. What the heck, I figured, I’ll try left.

I was hoping the trail might provide an overall view of Hawksbill but it was lost behind the tree cover. The trail doesn’t dive into the gorge; instead it tracks the ridge of the east rim. The hiking’s easy by Linville Gorge standards but there’s still quite a bit of up-and-down. It also passes through a couple campsites that could be fine places to base-camp while exploring the gorge.

After about three-quarters of a mile I found this intriguingly titled turn: Devil’s Hole Trail.

How could I not turn there? Well, there was the fact that I had no map and figured my GPS unit could get me unlost just in case. After a steep half-mile down into the gorge it occurred to me I’d have to come back all that way, and I had no idea how far away the that diabolical hole might be. Felt like a good time to break for lunch and head back.

On the way back I stopped at a stump and tried to see if I could come up with anything photogenic. Not sure if I did, truth be told.

I did happen across this frog, though.

And a few hints of fall color.

This hike was just long and arduous enough (4.7 miles and 2000 feet of ascent) to whet my appetite for more Gorge outings. A few things to keep in mind if you’ve never been:

• It’s a designated wilderness: Some trail junctions are signed but many aren’t, and none of the trails have blazes. The official Forest Service map recognizes on a fraction of the actual trails, because hunters, anglers and loggers traveled the gorge for decades before the wilderness was established.
• The best source for Linville Gorge trail information is Linvillegorge.net. The site’s volunteers have GPS tracks of just about every passable trail in the gorge (and a few impassable ones, I suspect). Folks on the discussion board are authoritative and patient with newbies.
• Standard advice from the forum’s regulars: think of your hikes in terms of hours, not miles. With all the rocks, roots and precarious climbs, it can be hard to do better than a mile an hour in some areas.
• The gorge has bears. Camp (and cook) accordingly.

Links for this hike:

• Everytrail gps tracks
• My first Linville Gorge hike.
• Linvillegorge.net
• Linville Gorge fact sheet

Google map for this hike:

View Hawksbill Mountain & Wiseman’s View, Linville Gorge Wilderness in a larger map

Linville Gorge Wilderness is high on all the must-hike lists for the southern Appalachians. The terrain is so ragged and remote that there was never much prospect of cutting down the trees and putting up swanky resorts. It’s all protected wilderness now, and once you leave the roads you’re on your own. Trails are generally unmarked, except for major junctions and one section of the Mountains to the Sea Trail.

Most of the hiking at the gorge starts high on the rim and dives down to the Linville River at the valley floor. The most interesting hikes are, of course, 14 miles into the middle of nowhere, requiring untold twists and turns on old forest roads — a daunting prospect for a newbie like yours truly.

I went for a locale that was easiest to find, and easiest to stay found: Linville Falls Visitors Center, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway (just drive west and I’ll hit it eventually). Linville Falls attracts massive throngs during peak leaf season, but the crowds fade fast once the leaves hit the ground.

The two sets of trails around Linville Falls are alternately flat and serene or steep and crazy. One eases up to Erwin’s View overlook, with the falls on one side and the gorge on the other. The other zigzags down to river level through a tangle of roots and ragged rock. Both trails are out-and-backs of just under a mile; with side trips and wandering, I notched about four miles.

While the easier trails tempt further exploration, the harder ones offer a sobering preview of Linville Gorge terrain: lots of raggedy up-and-down, with high-stepping, low stooping and grabbing branches to keep yourself upright. It can get old fast if your legs haven’t got much scramble in them.

Time for pictures. I’ll start with a few pictures of Linville Gorge taken from the Wiseman’s View overlook.

This is why they call it the Grand Canyon of North Carolina.

Hawksbill Mountain, on the other rim of the gorge.

Looking northward into the gorge. The jagged cliffs over there are typical terrain.

Now for some pictures from my hike:

Linville River, just off Erwin’s View Trail — the mostly flat, mostly easy way to see the falls.

I took this on a tripod with my camera on maximum zoom — the falls are far away enough to make you wish you could get a lot closer. Fortunately, you can. But not easily.

I liked the shades of brown on the forest floor here.

OK, so after checking out Erwin’s View, I returned to the trailhead and set out on the Plunge Basin Trail, a much more adventurous route. The Plunge Basin at the bottom of Linville Falls is less than a mile from the trailhead, but the wacky footing made it feel three times longer.

At the first Plunge Pool overlook, you’re notably closer to the falls than any of the overlooks on the river’s opposite side. (I dropped my camera near here; it skidded along solid granite for a dozen feet, but still worked despite the jolt. Dang thing has nine lives. Fedak, if you’re reading: Yes, it’s the same one you donated to the cause).

This rocky stretch isn’t even one of the hard parts.

From here you go down one very steep ladder, pass below sheer cliffs, work your way over one root tangle and rock pile after another till you finally hit river level, where you can hear the falls roaring just beyond a wet stone face. A narrow path at water’s edge takes you to the other side. It’s slippery and requires considerable balance and caution to keep your boots dry, but it’s not as harrowing as it looks at first glance.

Linville Falls at the Plunge Basin.

A hiking family making their way over the path I had just taken.

Yeah, this is the trail. Returning is actually easy despite the climb because you have a better sense of where your feet are going, and you’re not trying to navigate with the brakes on.

On your way back, this ladder tells you most of the climbing is out of the way.

Even without leaves this forest is wonderful.

Links:

• EveryTrail GPS tracks.
• Smoky Scout takes her hiking club up Hawksbill Mountain.
• Linvillegorge.net – lots of Gorge hiking info here.
• Linville Falls at North Carolina Waterfalls site.
• Linville Gorge fact sheet (PDF download includes where to call about permits).
• Sherpa Guides Linville Gorge page.

Google map of the trailhead:

View Linville Falls Visitors Center in a larger map