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Hiking
and Waterfalls in Western North
Carolina
The
Western North Carolina Mountains
contain over 318 hiking trails,
51 bike trails, 78 horse trails,
and 131 waterfalls. That’s a lot
of outdoor recreation, enough to
keep RVers busy all year long. All
the hiking trails will allow you
to see some of the outdoor beauty
of the North Carolina Mountains.
Many of these hiking trails are
also bike trails or horse trails,
and several trails lead to waterfalls.
There are also more than 25 RV parks
and campgrounds in the area to use
as base camp.
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Callasaja Falls: The beautiful Cullasaja Falls in
the Cullasaja River Gorge are on Hwy. 64 about 9 miles from Highland, NC, near
where NC, SC, and GA meet. (Photo, courtesy Jerry Greer, www.jerrygreerphotography.com.) |
The
trails traverse beautiful, but rugged
terrain from some of the lowest,
to some of the highest points in
the Pisgah District. Trails rang
from the Albert Mountain Firetower
Trail, a one-half mile moderate
hike off old US 64 in Macon County
to the 30.1 mile-long Art Loeb Trail,
a national recreation trail, named
after a local hiking enthusiast.
It is located in Haywood County
off Highway 276.
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Pisgah: Along the Art Loab Trail, Tennent Mountain, Pisgah National
Forest.
(Photo, courtesy Jerry Greer, www.jerrygreerphotography.com.
Photography books, calendars, posters and prints by Jerry Greer with more
beautiful photos like these are also available on the website. Or call
877-818-9375.) |
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There
are a variety of waterfalls, some
of which require no hiking at all.
RVers can drive to 60-ft. Bridal
Veil Falls located just 2.3 miles
from Highlands, North Carolina,
on Hwy 64 West toward Franklin.
(The falls are on the right very
close to the road.) Betseys Rock
Falls is 200- foot-high falls on
the Blue Ridge Parkway Drive, 8.5
miles north of US 421. The Betseys
Rock Overlook is on the right. Fire's
Creek Falls near Hayesville in Clay
County can be seen from the parking
area.
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Yellowstone
Falls is located
at mile marker 418.8
on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
(Photo by Allen Bullman,
Carolinafalls.com)
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Other
waterfalls located in the western
North Carolina Mountains require
a day hike or more. For more
information about North Carolina
waterfalls, visit http://ilovenc.com/topfalls.htm.
There, more than 20 waterfalls are
listed with their locations and
directions for visiting them.
Spring
is usually the best time for viewing
waterfalls, when spring rains fill
the streams that feed the falls.
But almost any season offers great
scenery and rugged beauty when hiking
in North Carolina.
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