Pisgah National Forest

You could spend an hour or an entire day visiting any of these attractions along U.S 276 as it winds its way through the Pisgah National Forest upward from Brevard to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Just have a free hour or two? Try one of these (mileage listed is from the intersection of US 276 and NC 280/US64).

Ranger Station – (1.7 miles on right) Visitors Center has maps and info about the area.

English Chapel – (2 miles on the left) Built in 1860, was used as church and schoolhouse for Davidson River Community. (No parking lot, but you can walk to it from the Ranger Station)

Fish Hatchery & Wildlife Education Center. - Feed the trout. Visit the gift shop and exhibits. Tour the native flower garden. (5.5 miles, take a left on Forest Service road 475, and drive another 1.4 miles)

View a waterfall from your car – Looking Glass Falls, with 60-foot drop, is visible from the road. Because of its ease of access, it’s one of the most popular falls in western North Carolina (5.6 miles on the right).

Hike to a waterfall – The Moore Cove Trail (at 6.7 miles on the right) starts at a parking area on the right before a stone bridge. The 1.3-mile round-trip trail is fairly easy, and leads to Moore Cove Falls with a 50-foot drop and large cave that allows you to stand behind the falls.

Sliding Rock – (8 miles on the left, fee to enter) Use the bathhouse to change into your swimsuit and slide down a 60-foot stone water slide into an 8-foot pool, or just watch others slide from two observation points.

Cradle of Forestry – (11.6 miles on right, fee to enter) Historic site commemorating forestry conservation. 18-minute movie. Children will like the helicopter simulator and computer games. Several one-mile loop trails, showing how Dr. Carl Schenck and his students lived and worked.

Pisgah Inn – take a right on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and continue a couple miles to the Pisgah Inn for a meal, a visit to the gift shop, or just to admire the views. Open late March through October.

Longer Hikes

Pink Beds – Here's a rarity - a mountain bog just a few hundred feet beneath the crest of the Blue Ridge. It's a fairly flat (considering how high you are!) 4.3-mile loop trail. Especially nice when rhododendrons are in bloom late June/early July. (11.9 miles on right)

Looking Glass Rock Trail – A 6.2-mile round-trip strenuous hike to the top of the spectacular done of rock known as Looking Glass Rock. The trail is steep and rugged, with switchback after switchback, but the view from the top is awesome. Trailhead: on the right on Forest Road 475, about 0.4 miles from U.S. 276.

John Rock – If Looking Glass is too strenuous, try this one - a 4-mile round-trip moderately-strenuous hike to the top of John Rock (shown here), with great views of the Fish Hatchery and Looking Glass Rock. There aren’t any guard rails on the rock, so stay close to the forest-edge. It’s a long way down! Start on the Cat Gap Loop Trail, which starts at the eastern end of the Fish Hatchery parking lot, following a creek. At 1.25 miles, take a right onto John Rock trail to the summit. Return the same way.

Graveyard Fields - The three waterfalls in the Graveyard Fields are easily accessible from the Blue Ridge Parkway. The main trail descends from the parking area by means of steps that give way to an asphalt path, necessary due to the popularity of the area. Many parts of the trail beyond the asphalt portion have been worn into deep ruts which are often muddy due to the frequency of precipitation. For those who wish to hike beyond the Yellowstone Prong Valley, the spur off the Graveyard Field Trail, the Graveyard Ridge Trail, leads to, among several places, Black Balsam Knob and Tennent Mountain where spectacular views, buckets full of blueberries (in August), and grassy balds await. Trailhead: take US 276 North to Blue Ridge Parkway, turn left (South) on the Parkway about 4 miles to parking area on right at Milepost 418.8.

Art Loeb/MST Loop - Quite varied terrain in a 5-mile loop. Start at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail parking lot (first small lot on route 816 - Black Balsam Knob Rd, off the Blue Ridge Parkway). Head north, taking an immediate left at the trail fork onto the Art Loeb Trail for great views over the top of Black Balsam Knob and Tennent Mtn. At Ivestor Gap, take sharp right onto Big East Fork Trail for a short while, then another sharp right (south) onto Graveyard Ridge Trail. It's relatively easy going (flat) until take a right onto the white-blazed MST over a ridge, and back to the start.