Our Life - Travel Guides & Photography » Scenic Drives, Overlooks & Trails

Pisgah National Forest

admin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 06:25:47 +0000

Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. The Pisgah National Forest covers 510,119 acres of mountainous terrain in the southern Appalachian Mountains, including parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Balsam Mountains. Elevations reach over 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and include some of the highest mountains in the eastern United States. Mount Mitchell, in Mount Mitchell State Park, is the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River and lies just outside the boundary of Pisgah National Forest. The forest also includes tracts surrounding the city of Asheville, the town of Brevard and land in the French Broad River Valley.

The Cradle of Forestry (Biltmore Forest School), located in the southern part of the forest, was the site of the first school of forestry in the United States. There are numerous hiking trails, picnic areas, camping sites, and waterfalls in the forest. There are so many waterfalls in this area that Transylvania county is nicknamed as “Land of the Waterfalls”. Pisgah National Forest is extremely beautiful in Fall.

These are some of the attractions of Pisgah National Forest. You can easily spend a day or 2 enjoying the attractions of Pisgah National Forest.

Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway (NC 276) - Traversing the Pisgah National Forest in Transylvania and Haywood Counties, the 79 mile loop winds its way through areas of outstanding natural beauty rich in forest history. You can read more about this scenic byway here.
Looking Glass Waterfalls – A beautiful 60 foot high waterfall that can be seen from US 276.
Moore Cove Falls – A 50 foot free-fall in front of a deeply recessed rock cliff, that allows you to walk behind the falls.
Sliding Rock – A 60 foot natural Waterfall slide where people can slide down the gentle slope of the smooth rock into the pool below. Bathrooms and showers are open during the summer swimming season.
Cradle of Forestry - A 6500 acre National Forest Historic Site in North Carolina. America’s first school of forestry known as Biltmore Forest School was established over here in 1968.
Sycamore Flats Area – A large picnic area named for the numerous Sycamore trees that grow along the banks of the Davidson River
Pink Beds Area - Picnic area located in a high mountain valley. The valley gets it’s name from the beautiful rhododendron, mountain laurel and azalea that bloom in the spring and summer
Davidson River Campground – A popular campground where you can relax and enjoy the National Forest. There are hiking trails, fishing streams, evening programs and even warm showers.
Looking Glass Rock – A monolithic piece of exposed Whitesides granite that rises from the valley floor in the midst of the Pisgah Ranger District. There are trails which lead to the top of the rock.

Here are some photos taken during our trip to Pisgah National Forest during Fall 2009. We drove the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway stopping at different attractions like waterfalls and picnic areas.

Cradle of Forestry

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:51:37 +0000

Cradle of Forestry is a 6500 acre National Forest Historic Site in North Carolina. It is located within Pisgah National Forest on scenic Highway 276 near Brevard, NC. America’s first school of forestry known as Biltmore Forest School was established over here in 1968. Dr. Carl Schenck, a German Forester, began the first college for forestry in America – the Biltmore Forest School in 1898. The school was opened and operated at the direction of George Washington Vanderbilt II, builder of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

The Cradle of Forestry offers a snap shot of life at America’s first school of Forestry. There is a Forest Discovery Center complete with interactive exhibits, movie hall, Gift Shop and a Cafe.You can watch an 18-minute movie on Vanderbilt and ride a fire fighting helicopter simulator.

There are 2 interpretive trails – Biltmore Campus Trail and the Forest Festival Trail, each is 1 mile long and is paved. The Biltmore Campus Trail passes seven historical buildings, including a schoolhouse, commissary, and student quarters. The Forest Festival Trail explores Dr. Schenck’s forestry experiments, a portable saw mill, and a logging locomotive that you can climb aboard.

The admission fee is $5 for adults and free for children. For more details, please visit the official site here.

We visited Cradle of Forestry in Fall 2009 during our visit to Pisgah National Forest. It is a beautiful place to spend at least half a day. The trails are paved which makes it accessible. Here are some photos from our trip. Click on the thumbnails to view larger images.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:57:45 +0000

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited National Park in the United States. It is situated in both Tennessee and North Carolina. It encompasses the ridge line of the Great Smoky Mountains – a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. The park is well known for its Black Bear population. The park has ample opportunities for hiking, camping, sightseeing, fishing, bicycling, horseback riding, wild water rafting, water tubing and motor touring. There is no entry fee to the park. The park also has a number of historical attractions, rivers and waterfalls.

The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) at the towns of Gatlinburg in Tennessee and Cherokee in North Carolina.

Sugarlands Visitors Center, Gatlinburg
Oconaluftee Visitors Center, Cherokee

US 441 – Newfound Gap Road is a very scenic highway through the park with access to many trail heads and scenic overlooks. New Found Gap is the lowest gap in the mountains and is situated near the center of the park on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, halfway between the border towns of Gatlinburg and Cherokee. On clear days, Newfound Gap offers the most spectacular scenes accessible via highway in the park.

The most popular attractions of the park include:

Cades Cove – Historic Buildings, Sightseeing, Trails, Camping, Picnicking
Roaring Fork
Catalochee
Elkmont
Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill at Oconaluftee
Clingmans Dome – Highest point in the park offering spectacular views
Laurel Falls – Beautiful 80 foot waterfall
Newfound Gap

Fall Colors put up a spectacular show throughout the park during Oct and early November. At higher elevations, colors change during the first 2 weeks of October. Good places to view Fall Colors would be Clingmans Dome and New Found Gap. During the last week of October and first week of November, colors would have peaked at lower elevations. Cades Cove, Catalochee and Oconaluftee will be good choices.

Here are some photos taken during our trip on Oct 17th and 18th, 2009. On Oct 17th, it snowed at higher elevations of the park. It was a spectacular sight with beautiful fall colors and snow covered tree tops. We visited Oconaluftee, New Found Gap, Clingmans Dome, Meigs Falls and Cades Cove. NC 441 was very beautiful with fall colors at higher elevations.

Cades Cove (Great Smoky Mountains)

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:39:34 +0000

Cades Cove is one of the most visited attractions of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is a lush green valley surrounded by mountains and there are many historic buildings from 18th and 19th centuries. The valley is very scenic and wild life can be spotted, including black bear. The nearest town is Townsend in Tennessee.

You can drive along a 11-mile one-way loop road around the cove. Traffic will be heavy during the tourist seasons in summer and fall and on weekends year-round. It may take up to 4-6 hrs to complete the entire loop. You can park your car at designated areas and visit the historic buildings which include a grist mill, a variety of barns, three churches, and a marvelous collection of log homes. Peak Fall is generally between last week of October and first week of November.

Cades Cove Visitor Center is open daily. There are picnic areas along a beautiful stream and restrooms. A campground with 159 sites is open year round in Cades Cove. Numerous trails originate in the cove, including the five-mile roundtrip trail to Abrams Falls and the short Cades Cove Nature Trail.

We visited Cades Cove on Oct 18th, 2009 and it was wonderful. It had snowed on the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina & Tennessee the previous day. We could see mountain peaks covered in snow and beautiful fall colors beneath the snow covered peaks. It was a marvelous sight and we enjoyed every minute though it took us around 4 hours to complete the 11 mile loop.

Here are some photos from our trip to Cades Cove.

Oconaluftee (Great Smoky Mountains)

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:15:52 +0000

Oconaluftee is located inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2 miles north of Cherokee, North Carolina. It is a river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and Appalachian community, the valley’s bottom land is now home to the main entrance to the North Carolina section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There is a Vistor Center, Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill. The Mountain Farm Museum contains a fascinating collection of log structures gathered from throughout the Smoky Mountains and preserved on a single site. It includes a farmhouse, barn, smokehouse, apple house, corn cribs and others. The visitor center has restrooms and telephones. There is a bookstore and gift shop with a broad selection of guides, maps and other things.

Mingus Mill is located half-mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Built in 1886, this historic grist mill uses a water-powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. Located at its original site, Mingus Mill stands as a tribute to the test of time.

If you are traveling to Smoky Mountains from North Carolina, you can enter Smoky Mountains National Park from Cherokee and continue via scenic US 441 until Gatlinburg, Tennessee. US 441 is a very scenic drive through the middle of Smoky National Park with scenic overlooks and trails.

Two excellent walking trails start from the vicinity. The Oconaluftee River Trail follows its Oconaluftee stream for 1.5 miles to Cherokee. Mingus Creek Trail climbs past old farms to the Smokies high country. The easy, 1.5 mile Oconaluftee River Trail begins near the entrance to the museum. It is stroller-accessible and follows the river to Cherokee, N.C.

Here are some photos from our trip to Smoky Mountains on Oct 17th and Oct 18th, 2009.

Chestoa View Overlook

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:44:58 +0000

Chestoa View is another scenic overlook located at Milepost 320 on Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The elevation is 4090′. It has one of the best views on the Parkway. The name Chestoa is derived form the Cherokee word for rabbit. From the parking area, it’s a short (1/3 mile) walk to the rock-walled viewing area. This overlook offers a scenic view of Table Rock and Linville Gorge. There is an easy 30 minute loop trail (0.6 miles) called Chestoa View Trail and offers some good views. Several picnic tables are located in the parking area.

If you are heading towards the south on Blue Ridge Parkway from Blowing Rock, be sure to stop at this overlook and enjoy the panorama.

Here are some photos we took from Chestoa View Overlook during our trip on Oct 11th, 2009. Click on the Thumbnails to view larger Images.

Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Sightseeing

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:16:40 +0000

Blue Ridge Parkway is America’s most scenic drive and extends from Virginia to North Carolina. Linking Shennandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a 470-mile, linear National Park with many stopping points along the way. Mileposts along the parkway start at zero at the northeast end in Virginia and count to 469 at the southern end in North Carolina.

You can spend days on the Blue Ridge Parkway enjoying the breathtaking panoramas specially during spring and fall. From Milepost 0 to Milepost 217, the parkway lies in Virginia. From Milepost 217 to Milepost 470, the parkway winds through North Carolina. The parkway is extremely beautiful between Blowing Rock (Milepost 290) and Asheville (Milepost 390) with lot of overlooks, parks and hiking trails.

We visited Blue Ridge parkway on Oct 11th, 2009 to view Fall Colors. Our trip started from Blowing Rock and went on till Crabtree Meadows. The fall colors were near their peak on most of the parkway between Blowing Rock and Asheville. We had planned to visit Mt. Mitchell and Craggy Gardens on the same day but we were slowed down by Nature’s Beauty, trails and overlooks, where we spent more time than planned. We will have to go back again another sunny day to view Mt. Mitchell and nearby places on the Parkway. Biltmore Estate is also another place we plan to visit late October.

As you drive south on Blue Ridge Parkway from Blowing Rock to Asheville, these are some of the attractions you get to see:-

Julian Price Memorial Park (Milepost 296) – An amazing place with miles and miles of greenery, a beautiful lake and good fall colors. There are restrooms, picnic tables and campgrounds. There are some beautiful streams and creeks which flow through the park.
Rough Ridge (Milepost 302.8) - A short trail to the summit offers beautiful views of Grandfather Mountain and Linn Cove Viaduct.
Linn Cove Viaduct (Milepost 304.4) - There is a visitor center with restrooms and a short trail leads you beneath the Viaduct.
Grandfather Mountain (Milepost 305) – The highest peak in the Blue Ridge mountain range and one of the most visited attractions on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Grandfather Mountain Overlook (Milepost 306) – A scenic overlook with great views of Grandfather Mountain.
Linville Waterfalls and Gorge (MilePost 316.4) - Beautiful waterfalls and gorge with picnic area and lot of trails.
Chestoa View Overlook (Milepost 320) – Scenic overlook offering views of Linville Gorge and Table Rock Mountain and a 30-minutes loop trail with good views.
Orchard at Altapass
Crabtree Meadows and Waterfall (Milepost 339.5)
Looking Glass Waterfalls (Milepost 412) – Take US 276 from MP 412 to view the beautiful waterfalls.
Mt. Mitchell
Craggy Gardens
Biltmore Estate
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Milepost 469.1)

Grandfather Mountain Overlook

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:04:48 +0000

Grandfather Mountain Overlook is located at Milepost 306 on Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and offers spectacular views of Grandfather Mountain. You can park your car at the overlook and enjoy the panorama. When you walk further south from the parking area, you get to see beautiful views of Blue Ridge mountains and Grandfather Mountain lake.

Here are some photos taken from this overlook on Oct 11th, 2009. The fall colors along Blue Ridge Parkway were looking majestic and the views were beautiful.

Click on the Thumbnails to view larger Images.

Linn Cove Viaduct

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:52:58 +0000

Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina is the most complicated concrete bridge ever built. Completed in 1983 at a cost of almost $10 million, the Linn Cove Viaduct is 1,243 feet long and contains 153 segments weighing 50 tons each. It is a masterpieces of engineering that was constructed to preserve the beauty of Grandfather Mountain as the viaduct curves with the contours of the mountain. The viaduct is a quarter of a mile long and offers spectacular views.

Linn Cove Viaduct Visitor Centre is located at Milepost 304.4. The area has restrooms and a trail to Linn Cove Viaduct. The trail is 1 mile round trip and is moderate. An accessible paved trail begins at the visitor center and leads to a beautiful view of the viaduct from underneath, and gives hikers access to the Tanawha Trail. You can continue up the remaining dirt trail and climb by huge boulders for another 1/3 mile to get some views of the surrounding areas.

Here are photos we took on Oct 11th, 2009. The Fall Colors were beautiful and the trail to the viaduct was colorful. Click on the thumbnails to view larger images.

Rough Ridge Overlook

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:26:08 +0000

Rough Ridge Overlook is a very popular overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. It is located on Milepost 302.8 and the elevation is 4293′. There is a short hiking trail which starts from the parking area. It is about 1/3 miles long and is moderate in difficulty. The trail crosses a bridge over a small stream and leads to a wooden boardwalk offering spectacular views of Linn Cove Viaduct, Grandfather Mountain and surrounding areas of Blue Ridge. The views from the Board Walk are awesome on a clear day. The wooden walkways protects the fragile vegetation on the rocky mountainside.

Rough Ridge also serves as an access point to Tanawha Trail that originates at Beacon Heights and ends at Price Lake.

On the opposite side of the road from the parking area, you will have a grand view of the piedmont of North Carolina. As you look out, you will be seeing the towns of Hickory and Lenoir. On really clear days, you can see the Charlotte skyline.

Here are some photos which we took from our hike to Rough Ridge. We visited the parkway on Oct 11th and the fall colors were spectacular. The summit of Rough Ridge was covered in mist and so we missed the beautiful views from the Board Walk but it was still beautiful to see the summit with surrounding rocks and vegetation. You can easily spend 2 hours over here.

You can view some good photos taken from Rough Ridge here.