Located at milepost 316.5 along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Linville Falls moves in several distinct steps, beginning in a twin set of upper falls, passing through a small twisty gorge, and culminating in a high-volume 45-foot plunge. The Linville River flows from its headwaters high on the steep slopes of Grandfather Mountain and cascades through these falls as it begins a nearly 2,000 foot descent through this rugged and spectacularly beautiful gorge. Linville Falls has the highest volume of any waterfall on the northern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Towering hemlocks, dense stands of rhododendron, and native wildflowers grow along the trails that begin at the Visitor Center and encircle the falls. I hiked the Linville Falls trail system on Thursday, May 16, 2019 beginning at 12:00PM and finishing about 3:00PM. My plan was to explore all the trails that depart from the Linville Falls Visitor Center.

Linville Falls Trail System Map

This day was a two-pronged treat for me. First, driving the ~80 miles from the North Carolina Arboretum to Linville Falls on the Blue Ridge Parkway with its many exciting features along the way. Second, hiking the trail system at the location with the ability to view this dramatic waterfall from five different vantage points.

The Parkway drive is like a roller coaster, going up and down and around, traveling from 3,000 feet to above 6,000 at Craggy Gardens and Mt. Mitchell, then back down to the Crabtree Falls region and on to Linville Falls. The foliage was a mixture of spring green at the lower elevations, to still waiting up at the very tops. As usual, Craggy Gardens was awash in morning fog, but was bluebird clear on the way back in the afternoon.

The Linville Falls recreation area is located at mile 316.5 on the Parkway. It includes a campground, picnic area, and trail system that surrounds the waterfalls. Two main hiking trails lead to multiple views of Linville Falls. Both begin at the Visitor Center and pass through remnants of a virgin hemlock forest mixed with other familiar tree species such as white pine, oak, hickory, and birch. A colorful and varied display of wildflowers decorates the trails in spring. A third trail makes a short trip to a smaller waterfall on Duggins Creek.

Erwins View Trail

This is a moderate 1.6 mile round-trip walk, offering four distinct overlooks, each revealing a different aspect of the Linville Falls area. Go past the Visitor Center and cross the footbridge over Linville River. You will have a rise over the first couple hundred yards followed by the same grade decline.

The first overlook is a half mile from the Visitor Center, and is a moderate walk with a slight loss of elevation. Here, the Linville River spills gently over the twin upper falls where it widens and pauses before picking up momentum. Drifting into a narrow twisty canyon, the water suddenly spirals out of sight and crashes loudly 45 feet over the lower falls.

The next overlook, Chimney View, 0.7 mile from the Visitor Center, is the first point on the trail where the lower falls can be seen. It offers an opportunity to photograph both the upper and lower falls. You can also see the Plunge Basin Overlook across the river. This overlook is named for the chimney-like rock outcroppings located to the right of the waterfall. The trail here is fairly strenuous, with a couple hundred feet of elevation gain, then you give some of it back as you descend several stairs to the platform.

Continuing farther up the hill, at Gorge View Overlook you can see the Linville River cutting its way through the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area. Unfortunately no looks at the iconic Hawksbill and Tablerock Mountains as they are around the bend out of view.

Just another 150 feet and the Erwins View Trail ends at Erwins View Overlook, 0.8 mile from the Visitor Center. From this vantage point you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Linville Gorge and a somewhat distant view of the upper and lower falls. You might want to bring a zoom lens to get your best shots.

Linville Gorge Trail

The trails to Linville Gorge (1.4 miles round trip) and to Plunge Basin (1 mile round trip) also start at the Visitor Center, on the parking lot side of the restrooms. The trailhead is kind of hidden among the rhododendrons.

The trail to Linville Gorge forks two tenths mile from the Visitor Center, with the right fork taking you to Plunge Basin Overlook where you can view the lower falls and the Chimneys. I think this one is the best view of all. That’s the look in the photo at the top of this post. If you happen to time it just right, when the rhododendron is in bloom, or when the oaks and hickories are crimson and gold in fall, it only adds to an already spectacular scene. The last 100 feet down to the platform consists of several stairs. Remember that on the way back up.

The left fork of Linville Gorge Trail winds down through rock cliffs to the bottom of the falls where the force of the cascading water creates a large pool. Don’t be tempted to swim here. It is quite dangerous, and also prohibited. Both of these trails are moderately strenuous, especially on the way back up.

Speaking of Linville Gorge, the Wilderness Area has more than a dozen other trails for the serious-minded hiker. I have trekked several of them in the past. You can see my reports here. By the way, did you know that Linville Gorge Wilderness was the first so designated back in the 1960s? The 1964 Wilderness Act created the National Wilderness Preservation System, which protects nearly 110 million acres of wilderness areas from coast to coast… and Linville Gorge was the very first.

Once you’re returned to the Visitor Center, don’t forget to give Duggins Creek Trail a chance. It starts the same place as the gorge trail and heads to the left. It is three tenths of a mile through thick forest to a footbridge over Duggins Creek where you get a somewhat muted view of Duggins Creek Falls through all the rhododendron that lines the creek. This one is actually best viewed in winter when there is not as much foliage obstructing the view.

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.

At the request of the Blue Ridge Parkway Maintenance out of Gillespie Gap, the Crabtree Falls FRIENDS of the BRP Chapter and the NC High Peaks Trail Association assisted in the cleanup of flood damage at Linville Falls on Monday, June 25, 2018. Eleven members and friends of the chapter worked on this project. The team had two goals:

1. Remove flood debris from the upper falls overlook area
2. Upright seven stone columns toppled and displaced by the flood

The team worked closely with three Parkway employees to get all this work done safely.

They used rock bars and a hoist to reposition and upright the columns.

Parkway Maintenance will install new railings to keep the public a safe distance from the river just above the falls.

Cite…

Wondering about all the activity going on at Linville Falls? Thanks to the generosity of community stewards, the Upper Falls Overlook at Linville Falls (milepost 316.4 Blue Ridge Parkway) will welcome more visitors with a larger viewing area, taking them closer to a geological gem, the Linville Falls Thrust Line. A new boardwalk and railing tied together with rock-clad columns create the enlarged vista point.

With the expansion come educational opportunities for students, geologists, and the public to see this section of rock that jutted up and over the younger Grandfather Fault Line more than a billion years ago. Until now, scientists and students needed special permission to visit the fault line.

Carolyn Sparks, a maintenance mechanical supervisor with the National Park Service, is heading up the project slated for completion in late September. Interpretive signage is in the works to explain the significance of the geological feature. Sparks hopes the visitors enjoy learning about and seeing the thrust fault. “It will be a great highlight of the geology of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. It will be one of the few places the public can view the structure. That’s what makes it so unique.”

Cite Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation…

Formal protection of the Linville Gorge began in 1952, when the land was purchased with funds donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. When the Wilderness Act was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Johnson in 1964, the Linville Gorge Wilderness became one of the first formally designated Wilderness areas of the new National Wilderness Preservation System. Wonderful news for future generations, as this wilderness that covers more than 12,000 acres will remain in the same pristine condition for centuries to come. The area is filled with trails that wind through thickets of mountain laurel and descend into Linville Gorge, one of the most rugged and scenic gorges in the east. It is fully 2,000 feet from the gorge’s rim to the Linville River below. This hike occurred on October 21, 2010 beginning at 8:30AM and ending about 2:00PM. The plan was to climb Sitting Bear Mountain on the east rim in the north gorge, then drive south on FR 210 to the Tablerock area and take the Shortoff Trail through The Chimneys and on to the North Carolina Wall and The Amphitheater.

View Sitting Bear Mountain and Shortoff Trail, Linville Gorge Wilderness in a larger map

It’s nearly a 2 1/2 hour drive from our homes to the Linville Gorge, so we got a very early start on this day. We arrived at the Sitting Bear Mountain trailhead at about 8:30AM. The trail to the summit is not long, it’s only about a mile round trip, but the last half of the climb is some of the steepest terrain I have ever hiked on. Hands were required on this dirt trail. On this particular day we were also faced with a steady 25 mph wind with gusts at 40. The summit of Sitting Bear is a very exposed rock outcrop with a several hundred foot drop on the gorge side, so that wind definitely got our attention. But the view south down gorge is stupendous. You can see each of the mountains on the east rim lined up; Hawksbill, Table Rock, and Shortoff, with the Chimneys in between. There is also a beautiful view north of Pisgah National Forest, and the west rim across the gorge.

On the way back down, we took a little diversion on the Devil’s Hole Trail. It heads down into the gorge and we wanted to see how steep is was for a potential future hike. We went about 1/4 mile down, then came back up.

It is approximately three miles on FR 210 south to the connecting road to Table Rock, then another 0.7 mile up the very steep, but partially paved, Tablerock Road. There is a nice picnic and parking area at the top of the road, and trailheads to Table Rock Mountain (another very nice hike in itself) and down gorge on the Shortoff Trail (also part of the Mountains to the Sea Trail).

The first thing I noticed on the Shortoff Trail is that it is a very narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides, and boy was it windy.
It’s about 15-20 minutes to a series of bluffs where we could get right on the edge, like Polaroid Point, and see the Linville River way below, and view the two Tablerock Mountains behind us. There is a deep drop in the trail, then scrambling up and over rock, and squeezing through slots to get to the area known as The Chimneys. This is an extremely popular area with experienced rock and rope climbers. On the day we were there, they were conducting a climbing school for college students. The wind was making just about everyone balk at scaling 40′ to the top. I couldn’t blame them.

It had been recommended to us, by someone who had been on this trail before, that we look for the side-trail to the North Carolina Wall and The Amphitheater. Supposedly there was a cairn of white quartz setup on the right side of the trail about 10 minutes past The Chimneys that marked access to these features. We were told if the Shortoff Trail starts descending steeply into Chimney Gap that we have gone too far. Well, we found the cairn and started down the side of the gorge. This trail descended quite steeply too.

The recommendation we received was spot on. It was very much worth it to hike down to the NC Wall and Amphitheater. The rock is sheer and there are great views into the gorge, as well as long distance views of the south and north gorge. The photo at the top of this post of Linville River and Shortoff Mountain was take from here. We stopped for lunch at this spot and stayed for probably 45 minutes because it was quite magnificent. Too bad it was so windy. We really had to be careful when we got near cliff edges. The trail down to the Wall and Amphitheater was not real well trodden, so we had a short bit of trouble getting back up the right way, but eventually we made our way back to the Shortoff Trail. We hiked a little bit further south, just to the edge when the trail begins plunging into Chimney Gap, then turned around for our return. When we went back by The Chimneys, those cautious, inexperienced college rope climbers were still doing more talking than climbing.

Best HikeIt took us 5 1/2 hours on this day, but we stopped a lot to take in the scenery, and enjoy the day. Linville Gorge is a fabulous place. I’ve been on hikes from the west rim down into the gorge on the Babel Tower Trail, and to the summits of Hawksbill and Tablerock Mountains, where there are stunning views of the river a couple thousand feet below. If I didn’t live so far away, I am positive I would hike in the gorge a lot more frequently that I do. There are two dozen maintained trails in the Wilderness area, some with very strenuous hiking. Because the area is designated wilderness, there are only trailhead markers, no other signs or blazes inside the wilderness. So topo maps and a compass will be handy. Linville Gorge also is a haven for kayakers and fishing enthusiasts. I rate Linville Gorge Wilderness as a best hike.

For additional tips, information, and useful links, please visit the following: Tips on Linville Gorge

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.