Hidden hiking treasures of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Hidden hiking treasures of the Blue Ridge Parkway: "Karen Chavez from the Asheville Citizens-Times published an article yesterday that points out some of the hidden treasures of the Blue Ridge Parkway – places tourists often pass by.

Among some of the lesser-known “must-sees” along the parkway, the article included a handful of trails that beg to be explored:

• Chris Ulrey, the parkway's plant ecologist, suggest taking the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, near Milepost 363 at the Graybeard Overlook, and walking north for about a mile. “You'll be on top of a ridge, where you'll see Carolina phlox, azaleas and rhododendron, Turk's cap lily, all through the summer something is blooming. And in late July and early August there will be blueberries.”

• The Douglas Falls Trail is one of the less crowded hiking trails along the parkway. Start just north of the Craggy Gardens area at the Graybeard Overlook at Milepost 363. This rugged trail drops down into virgin hardwood forest on its way to the 70-foot Douglas Falls, deep in the Pisgah National Forest. It's a 7.2 miles round trip.

• The Richland Balsam Trail touches the highest point for any hiking trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway, peaking at an altitude of 6,410 feet. Just 1.4 miles, round trip, with an elevation gain of less than 400 feet, the trail begins at Milepost 431, roughly 50 miles southwest of Asheville. The pull-off parking area offers an extraordinary view of the Shining Rock Wilderness, including Cold Mountain. The trail traverses through a spruce-fir forest reminiscent of the northern, rather than the Southern Appalachians, and it's scenic, peaceful and un-crowded at any time of year.

• The Tanawha Trail is an excellent choice for autumn hiking. This 13-mile long trail, starting at Milepost 304, is in the Grandfather Mountain region of the parkway. In the fall, the tulip poplars, hickories and maples are blazing with color, which you’ll see up close and from rock outcroppings that offer sweeping panoramas of color. The Tanawha, which means “great hawk” in Cherokee, also passes under the Linn Cove Viaduct, the engineering masterpiece completed in 1987 that swings out and away from the fragile plant life on Grandfather Mountain.

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Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

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