[Canwood]

Hey Folks,

I'm on vacation in NC without my bike (I know what was I thinking). I'm in Chapel Hill for a few days and am wondering if Pisgah has enough beautiful mixed use trails(or hiking specific trails) to warrant driving from Chapel Hill. I live and ride on Vancouver Island, so I enjoy beautiful trails. Anything with good views, waterfalls? I figured the riding community would be the ones to turn to since we're all forest lovers in one way or another.

So what's the word. Worth the drive? Hike when I get back to BC instead? Anything closer to here. Thanks for any feedback

Woody

 

[cmweldon]

I'm by no means an expert...

Pisgah has a lot of hiking that can be quite rewarding. Now, that being said, "rewarding" is purely a subjective term and my version might not hold up to your version and therefore the hiking might not warrant a drive from Chapel Hill ESPECIALLY if you're from BC.

So, I like Looking Glass rock, it's nice, excellent views and some lush forest in the beginning. There is a nice loop at Black Balsam/Tenet Mtn that displays an uncommon environment in this area. John's rock is short and sweet. Cold Mountain to shining rock loop is quite nice. The first ones I mentioned are relatively easy to get to. Cold mountain is a longer drive. You can also get to Mount Sterling in the Smokies about as easily as you can these areas. This will give you some old growth forest (its big for us southerners) and a less hiked area of the smokies from an easily accessible trailhead from I-40.

Hope this helps, you can always email directly @ [email protected].

CMW

 

[Maida7]

Dupont Forest has a bunch of water falls. But the drive from Chapel Hill is LONG for a day trip. You will spend like 10 hours in the car.

 

[Mike Brown]

I went to Vancouver Island for several days last fall, great stuff. Rode Hartland, Cumberland, some river valley north of Cumberland that was really cool. Best part, not to sound like a tourist, was the Victoria area itself, that's an incredibly progressive community with great great commuter access. Nice stuff.

Anyway, like Maida said, that's a long drive from Chapel Hill but the trails are great and incredibly numerous- if you wanted to make the trip, I 'd recommend the Black Balsam area as mentioned. There are too many others too mention- there's literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of miles of public hiking trails.

 

[Canwood]

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

Back from vacation. We didn't end up making the drive out to Pisgah. Stayed around Chapel Hill and had a relaxed time. All your tips were appreciated. My partner was impressed that a bunch of stangers would be so helpful. I let her know it's just a group of folks who are glad to share their love of the outdoors with anyone who has a common interest. Thanks again.

Woody