rel="nofollow" href="#litres_trial_promo"> 7 Craggy Gardens and Craggy Pinnacle
Best for History Lovers
19 Carl Sandburg’s Connemara Farms
31 Mount Pisgah via Buck Spring Lodge
Best for Kids
2 Destination Center Track Trail
Best for Scenery
26 Black Balsam Knob High Loop
Best for Seclusion
Best for Waterfalls
20 DuPont State Forest Four Falls
Best for Wildflowers
Best for Wildlife
Introduction
About This Book
The 35 hiking routes in Five-Star Trails: Asheville are organized with the area’s geography in mind. From 5 trails in the central area, the guidebook moves north for 8 trails, east for 5 trails, south for 7 trails, and west for 10 trails. Following is a description of each of these breakouts.
Central
Hooray for so many trails close to the city of Asheville! Numerous folks who work and live in Asheville make use of these trails on a daily basis, primarily in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest and at the North Carolina Arboretum. And the forest bordering the city’s eastern and western flanks is widely accessible via the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
North
The Blue Ridge Parkway north of Asheville includes the 6,000-foot peaks along the Craggy Ridgeline and the historic ruins at Rattlesnake Lodge. Most of the hikes in this area take place on or near the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, but a day trip to Hot Springs, North Carolina, will also allow you to take the Appalachian Trail to a gorgeous vista at Lover’s Leap, as well as at the famed meadows of Max Patch. The trek atop Big Firescald Knob delivers another Appalachian Trail experience. Solitude seekers will enjoy remote Hickey Fork.
East
East of Asheville, the hikes in this guidebook typically are not as heavily traveled as their counterparts to the west. Mount Mitchell is an exception, although you can find relative peace and quiet on its trails until you get very close to the summit. Bearwallow Mountain and Florence Nature Preserve
