Linville Falls Hike located along the Blue Ridge Parkway, in North Carolina is a moderate to easy hike. The hike leads to the beautiful Linville waterfalls. It is a nice place to spend quality time with family outdoors in nature and the wilderness. Did you know Linville Falls is known and supposed to be one of the most photographed and scenic waterfalls in the East? It is part of the Linville Gorge Wilderness which surrounds the Linville River and part of the Pisgah National Forest.
About the Linville Falls Hike and Trails
The hikes in the Linville Gorge can be strenuous and challenging due to the terrain. However, there are some moderate to easy trails as well. A visit during the fall is recommended for enjoying the scenic views of the fall colors. The drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to get to the Linville Falls visitor center is also very scenic and breathtaking.
From the visitor center, there are two main trails Erwin Trail and Linville Gorge Trail or Plunge Basin that lead to the falls. You can see beautiful forest trees and flowers and a nice display of fall colors. For first-timers and families with Kids, Erwin's trail is quite doable. The trail is very family-friendly. You will find many folks with kids and pets. The trail path is moderately wide and well maintained with a few small rocks in the way. You can spend some quiet time sitting on the rocks and watching the water flow.
The Erwin Trail
The Erwin Trail is the easier one and close to about a mile and a half round trip with many beautiful overlooks. The Upper Falls, Chimney View, Gorge View, and Erwin's view are the main overlooks. They are about 0.5, 0.7, and 0.8 miles each from the visitor center respectively. You can see the difference in views of all the overlooks and details.
We hiked to the Upper Falls after a three and a half hours drive from Raleigh. The hike can get crowded on a weekend, so weekdays may be a better choice. From the upper falls overlook one can see two waterfalls. The water from the falls carve the rocks and falls to join the main falls. The Chimney View and Erwin's view overlooks give a better view of the upper and lower falls together.
Linville Gorge and Plunge Basin
The other trails Linville Gorge and Plunge Basin can be quite strenuous and leads to the bottom of the falls. They are both about a mile to a mile and half roundtrip. We could not cover that as we ran out of time, but definitely hope to return again. It was definitely a time well spent that rejuvenated us. Some memorable captures from the hike captured using the mobile and digital camera are below, enjoy!
"A walk in nature walks the soul back home" - Mary Davis
I loved going for a hike with you as I read this post and looked at the lovely photos! Nature is lovely.
Thank you so much Christy ! Happy to hear that you enjoyed this post and pictures . True that! nothing that can beat simply being in nature .
So lovely, Nisha!!!
Thank you so much Jennifer!
Enjoyed reading this post with beautiful photos, it has been quite a long time that we all stay indoors, and this post encourages me to go for some nature walk nearby. 🙂
Thank you Megala. Glad to hear you enjoyed this post ! Yes we have been not going out that much ourselves as well. This was a good break being in nature .Hope you enjoy some outdoor time in nature as well.
What a lovely nature, great images and interesting reading and a true quote as well.
Thank you so much Anita , glad you enjoyed it!
Looks wonderful & love your descriptions!!
Thank you so much Ray! It was a wonderful change hiking there and being in nature.
Beautiful!
Thank you so much!