Finally the Falls

After the snowy detour that cut into our time on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we finally made it to one of my must see stops – Linville Falls – located off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Marion, North Carolina. Trails near the Linville Falls Visitor Center lead to the three-tiered falls over the Linville Gorge via both strenuous and moderate hikes. According to their webpage – The steep-walled Gorge is known as the “Grand Canyon of the Southern Appalachians.”

We didn’t have enough time to do all of the layers to the falls so we did the moderate hike to the upper falls, which was still gorgeous. I’d say visiting this area would involve an entire day to truly give it justice.

After finding a parking spot at the visitor center (and it can get full) you head off across the Linville River to begin your hike to whatever level of the falls you wish to visit.

But I got a bit hung up at the first view before even getting close to the upper falls. Can you blame me? The mid October peak autumn colors scene kept me busy for awhile before we hiked off to the falls.

It was an up and down hike through the woods and through some rocks before we arrived at the upper falls. And even there we had to scramble a bit over large rocks to get a good vantage point for the falls.I can only imagine how crowded the area can get when the weather is warm and people want to get in the water.

Fortunately I didn’t have to wait for anyone to move to get a shot of the falls.

It was time to hike back to the parking lot to have a picnic lunch and back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to hit my final must stop spot of the day.

Teri 📷

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