Pisgah National Forest

Awesome trails with breath-​taking views. Everything is so lush and green! Be sure to visit the National Park Ranger Office before doing the hikes. The rangers there are exceptionally friendly and helpful! Valerie, the park ranger I was talking to was so sweet and gave us lots of information on the different trails (we ended up doing Daniel Falls Ridge — a moderate 4 mile loop) and maps with the specific trails we were interested in. :) AND heads up if you’re a military service member — you can ask about an annual pass (for all National Parks).

Great national park, it’s truly a beauty! Looking glass falls was truly amazing and the fall is pretty decent size, definitely worth the trip while in Asheville IMO

Went hiking with our 6 and 8 year old. The park ranger was especially helpful and answered all our questions. Great hike with young kids to Moore Cove Falls and Daniel Ridge Falls (to the right). The wildlife and fish hatchery was also educational and fun for the kids. Also saw Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock.

This is a beautiful area with plenty to explore, especially if you’re car camping. Make sure you do the Mount Pisgah trail while you’re there — the Laurel Mountain Trail is also worth hiking. Stunning vistas and fantastic old-​growth trees will be your reward, plus some water and natural formations abound. If you get tired of the camp food head over to the Pisgah Inn and have a fried pie or breakfast — great views there too. Overall a very nice park.

Wonderful outing! Our daughter planned this hike up to Looking Glass Rock while we were in the area for a college football game. The sights were breathtaking!!! The weather was perfect. We got a good workout. My opinion is the hike is not for beginners or for those who are afraid of heights. Wear good shoes. Some areas were a little wet too. Reminders all along the trail of our marvelous Creator!

Il love this place. It’s so close and easy to get to from my town of Columbia, SC. It’s absolutely beautiful!!!
We love to come and backpack here. We just got back from backpacking at the Cradle Of Forestry. It’s just beautiful there.
There’s so many great places to see. I love to visit Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock!!!
We will always be back!!! So close and so beautiful! Check it out!

We started our journey in Pisgah National Forest at Looking Glass Falls. The waterfalls were some of the most photographed and famous in North Carolina and the sight and sounds were a natural beauty. After the falls, we parked at the entrance to the Looking Glass Rock trail and started our ascent. We took a backpack with lunch and water and had on comfortable walking shoes. I will admit that the trail was a bit challenging, yet once you make it to the top of the 3 mile journey, the view is breathtaking. This hike is great for outdoor enthusiasts and also perfect for every-​day walkers who want to get out and experience a moderate hike. The views from the top were so spectacular and you could see so many trees and vantage points from the higher elevation. It was very peaceful and great to enjoy a picnic at the top. We went in late September so the weather was still warm and the leaves had not started changing color yet. This is a perfect day excursion and not far from Asheville at all.

Really great easy to moderate trails to enjoy the forest and see waterfalls. Looking Glass Falls is easy to drive right up and park to see. Other trails don’t have as big of falls, but offer fun walks ranging 1.5 mi and up. I will be back next time I’m in town. 40 minutes from Asheville.

Add this to your bucket list! Awesome! We danced in the falls, feed the fish at the nature center, viewed people going down Sliding Rock (not for young children) and breathing in awesome air. Everything was free. Go EARLY! Get out of bed and go EARLY to enjoy this awesome forest!

The Pisgah National Forest is amazing. The view and the landscapre is gorgeous. I was the passanger and I was extremely scared on the drive up to the top because there are no railings on the passenger side going up and in most areas is nothing but a drop so I did have an anxiety attack but was ok once we got to the top safely. Only thing I didn’t like is on the way up 3 cars came speeding down the mountain and thank god we were not hit or driving off of the mountain because the vehicles came out of no where speeding down. Thank you GOD! He was truly with us in that moment. Overall this is definitely worth seeing,

What a memorable trip this has been! Bunch of friends drove up from Atlanta for just a day long trip, you know, just to do something outdoors.
From Atlanta, Dupont national forest & Pisgah national forest is about two and half to three hours in car. A friend who had been there before drew out the plan.
1) Hiking to see Main falls, triple falls and hooker falls at Dupont National forest
2) Looking glass falls at Pisgah national forest
3) Sliding rock at Pisgah National forest
Since we were trying to squeeze all this in a day, we started at 6.30 am in two cars, only stopping for quick breakfast to-​go. Also to cut down on restaurant times once as we get to NC, we packed simple finger food & cold sandwiches and a cooler full of water and sodas.
Usually most of the tourists from Atlanta area go to Sliding rock first because it is the farthest in North and then to Looking glass. That’s fine if that is all you are planning to do. But if you plan to hike around to see other beautiful falls in that area, I suggest starting with the hike. Because in both sliding rock and looking glass you may end up getting wet (no point in going otherwise, if you ask me). And you don’t want to be hiking after spending considerable time playing in cold water (Water does tire you out). And if you aren’t dry enough you may end up facing chafing problems.
So we did the Dupont National forest first — to hike up to High falls, triple falls (three steps of water falls and thus the name) and hooker falls and then headed over to the Pisgah national forest. It’s about 20 minutes drive from the dupont state forest visitor center. The entry fee for sliding rock is $ 2 per person and they will find a parking spot for you. I find this method easier than we trying to find and circle around for a spot.
The sliding rock was every bit fun as I expected it to be. You wait in line to slide down on the rock along with thin stream of water, landing in a pool of water. The right side of the pool is 8 ft deep, so if you don’t know swimming, I suggest you to stay clear. Left side is shallower with about chest level water for an adult. There are lifeguards watching closely, waiting to jump in at a first sign of drowning. I am not a swimmer, somehow got convinced that I could steer myself to left side but boy was I wrong. Once I started sliding I couldn’t control it and ended up falling on right side. And I couldn’t get to the top, luckily a heroic (and equally annoyed) lifeguard pulled me up and saved the day. Lesson learnt. So again, don’t do it if you can’t swim.
After that we went to looking glass. There is only street parking and this is more up my alley. The water is not deep but the rocky bottom can hurt your legs if you are just walking. If you swim, again, no issues. Also you can actually get to the bottom of the falls and stand under the falling water. Initially it was like thousand needles pricking your skin but soon I felt like I was getting a nice massage. I spent lot of time sitting under the falling water. But this is definitely not for kids.
We started back to Atlanta in the evening, the traffic was bad for getting out of Pisgah National forest but we weren’t in hurry anyway. I will learn swimming and going back to Sliding rock again.

Lots of water falls, wonderful place to play and hike. very close to the quaint town of Brevard.

Beautiful, well-​maintained park (national forest?) that’s not too challenging for n00b hikers. You will have no cell phone reception pretty much most of the forest. The signage can be better on the road for drivers.
When the first Hunger Games came out I begin hearing/​seeing all these ads for Brevard tourism and how Hunger Games was filmed there and how they had tons of waterfalls. So last Christmas I asked my boyfriend to take me to see the waterfalls in Brevard.
We drove for a while without GPS reception and vague signage, saw no waterfalls, and ended up at a fish hatchery where I got to see dozens of crows peck at helpless fish trapped in the hatchery with no cover to protect them.
Pretty horrifying and not exactly what I envisioned in my female brain of romantic waterfalls. The hike was still fun, the paths are easy (can be very muddy in winter), and the scenery was fantastic.
This Christmas I said «I don’t want to see the fish hatchery again, I want to see waterfalls.» Turns out the secret to get to Looking Glass Falls is that you must keep RIGHT on the road. If you go left at the fork you will end up at that terrifying fish hatchery. Left = helpless fish pecked to death by crows, Right = beautiful waterfall.
You can also drive on the main roads and see the start of other hiking paths, some of them also leading to beautiful waterfalls! The trails are not difficult, but it helps to have a buddy system for the muddy areas. Trust me when I say most people can do the trails I went on as I maneuver around subway lines much better than trails and I found the Eno Park trails in Durham very difficult (I fell twice!). Pisgah satisfied my city girl ideas of «getting in touch with nature» without actually making me uncomfortable, and that’s a tough balance to strike!

Spectacular nature adventures located only a few minutes from Brevard, NC! My friends and I visited Looking Glass Falls and Looking Glass Rock Trail. Best of all both of these are FREE! No park entrance fees or anything needed. Just bring some snacks and plenty of water for yourselves. There’s small parking areas on the side of the road for both of these areas, but go early in the day! Later in the afternoon, it may fill up.
The Looking Glass Falls are located right on the side of the 276 road. So if you’re not really down to hike, but still want to get up close and personal with a gorgeous waterfall… the Looking Glass Falls is your best bet! We went during the first week of November, so it was pretty chilly standing down by the water! Not very favorable for swimming now, but I bet it’s awesome during the spring/​summer months. There was a pile of abandoned mismatched flip flops by a bench, so keep track of your shoes! Don’t let it float down the creek.
For the Looking Glass Rock Trail, I think it’s about a 6.5 miles round trip hike. There’s only 1 trail up and down the whole mountain, so don’t be too worried about getting lost. I would consider my friends and I amateur hikers from Florida (Lol. Seriously, guys… What’s a hill?) and we had a pretty easy time of finding our way. There will be a lot of switchbacks… You’ll learn to dislike them. Once you get to the end of the trail, you’ll come to a flat-​ish, open rock area with the most AMAZING view! Take a moment to soak it all in and maybe enjoy lunch up there, while you look out onto all of the mountains and trees. Once you’ve had enough, head back on the same trial you came from all the way back to your car. No bathrooms, bring hand sanitizer and TP.

A beautiful park to drive through along the BRP. The scenery is amazing and ranges from dense forests to rocky mountains. It can get cold in the higher elevations, so bring a jacket and some layers or a car with heated seats. It is probably the most majestic in the fall with the beautiful colors. A great, and pretty short drive south on the BRP from Asheville.

Recently visited my best friend who moved to NC about a year ago. We were gonna head toward the Atlantic and do the beach thing… Instead, the homie decided to take me here, and damn I’m glad he did. The drive west on the 40 was worth it! We hit up Sliding Rock which was fun as hell. The most fun I have had outdoors in a long time. It was a thrill, for sure. The water was pretty cold, but it was refreshing. People were awesome, I’m sure the majority of ‘em were tourists, but cool nonetheless. Looking Glass Falls was impressive as well! I’d love to take the kids here one day.

We stopped along the beautiful drive to see a waterfall and it was amazing! So picturesque! I only wish we had more time here! Definitely plan on a day of scenic stops along the Pisgah national forest drive!

*Note: I did not experience all of the Pisgah National Forest on my recent visit, I had just planned to go to Sliding Rock and leave, but I will definitely check out more on my next visit, and I will update my review accordingly.
However, Sliding Rock was a ton of fun. For $ 1, I think I got a $ 10 joyride, and I wanna go back. It’s a nice big rock, with a huge splash at the bottom. Make sure your children are comfortable swimming before attempting this. Even in 85+ degree weather in July, the water is extremely cold.
Some things to note — there are some painful rocks under your feet as you work your way to the Sliding Rock — you will get more enjoyment if you wear some grippy waterproof shoes. I got a lot of bruises and cuts on my ankles because of this slippery way up. On the way down isn’t bad at all, but they haven’t cleared a good walking path to get back up again without getting hurt.
There are some changing bathrooms as you leave Sliding Rock, but annoyingly, they had no soap, no towels, no air dryers. So that $ 1 is really just paying for the lifeguards salary, and nothing else.

Very beautiful and pristine! Cruising along the Blue Ridge Parkway is a must if you are in the area, the Smokey Mountains will take your breath away. Lot’s of great hiking and camping opportunities as well as scenic look outs for those less ambulatory or crunched for time.

Cool National Forest! Transylvania County! Beautiful and fun drive leads to the Blueridge Parkway from Brevard, NC! Great Trails, well maintained and some Waterfalls!
On the Brevard side there is a Welcome Center (Ranger Station) about 2 miles in to the Park. You can view Maps and get brochures and a very friendly ranger was there to answer questions and give information on the hikes and waterfalls!