Get Out and Enjoy the Mountains This Weekend
Views from Bluff Mountain | Photo by Jon Show
All hikes are linked to the AllTrails app. Reference the writeup because some hikes list the full distance and not the sections discussed herein. The app provides a link to parking areas and the trailhead.
By Jon Show – October might be my favorite month in the North Carolina mountains, and according to forecasters this weekend will be one of the best times to see foliage this fall.
The leaf peepers will be out in full force, but there are plenty of spots that are less trafficked. Also, the forecast is cool enough that you won’t encounter a random 80-degree day that requires you to shed three layers while walking uphill.
Here are a few day trips and lunch spots if you’re tired of watching ACC football games played by teams from California.
The easiest of the hikes, and the one most customized to the experience you’re looking for. It follows the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Sparta. Depending on where you park, you can hike 8 miles or 3.5 miles, with views of Stone Mountain State Park below.
The 3.5-mile hike has only 587 feet of elevation gain, with most of the vertical climb at the end as you head to the top of Bluff Mountain. It meanders through the woods and fields and has great views at the peak.
If you extend the hike through the parking lot at Bluff Mountain, there’s a shade tree where you can sit, relax and recharge.
Pro tip: Check the Blue Ridge Parkway website for closures. That section is one of the quicker areas to close in the winter months.
Lunch: It’s a little out of the way, but the Harvest Grill at Shelton Vineyards is a great place to grab a beer and a seasonal cup of soup on a cold day.
I much prefer a hike with a view at the end, but one of my favorite river hikes is climbing up Basin Creek Trail to the Caudill Cabin, located in the valley below Bluff Mountain.
Park in the dirt lot near the creek crossing and follow the creek up 1.8 miles to the Basin Cove Campground, where you’ll find the most out-of-place-looking stand of 100-foot pine trees.
If you’re feeling spry, you can tack on another 3 miles up to the Caudill Cabin, where a generation of mountain folk lived until the summer of 1916, when a massive flood changed the landscape of the area forever.
Speaking of floods, more than a century later, the scars left behind by Hurricane Helene are evident throughout the climb to the cabin. There are stretches where you might consider turning back, but things always look better just around the corner.
Pro tip: Many people dislike river hikes because they must navigate water crossings and wet feet, but the only crossing up to the campground has a raised footbridge. There are water crossings between the campground and Caudill Cabin.
Lunch: Downtown Elkin is a weird little haven on the way home. My friends like the beers and wings at the Angry Troll, but I much prefer the shaded outdoor beer garden and food truck spot called The Railyard on the edge of town.
If you’re not looking for a place with beer, Speedy Chef serves up a great cheeseburger and milkshake on the way into downtown. There’s also a new spot called Blue Oregano that has delicious Greek fare with huge portions.
My favorite hike in the North Carolina mountains is a long day trip, but it’s worth every minute of the 2½-hour drive.
Starting out from Carvers Gap on the Tennessee border, it’s a short hike up a wide gravel path to the ridgeline. Along the way, you experience two different ecosystems, passing through a rain forest to reach a ridgeline with large grassy meadows that come alive on a windy day.
This is another “choose your own adventure” hike. It’s less than a mile to the top, but you can continue up and down the ridge for another 2 miles to Grassy Bald.
The hike traverses portions of the Appalachian Trail and is one of the few in North Carolina that offers true 360-degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
Pro tip: Do your best to pick a day with bluebird skies and get there early. The balds can be fogged in even on a partly cloudy day down in the valley. If you run out of water, there are fresh piped springs in the woods at the end of the parking lot.
Lunch: On the ride home, there’s a spot called Fox & Fig just over the river in Spruce Pine. It has a rotating BLT that changes each season; I still dream about the one with pickled onions and chipotle mayo.
It’s a long day, so the Fig also has great coffee and cookies if you need a little pep in your step for the ride home.
Pinnacle Trail to Kings Pinnacle
This is the closest real hike to home, and by real, I mean a hike that isn’t paved or flat or just feels more like a walk in the woods.
It’s roughly 45 minutes to the Kings Mountain visitor center parking lot. We park about a half-mile past the entrance to a connector trail that cuts off the most boring and flat part of the hike, which was reconfigured years ago to make it a little more accessible.
At the peak, you’ll reach a rock staircase, but do not turn around and go back. Climb up the rock and over the ridge for 100-mile views of western North Carolina.
Most people stop there, but we like to turn right and head up to an area near the peak that I’ll keep to myself. It was the first hike I took my then-girlfriend on when she visited me for the first time, and it’s where I proposed to her four years later.
Pro tip: Don’t confuse this hike with nearby Crowders Mountain, which is mostly stairs and less impressive views.
Lunch: Veronét Vineyards & Winery is located on the way home and has a great food truck and seating area out back. I’m not much of a wine drinker and it’s North Carolina vines so my wife sticks with the bubbles.
The woods and mountains of North Carolina are our background and our playground. Get out there and enjoy them.
Happy trails.
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