The Best Easy Hikes in Western North Carolina
Hikes by Difficulty: Easy | Moderate | More Difficult | Most Difficult
This page includes all Easy hikes. Click any Climb or Tread rating for details about the ratings.
Each hike has its own printable guide page with all the information and links, including (where available):
- directions to the starting point
- difficulty
- length
- elevation change
- a map
- photos from along the way, and
- a detailed description and trail directions.
Toms Creek Falls
0.8mi, Easy
- Climbing: Climbs Gently
- Tread Condition: Climbs Gently
This easy hike is excellent for families and children, with a reward at the end that everyone will look forward to. You'll see a lush cove hardwood forest, huge boulders, and possibly an old mining shaft. Kids will love the small pool at the base of the 60-foot falls which is perfect for wading. During the spring, there are a wide variety of wildflowers to see and photograph.
Camp Alice/Commissary
2.5mi, Easy
- Climbing: Climbs Gently
- Tread Condition: Climbs Gently
An easy hike along an old railroad bed (now a graveled, rarely used park road) to an old logging and tourist camp below the summit and then to a beautiful, popular National Forest campsite. You'll wind around a grassy, open mountain ridge. Examine the high-elevation boreal forest and pick buckets of wild blueberries during the late summer. Cross the crystal-clear Lower Creek and continue on an easy path through spectacular alpine forests and meadows. Hike suitable for children!
Lower Douglas Falls
1mi, Moderate
- Climbing: Climbs Gently
- Tread Condition: Climbs Gently
This spectacular, 70' falls is located in a former old-growth Hemlock forest (now dead). You'll walk a easy graded trail through otherwise beautiful woods and discover pleasant forest scenes along the way. Enjoy the falls from in front and from behind! The drive to the falls is a motor-nature trail of sorts, and along the way you'll pass many more scenic and interesting features. This hike has been upgraded to Moderate in difficulty and Moderately Rough, due to deterioration of the trail in the past few years.
Hickory Nut Falls
1.5mi, Moderate
- Climbing: Climbs Gently
- Tread Condition: Climbs Gently
This moderate hike takes you out-and-back through a vibrant forest to the base of 404' Hickory Nut Falls. You'll travel along the base of the cliffs that form the edge of the Hickory Nut Gorge and the Falls. Trees along this trail are large and interpretive signs help you identify points of interest in the geography and the ecology. At the base of Hickory Nut Falls, enjoy a splash of cold mountain water on a hot day - or just relax in the beauty of one of the highest waterfalls in the East!
Moore Cove Falls
1.4mi, Easy
- Climbing: Climbs Gently
- Tread Condition: Climbs Gently
This plunge-type falls is located in one of the most popular areas of the Pisgah National Forest, near the Davidson River in the "Land of Waterfalls". It's a delightful, beautiful walk thru fern-filled woods and it's easy enough for families with small children to take. This falls is highly recommended, and a hike to it can be combined with another hike in the area if you are looking for a more difficult day of hiking.
Craggy Gardens
1.4mi, Easy
- Climbing: Climbs Moderately
- Tread Condition: Climbs Moderately
This self-guiding nature trail passes through a high-elevation Northern Hardwood forest to a Heath Bald, and finally into a Grassy Summit. A large trail shelter makes an excellent spot for a picnic. Visit during mid to late June for a spectacular display of Catawba Rhododendron blossoms. Visit in late summer for a bountiful harvest of fresh mountain blueberries. And visit any time of year to study the high elevation environment in the Craggy Gardens area!
Dupont State Forest Waterfalls
0.6 - 6mi, Easy
- Climbing: Climbs Moderately
- Tread Condition: Climbs Moderately
With this hike, you can now take in up to all but one of the waterfalls in Dupont State Forest! It starts as an easy path to some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the area: Hooker, Triple, and High Falls of the Little River. Covered picnic shelters with views of the falls make for excellent family outing possibilities. If you wish to continue to Grassy Creek Falls, this will become a moderate hike, crossing a huge, scenic covered bridge to this long, sliding cascade. You can also continue on to a beautiful mountain lake, and now, Bridal Veil Falls as well!
Ridgewalk
1.4mi, Easy
- Climbing: Few Hills
- Tread Condition: Few Hills
Following the level upper portion of the Bennet Gap trail, this is an easy hike along a ridge to some great views. Watch the forest transition as you hike and the ridge becomes drier, rockier, and narrower. This hike is suitable for children and families, and makes a great destination of its own or addition to another hike in the area.
