Living in the mountains provides the perfect opportunity to get out and hike. Even if you’ve never been hiking before, there are trails out there for everyone! Best of all, it’s free!
Elk River Falls:
Location: Elk Park, NC
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Length: .25 mile each way
Elk River Falls, also known as Big Falls, is a great place to go if you are new to the hiking scene. The trek is fairly easy, with a small upward climb followed by a slight decline before the land levels out. After that, it is just another small hill down and you are at the falls. Because it is so easy to get to, the falls is open for hiking all year round. However, swimming in the falls between October and April is not recommended.
Price Lake:
Location: Boone, NC
Level of difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Length: 2.4 miles around
The Price Lake Trail is a convenient hiking spot for App State college students. Located in Boone, this hike is fairly easy and is only classified as moderate because of the length and the slight, but short hill that you have to trek to get in and out of the trails. This is a great place to go with a few friends on a day trip in Boone.
Linville Gorge Trail (part of Linville Falls):
Location: North Cove, NC
Level of difficulty: Moderate
Length: 1.6 miles round trip
The Linville Gorge trail is a moderate workout with a pretty sizeable hike as you climb out of it. This hike is labeled moderate in part because of the length and the slope of the land. Most of this trail is located on a moderate sized hill. The perk of this waterfall is that there is a beautiful set of waterfalls at the bottom where you and your friends can relax and spend the day.
Compression Falls:
Location: Elk Mills, TN
Level of difficulty: Difficult
Length: 1.7 miles each way
Compression falls in Tennessee is a very strenuous workout and is not recommended for single person hiking. The first quarter mile or so is very easy going. Then you turn into the woods and the real hike begins. The trail is about a mile almost straight downhill. Once you get to the falls there are other waterfalls that you can hike to if you know how to climb a few rocks. You can climb a rope ladder using your arms. This trail is meant for those with a reasonable amount of upper body strength but is a great time if you like challenging hikes.
Grandfather Mountain Trail:
Location: Grandfather Mountain State Park, NC
Level of difficulty: Expert
Length: 2.4 miles each way
This hike, apart from being rather long, is also very steep and very rough to keep footing on. This trail is for expert hikers only and should never be attempted alone. If you should lose your footing at the wrong time, you could end up seriously injured. If you hike the trail, plan for breaks and make sure to bring at least two other people and a lot of water.
Happy hiking!
Sources:
http://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/price-lake-loop-trail-blue-ridge-parkway https://www.visitnc.com/listing/elk-river-falls http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/linville_gorge.htm http://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/tennessee/compression-falls http://www.hikewnc.info/trails/grandfather-mountain-state-park/grandfather
Photo Sources:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v–YiYe94GM/maxresdefault.jpg http://www.brptrails.com/pricela1.jpg http://photos.jimashcraft.com/img/s/v-3/p857813587-3.jpg http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/compression-falls-justin-costner.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4674965518_79f6eb4cb3.jpg