A curated list of the best hikes near asheville for beginners & kids – tips from a local!

Now that we’ve spent a fair amount of time testing them out, I wanted to share my list of the best hikes near asheville for beginners & kids! These are hikes that I find impressive, that tourists and out of town visitors would be wowed by whether its because of views or waterfalls. There are plenty of closer places to downtown if you just want a quick walk in the woods or some quality fun time outside, but all of these are easy day trips or half day trips from the area, and well worth the drive. If you scroll to the bottom, I have them organized on a custom Google map so you can see which is closest to wherever you’re staying!

Check out these other posts while you’re here!

• 40+ things to do with kids in Asheville
• 7 steps for planning a family trip
• Tips for visiting the Biltmore with kids
• What to expect at the Asheville art museum
• Asheville homeschool resource guide

Before you go, a few tips!

• Read up on leave no trace principles! None of these trails have trash cans so be prepared to take out whatever you take in.
• Please don’t move/stack rocks! This is a hard one with kids but this area has tons of salamanders and other wildlife that you may be injuring or killing when you do that. Also, for the record, human oils, sunscreen, etc can harm salamanders more significantly than regular lizards so please leave them alone!
• Check out the All Trails app and/or look at the geotagged location on Instagram for recent trail status updates before you go, sometimes they have flooded or been closed.
• Be aware you won’t have cell service on many of these trails! Come prepared with hiking basics, download maps & directions ahead of time, let someone know where you’re going, etc.
• Lots of these hikes are in areas without any gas or stores nearby so come with a full tank and snacks

These are all hikes between 1.5-4.5 miles, with the longer ones easily adjusted for shorter distances. I’ve tried to note any interesting aspects or particular challenges of each location; eventually I’d like to write a longer blog post about each one with more pictures and details but for now I’ll leave it as a list form! Let me know if I’ve missed any of your favorites!

Best hikes near asheville for beginners

Presented in no specific order!

1. Catawba Falls- **2022 update – closed until 2023!** 3 miles roundtrip with just a few uphill jags, this is probably the closest impressive waterfall to downtown Asheville. There is a huge dedicated parking lot, pit latrines at the trail head, and a very clear route. It is very popular and for good reason! There are a few steep dropoffs along the trail that I make my kids go to the inside for. You walk along the creek for the bulk of the hike, it is so peaceful! Folks swim at the base in summer.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
2. Dupont State Forest trails: Hooker Falls, High, & Triple Falls- This area is beautiful and there are three waterfalls within a 4.5 mile loop or you can break it up into a shorter hike. Hooker Falls has its own parking lot and a mostly paved path that is very flat. High & Triple falls have a large parking lot by the visitor’s center (open seasonally) and a fair amount of up and down nearby.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
3. Max Patch- Connected to the Appalachian Trail, this is an extremely popular hike and camping spot. The parking lot is small and tight after a very windy, steep road so drive extremely carefully. The hike itself is relatively easy and a 1.5 mile loop, with beautiful view at the top and lots of wildflowers and berries along the way.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
4. Black Balsam Knob on the Art Loeb trail- A little tricky to find because there are so many trail options in this area, but you’ll park on the side of the road and take a trail up and back as far as you please, it’s about 3 miles roundtrip to the top of the balds. You can alternatively continue walking for closer to 5 miles, with the last bit along the (quiet) road back to your car. I prefer this to Max Patch, it is less busy and has neat little hidden valleys and lots to look at.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
5. Mt. Mitchell State Park – This is such a fun place, with a very windy drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. There is a huge parking lot at the top along with a small museum and shop; you walk a paved path to the summit to look around and then there is a beautiful, coniferous nature trail right on your way back to your car. Maybe 1 mile total but with beautiful rocky, mossy views that feel really unique in Western NC. I tend to combine this with Craggy Gardens; the restaurant in the park has decent food for lunch as well.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
6. Craggy Gardens Pinnacle Trail- There are a few trails and ways to get around in this area, but we prefer this one, which has a large but poorly marked parking lot. The trail is full of twisty trees and beautiful views, culminating in a rocky overlook (please be careful and stay on trail here, there are precious plants!). Quick and beautiful, this hike is also nearby a small BRP visitor’s center.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
7. Graveyard Fields- Another popular area hike, this is right off the BRP with a decent parking lot and pit latrines nearby. Lower falls is the star of the show here, it’s maybe 2 miles roundtrip from the lot to there and back (with a fair amount of stair steps), but you can continue on to explore the upper falls. The trail to upper falls isn’t particularly well marked and has been soggy every time we’ve gone, but it is much less crowded and has some fun twists and turns to it.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
8. Bearwallow Mountain- This trail has a brand new parking lot due to its popularity; it has longrange views up on the top of the bald but also sometimes herds of cows grazing! The trail up is pretty and wooded, with some huge rocks thrown in for good measure, and then you can turn back from whence you came or walk down a gravel road (no cars allowed on it) back to the lot.
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
9. Moore’s Cove Falls- 1.5 miles roundtrip to a relatively low flow waterfall but you can walk behind it! The trail out is flat and easy with a few little bridges, and the most salamanders we’ve seen anywhere. My kids loved playing on the rocks behind the waterfall!
   1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
10. Chimney Rock State Park-There is an admission fee to get into this park! However it also has a cute, tiny little nature center with critters, an adorable kid’s art/sculpture tiny trail, and other trails to choose from like this Hickory Nut Falls one that is 1.5 miles round trip with a pool you can stand in at the end. There is also a restaurant on site. The little town right outside the park itself is very touristy and cute as well, perfect to stay a day at.
    1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
11. Deep River loop in Great Smoky Mountain National Park- On the edge of GSMNP, you can hit up the nearby visitor center to do the Junior Ranger program and then drive over for a day of waterfall hikes. There are 3 in close proximity to each other, for just under 5 miles, or you can go out and back to one of the close ones instead.
    1. Get an idea of the difficulty level and where to find it here.
    2. Find a map and see pictures of all 3 waterfalls on this site.

Google Map of all these hikes locations:

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