Our favorite waterfall hike in the Asheville area is at Dupont State Forest near Brevard. Located about 40 miles southwest of Asheville, this 10,000-acre North Carolina state forest is home to 900 miles of hiking trails. A 3-mile roundtrip hike (mostly level with a couple of climbs) takes you to three beautiful waterfalls. From the parking area, take a short walk to the right to Hooker Falls. There is a observation area above the falls, and you can continue on the trail to reach the base of the falls.
From Hooker Falls, turn around and go past the parking area (and across the road bridge to the other side of the river) and follow the trail upstream to the more impressive Triple Falls and High Falls.
About 1/2 mile from the parking area, you will arrive at an overlook for Triple Falls. Just past the overlook, a trail forks off to the left and head down to land on a large rock area below the top two falls and atop the third. It's a great place to relax or have a picnic.
From Triple Falls, continue on the High Falls Trail to the largest waterfall. After a few turns and a short, steep hill, you will see a wonderful view of the falls on the left. Once again, take a trail to the left to land at the foot of the falls. Be careful, there are some slick rocks near the base.
There are plenty of rocks to climb across to get a very close-up view of the cascading water. At the base of High Falls, there is a fallen tree by a big boulder, perfect seating for two.
This waterfall hike at Dupont State Forest is most crowded on weekend afternoons. For more solitude, arrive early and visit on weekdays.
For more information on Dupont State Forest, go to their Web site.
Directions from Asheville: I-26 to exit 40/Highway 280/Airport exit toward Brevard. Turn left on U.S. 64 as you enter Brevard past Wal-Mart. Travel east on U.S. 64 for 3.7 miles to the Texaco station in Penrose. Turn right on Crab Creek Rd and continue 4.3 miles and turn right on DuPont Rd. Ascend and descend; after 3.1 miles, find the Hooker Falls parking lot on the right just before the Little River bridge.
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