Crabtree Falls Best Hike

• Difficulty: Moderate
• Total Length: 2.5 mi
• Trail Tread Condition: Some Obstacles
• Climb: Few Hills
• Lowest Elevation: 3280 ft
• Highest Elevation: 3760 ft
• Total Elevation Gain: 480 ft
• Trails/Roads Used: Crabtree Falls Loop
• Hike Configuration: Loop
• Starting point: Signed parking area at Crabtree Meadows Campground, milepost 339.5
• How to Get There: From Asheville, follow the Blue Ridge Parkway north for 41 miles to the Crabtree Meadows area. Turn left and head into the campground at milepost 339.5. (If the campground is closed, you may park outside the gate as long as you don't block it. This adds 0.1 miles to the hike.) The signed trailhead parking lot is on the right just before the campground's pay station.
  Directions on Google Maps

You'll share this trail with many others during the summer, but if it's winter (and especially if the gate is closed), you'll likely have it all to yourself. This hike takes you through beautiful forests to a beautiful 70 foot waterfall. A steep climb up the ridge beside the falls is followed by a relaxing, easy walk along the stream above the falls. The trail starts in a Blue Ridge Parkway campground, and other hiking opportunities abound within the area, so the campground makes a nice base for a stay in the area.

The trail sign lists the loop as a 2 mile strenuous loop, but the map more accurately depicts the situation. It is 0.6 miles to the falls and 1.9 miles from the falls back to the campground, so it's actually a 2.5 mile hike in all. But the only truly "strenuous" section is that just past the falls, where the trail climbs steeply up the ridge. It soon levels out and is relatively easy. "Strenuous" is used in context with those who typically use the Park Service campground, so for this web site it makes the loop moderate in difficulty as a whole.

Starting behind the sign board, you will immediately walk beneath a thicket of Rosebay rhododendron. This is a beautiful tunnel of white flower petals in July and some seasons even early August. You'll quickly reach the intersection with the other side of the loop; you can go either way but for this hike let's get to the good stuff - turn right to begin the descent to the falls. The trail is wide, smooth and graveled at first, traveling through a mixed hardwood forest, just at the lower fringe of the Northern Hardwood zone. All along the loop, you will notice some very large trees. Excellent examples of oaks, maples, tuliptrees, and hemlocks show that this forest is maturing and will one day be considered old-growth due to its Federal protection from logging and development.

At the base of the 70' falls, the trail crosses a nice wooden bridge with a viewing bench built right in! A lone birch tree grows in the middle of the stream on an "island" below the falls. The falls is especially photogenic as the water spreads into a wide veil on the way down. Good vantage points are from the left and right banks, and even from directly in front. Take care when leaving the trail - boulders and rocks can be very slippery. On a hot day, there is a nice wading pool at the base - which requires a strenuous climb over boulders to get to - and the constant mist will keep you quite cool. There is absolutely no way to the top of the falls.

If you are continuing the loop, the hardest part of the hike is just past the falls. If you are not - be prepared for a fairly steep climb back out, which is considerably rockier than if you were to keep going. You'll climb 200' or so in the next 1/4 mile. The trail climbs steeply and switches back many times as it ascends the ridge. It seems to "bounce" from large tree to large tree, with one - an oak, maybe a poplar - anchoring the tip of each switchback. Nearing the top, the Park Service has provided a nice resting bench which you might need - because the next section goes directly up a set of steps! You'll then achieve the nose of the ridge, follow it for a few feet, and then begin traversing the mountainside where some stone retaining walls have been built to hold up the trail.

You'll then reach a rocky outcrop that seems to be part of the same rock feature that forms the falls. The trail clings to the side of this rock cliff - but it is wide and safe. A handrail is provided when the trail climbs some more steps around this nose of rock. From here, to the left, is an opening in the trees with a decent view, especially in the winter. As most will be curious - yes - a very faint, mostly obscured view of the falls below can be seen - but to see it you have to get too close to the edge and it is not worth the risk. Stay on the main trail. A bench is provided and it is much more relaxing than a search and rescue mission.

This is the top of the steep climb, and from here the trail widens and is mostly smooth. It descends slightly to reach the creek, and crosses a small tributary on a wooden bridge. There are some huge hemlocks growing in this area, and the vegetation is typical of the streamside areas in the mountains. Glimmering pools at the base of small rapids and cascades contain mountain trout - keep an eye out to see them darting in and out of the sunlit areas. You'll cross the stream on a nice, new bridge - a great improvement over the bouncy log that existed here before. The structural members are fiberglass-infused polyester resin. This corrosion-resistant, lightweight, easy-to-assemble structure represents a new concept in trail bridges. I hope it catches on because the bridge is convenient to hikers, safe, presumably long-lasting, and its light green color is unobtrusive in the forest setting. For more on the product used to build this bridge, click here.

Beyond the bridge, the trail first follows and then gradually pulls away from the creek. It will round a small, very low ridge, then descend just slightly and begin following a small tributary upstream. Some northern hardwoods grow in this area, as well as several large-leafed Fraser magnolias. These trees have the largest leaves of any native Southern Appalachian tree, and then can also be recognized frequently by lots of saplings shooting up from the roots of large specimens. You'll pass beneath maples and oaks, as well as birches and beeches. You'll cross the small tributary on a log bridge where I once stood and listened to an enormous tree come crashing to the ground, somewhere in the distance. Then you'll head a little more steeply uphill until you reach the highest seep of the tributary and enter drier woods.

Shortly you'll reach another signed intersection. Continuing straight would take you to the back loop of the campground, and it's just a short walk along the campground roads back to your vehicle - so you could knock off about .3 mile by going this way. Going left, which is the trail that is measured for this hike, would take you back through more mixed hardwood forests on a nicely graded path to close the trail loop. Turn right at the next intersection to head back to your vehicle and complete the hike.