Very busy parking lot. Started the hike a bit later than usual, around 1:30. Still had plenty of time to do the trail to Black Balsam Knob. Beautiful views even though clouds rolled in during the hike. Quite a few rocky climbs but not too strenuous.
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Actually a 3-mile hike (2.95 on Garmin and iPhone). First two mikes a moderate climb. Then a bit more rocky and rigorous. Nothing too bad. I’m 65 with an arthritic knee. View is tremendous!
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Great hike, close to town, easy to navigate, with a rewarding view. There are toilets and hand washing in the camp right past the bridge just beyond the trail head. Not great for running, since it's covered, moderately rocky, slick, steep, and with downed trees. Many streams en route, bring a steri-pen. Glad we used Gaia- we got a few hundred feet down a trail offshoot on the way down and had to backtrack. Some bushwhacking near the summit but underneath a clear path. Is the view to the SE an old volcano crater?
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Really love this hike. Waterfalls and sweeping mountaintop views all within 6 mile loop.
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The difference between this hike and the identically named trail marked as “easy” is that this one includes the Johns Rock Loop. Even with that included I wouldn’t rate this as hard, maybe moderate. I’m not in great shape and didn’t think it was that tough. Well worth doing. Cool river views, waterfalls, and the lookout on Johns Rock is awesome.
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This trail was seriously tough with the high elevation change, and actually its 3 miles in 3 miles out not 2.7. However this trail was also very cool. I did it on a cool, wet and foggy day and it made for some spectacular views of the mountains in the fog. The higher up the mountains i got, the foggier it got! Near zero visibility at the top! Made trying to look out off of looking glass rock at the top impossible but thats also what made it cool! Sloughed my cooler up the mountain with me and had lunch as i stared out into the foggy abyss. 10/10 would do it again, just on a dryer day. Since it was so wet, it was a mudhole going up the mountain and made some of the fallen trees difficult to navigate without slipping off the face of the trail. I was pretty muddy by the time i got down.
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This is a good walk for some exercise but not much in the way of scenery hence the four star rating. It starts an ends at the Davidson River Campground parking lot and is 5.6 miles long. Across the bridge the left onto the exercise trail along the Davidson River for a mile then right at the Art Loeb trailhead. The trail is initially steep and steadily uphill before it moderates somewhat after about half a mile. The Art Loeb section is 1.7 miles and intersects FR 5002 where you turn right and head downhill for a pleasant stroll that will bring you to a gate across the road at the Schenk job corps property. There's a sign depicting a hiker with No Throughfare written on it. Through the gate take an immediate right onto a grassy road which almost immediately becomes dirt and gravel and follow that until you see a trail on your right that will reconnect with the exercise trail on the Davidson and then left and return to the parking lot. There are a few trails connecting to the exercise trail from the Schenk property so if you miss the first one you'll still have a few more opportunities. This is a pleasant walk with a nice up and then a gradual downhill and good trail conditions throughout with no stream crossings or obstacles.
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10.8 miles, 3000 foot elevation gain, very steep climbs/descents, tough terrain, very remote - no cell service, beautiful scenery and views of river and gorge. Recommend counter-clockwise route. Take GPS map, free download availabe from Avenza maps app. Can be occassionally easy to lose trail if not careful and have GPS.
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Hiked on 10-7-18. Was hoping for more fall color but it is a little later this year. Hiked this same hike a few years back on first Friday of October and colors were at peak. Easy hike. Mostly flat. Very muddy after any rain at all. A lot of secondary trails have been made by hikers to go around the bigger mud holes. Falls had much less water on this trip compared to a few years back. Can get crowded on weekends. I hiked out to falls about 4:30 PM and passed more people than I could even count who were returning from the falls. When I arrived there were only two couples at the base and a few people above the falls. Within 10 minutes they were all gone and I had it to myself.
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This is a very pretty waterfall, and a nice, short walk from the parking area. On this trip, we went at too busy of a time, and it was nearly impossible to get a photo without other people in it. Still, make a point to take the user trail over to Little Moore Cove Falls, which is much less crowded.
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