My daughter who lives in Ashville, NC recently became the proud owner of a new dog named Maddie. Maddie was purchased as a small puppy but is now 40 pounds and still growing. Since we were due for visit, we drove up to visit her, meet Maddie and to take them both for a hike. Liz researched the area and found many hiking trails that welcomed dogs.
Hiking Little River – Triple Falls and High Falls
Our choice was a trail on Little River that offered several water falls and lakes. This trail located in the Dupont State Forest about 45 minutes south of Ashville near Cedar Mountain and the airport. The hike was only about 3.7 miles total in-and-out and not too strenuous. But the falls are spectacular and well worth making the trip.
Triple Falls
Starting at the first parking lot we crossed Staton Road and began going up the river. The first falls is named Triple Falls since there are three primary cascades. There were stairs that take you from the trail down to the base of the one of the cascades and offers lots of space for a picnic or relaxing in the sun.
High Falls
Further up the river you come a spectacular view of High Falls, named for it’s 150 foot drop. At the top of the falls is a large covered bridge on Buck Forest Road. It’s only a short hike further up to reach the bridge and trail takes you around a ridge so the climb is gradual. But the best part of High Falls is hiking down to the foot of falls. Although the trail down does not have stairs, the descent is well worth your time. At the bottom you can get within a few feet of a large wall of water where the mist is just perfect for cooling you off. If you having a bathing suit on (unfortunately we did not), there is one of the best swimming spots I have seen. There was a large group there who were swimming and even sliding down the rocks into the pools at the bottom. Lots of flat rocks to picnic or relax on make this a spot where you will want to spend some time.
Next we hiked up to the top of the falls to see the covered bridge. This huge structure was built to be the grand entrance into a new development but apparently the State won a legal battle and preserved the land as a protected park area.
We hiked back down the cars and by then the parking lot was nearly full. On the other side of Staton Road, you can see Hooker Falls which is only a short hike down the river. Hooker Falls feeds into the Cascade Lake which is a privately owned lake that offer camping, canoeing and more.
We plan to go back and spend a few hours swimming at High Falls, then make a longer hike up past the covered bridge to a couple of small lakes. We also want to visit Hooker Falls if we have time and energy left. We recommend this easy hike if you are ever near Ashville. The elevation is from around 2200 to 2600 feet.
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.