Five Star Trails Asheville

Explore the Best Trails of Asheville, North Carolina Peaceful waterfalls, dramatic mountain vistas, bountiful nature preserves, and, of course, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park—there’s no better place to hit the trails than the Asheville area. With the expert guidance of accomplished hiker and local author Jennifer Pharr Davis, you’ll find plenty of popular routes and hidden hiking treasures. These 35 five-star hiking trails are for all levels and interests, and they range widely in elevation, distance, and difficulty. Davis details everything from easy strolls in the deep woods to thrilling treks atop mountains. GPS-based trail maps, elevation profiles, and detailed directions to trailheads help you get to where you’re going. Trail descriptions and expert insights into the history, flora, and fauna of the routes enhance your enjoyment along the way. Ratings for scenery, difficulty, trail condition, solitude, and accessibility for children help to ensure that you quickly find the perfect trip. Save time and make the most of your hiking adventures. Experience the best of Asheville’s breathtaking scenery, varied terrain, and amazing wildlife. Lace up, grab your pack, and hit the trail!

Discover 35 five-star hiking trails near Asheville, North Carolina, including popular routes and hidden gems. Peaceful waterfalls, dramatic mountain vistas, bountiful nature preserves, and, of course, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park—there’s no better place to hit the trails than the Asheville area. This diverse geographical region offers a variety of easy, moderate, and strenuous hikes. Travel through history at Mount Pisgah via Buck Spring Lodge. Take in the scenery at Big Firescald Knob. Bring the kids to Bearwallow Mountain. Explore 35 of the region’s best, five-star trails with this easy-to-carry and easy-to-use guidebook. In the updated edition, acclaimed author and record-setting hiker/backpacker Jennifer Pharr Davis presents everything you need to know about spectacular outings that lead to mountain panoramas, majestic waterfalls, remote wilderness, amazing wildlife, and more. Inside you’ll find: Descriptions of 35 five-star hiking trails for all levels and interests GPS-based trail maps, elevation profiles, and detailed directions to trailheads Insight into the history, flora, and fauna of the routes Ratings for scenery, difficulty, trail condition, solitude, and accessibility for children Save time and make the most of your hiking adventures. From easy strolls in the deep woods to thrilling treks atop mountains, experience the best of Asheville’s breathtaking scenery and varied terrain. Lace up, grab your pack, and hit the trail!

Five-Star Trails: Raleigh and Durham is a guide to the best day-hiking trails within a two-hour drive of the urban areas of Raleigh and Durham. Raleigh is North Carolina's capital and an anchor for the state's famous Research Triangle that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. Amid this metropolitan complex that also embraces Cary, Apex, and Wake Forest--home to more than 1.7 million people--the author leads readers to myriad places for scenic beauty, to sites of historic significance, and to neighborhoods that showcase the charms of urban life. All of the routes stay true to the book's "Five-Star Trails" title, based on the book series' rating system for scenery, trail condition, suitability for children, difficulty level, and solitude. To be selected for the book, each trail must truly shine in one or more of those areas while, at the same time, all of the trails combine to offer diversity for a wide range of hikers. Thus, this is the guidebook for a hiker seeking an arduous climb to a scenic overlook as much as it is for a weekend walker who wants an easy trail for his or her family.

Each hike through the Adirondack Park is rated for scenery, difficulty, trail condition, and accessibility for children. Individual trail maps, elevation profiles, and GPS trailhead coordinates aid in navigating the myriad of unnamed roads. Featured trails range from easy strolls for the family to bone-crunching vertical ascents for the fearless hiker.

Five-Star Trails: Tri-Cities of Tennessee and Virginia details the 40 best hikes in and around Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol as well as the surrounding areas of Abingdon, Elizabethton, Greenville, and Rogersville. Drawing from a wealth of trails on vast public lands, the mosaic of hikes featured reflects the wide variety of terrain in the greater Tri-Cities, from high mountains to the east and south to the historic walks in Tennessee state parks. The Appalachian Trail also provides nearly 70 miles of quality hiking around the Tri-Cities. Authored by Johnny Molloy, the most experienced guidebook author in the field today, this guide has something for everyone, from a leisurely weekend stroll to advanced treks into the Appalachians.

The Adirondack Park is an immense wilderness encompassing more than 9,375 square miles. Within its boundaries are rugged mountains, countless pristine lakes and ponds, seemingly endless forests, and thousands of miles of wild rivers, providing an infinite number of outdoor adventures. The revised edition of Five-Star Trails: Adirondacks, by Tim Starmer, features six new popular trails and provides a detailed guide to some of the most stunning views found across the Adirondacks. Included are rugged and steep ascents up Snowy Mountain in the Central Adirondacks, which many consider the 47th high peak, and isolated Debar Mountain in the northern Adirondack region. Distance hikers will love the long trek into the High Peak Wilderness to see the amazing Hanging Spear Falls along the Opalescent River. Also new to this edition is the less difficult but equally scenic vistas of the Eastern Adirondacks and Lake George described along the Black Mountain trail. And delve back into the remote depths of the High Peaks region to explore some of the most unique trails with descriptions of Wright Peak, Avalanche Pass, and the second highest mountain in New York, Algonquin Mountain. Each hike features an individual trail map, elevation profile, and at-a-glance information.

The South Carolina Upcountry is gaining more popularity and people visiting will need to know how to discover all it has to offer. Outdoor activities here abound and there are a good variety of trails for hikers of all levels. From waterfalls to amazing mountain views, each trail offers hikers an incredible experience. Since the Upcountry is relatively "undiscovered", there are very few books that have a true compilation of hikes in the area. Five-Star Trails: South Carolina Upstate will bring together those hiking trails that offer a "five star" experience. Each trail has been thoroughly researched, recently hiked and includes a detailed description, trail profiles and map. At a glance ratings in important categories such as Scenery, Trail Condition, Difficulty, Solitude and appropriateness for children let you quickly select a trail that fits your tastes and ability. Other useful information such as fees, restrictions for dogs on the trail as well as advice on when to visit offers you the best information so you can plan your trip with ease. Five-Star Trails: South Carolina Upstate provides directions and commentary for each trail on what to expect along the way, making it more than just an average guidebook. This guide will lead hikers off the beaten path to find exceptional beauty as well as peace of mind. The diversity in terrain invites all levels of abilities and skills. Outdoor enthusiasts of every level will have reason to grab this guide and take a hike. This book offers easy-to-moderate trails that are within driving distance from a reader's workplace or home in the South Carolina Upstate. Without this book, they might miss the hidden hiking treasures of the area, but with the expert help of Sherry Jackson, readers will enjoy the region's best trails!

Like others in the Five-Star Trails series, this book features up to 40 day-hikes, ranging from 1 mile to 12 miles, in and near a midsize city--in this case, Knoxville. The author has carefully chosen each hike to create a collection of routes suitable for a varied, but primarily local, outdoors audience. Based on the author's extensive and intimate knowledge of the region, some of the hikes represent a combination of two or more trails that create a unique route. As a distinguishing feature of the series, as signaled by the Five-Star series title, each entry displays ratings of one to five stars in five categories for that hike. Those categories are: • Scenery • Level of Difficulty • Trail Conditions • Degree of Solitude • Appropriateness for Children The book's overview map provides a quick visual summation of the hikes' locations within the greater Knoxville area. Then, individually, each hike features an easy-to-follow trail map, elevation profile, at-a-glance information, and narrative description. The main text for each entry provides details about the route to follow. It also focuses on the most notable aspects of that route: for some, it may be the panoramic view; for others, a bit of local history