Linville Falls, Linville Caverns: More Summer Travel Review

I usually try to set up at least one camping trip a summer. Since it's kinda miserable camping in the heat with a lot of bugs, we generally head to the mountains. This year, we decided to check out Linville Falls and the Linville Gorge area.

We had heard so much about it, but it was one area we had never visited.

The Linville gorge and falls are about 4 hours west of Raleigh and just off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the Linville River. The visitor center and trails are administered by the National Park Service. The falls, themselves, are spectacular. The last portion of the falls is a 45 foot plunge, but before that the water winds through an amazing spillway for a total of 90 feet. You can hike to several overlooks on some wide and well-used trails. It was a nice climb and only about .8 miles to Erwin's View Overlook, which is the highest point on that side. My backbacking sensibilities would have liked a few less people and a less worn trail, but the spectacular views made it all worthwhile.

There are trails on either side of the gorge from the visitor center, but we only climbed the south side. There is also a trail that is more rugged that goes down to the base of the falls, but I would not do this if you have small kids with you. There is no swimming here.

My kids did want to get wet, so after seeing the falls, we took the very easy Duggers Creek trail around the parking lot and through a rhododendron thicket to a lovely creek spot with a nice little waterfall. It was so beautiful, I could have stayed all day.

A great website to see some more pictures and get a more detailed description of the trails is here.

On the trail up to the falls I noticed a rare mix of hemlock, sourwood, and Fraser magnolia trees, and the geology is somewhat fascinating as well. In this region, ancient forces have upturned the rock so that the older rocks can be found near the top and the younger at the bottom. A great source for all things Geology in North Carolina is this book: Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas. One of several good books for trail descriptions is North Carolina Hiking Trails. Also, if you just want to look online, here is another great description and a map, although that map does not show the access road and visitors center near the falls. For that you can go to the National Park Service website.

While in the area, we also had to go see the Linville Caverns. I have not been to the Luray Caverns, so I can't compare the two. Linville Caverns are rather small, but still pretty neat. I was fascinated by the trout that like to duck into the caverns and hide in the clear stream there. In fact, the trout are what tipped people off to the presence of the caverns in the first place. Some of the formations in the caverns are thought to be millions of years old, the the Eastern Pipistrelle Bat hibernates in the caves during the winter.

This is a private commercial operation, so they have created a wide and even series of pathways through the caverns that is well lit. The temperature in the caverns is 52 degrees year-round, and when we were there there were several guides leading groups into the caves about every 15 minutes. Each tour lasts about 30-40 minutes.

There was one portion that my daughter, who suffers from some mild claustrophobia, did not appreciate. Our group was asked to file onto a very narrow metal grate where the walls were just wide enough to squeeze between and the other end was a dead end. The guide then turned on some underwater lights under the grate and told us just how far we were under the ground and how deep the water was (nobody had yet found the bottom). I was also somewhat uncomfortable with this, but to be fair, the guide did ask us to step aside if we didn't like enclosed spaces before-hand. I'm just sorry I didn't opt out.

There is another portion of the tour where they turn off the lights to let you see just how dark it is and to help you imagine how it must have been for the Civil War soldiers who had hidden out here, and the various people who had come in and gotten lost. I say all this to give you fair warning if you have a nervous child. My daughter came out in tears. Still, I enjoyed it and would recommend going if you are in the area. The fees are $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children.

While in the area, we stayed at a small private campground which also had sites for RVs and small cabins to rent in-between in the tiny town of Linville Falls. The Park Service also has a primitive campground on the road to the Linville Falls trails and visitor center. I understand there are no showers there, however. We have found car/tent camping to be very doable for our family. It gives us all a chance to rough it just a bit (flexibility is a good trait), cook dinner and roast marshmallows over a fire, and explore new places for very little cost. I still appreciate a proper bathroom and a shower if I can get it, but it's wonderful to go to sleep with the cicadas and wake up with the birds. This trip was perfect in that there were very few bugs, it was cool without being cold, and the rain managed to hold off until we were about ready to leave.

I wish we could have stayed longer to explore more of the sights in the area. Other things to do include riding the Tweetsie Railroad, exploring Blowing Rock and Roan Mountain and seeing Grandfather Mountain. We did get to Grandfather Mountain on the way home, and I'll describe that adventure in my next post.