These 35 five-star hiking trails in the Asheville area include popular routes and hidden treasures, and they range widely in elevation, distance, and difficulty.

JENNIFER PHARR DAVIS grew up in the North Carolina mountains, where day hiking was part of her life with her parents and two older brothers. At age 21, she took on the entire Appalachian Trail (AT) as a solo female and fell in love with long-distance backpacking.

In 2011, she set the overall record for completing the AT, covering the entire trail in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes and averaging a remarkable 47 miles per day. Even though this record has since been eclipsed, she remains the fastest woman on record to hike the AT.

She has logged more than 14,000 miles of North American trails. In addition to the AT, those treks include the Pacific Crest Trail, Vermont's Long Trail, and the Colorado Trail. Traveling to six continents to exercise her hiking wanderlust, she cites Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, Peru's Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and Australia's 600-mile Bibbulmun Track among her international highlights.

Jennifer has written six books, including three North Carolina guidebooks; two hiking memoirs, Becoming Odyssa and Called Again; and her latest, The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience. She has also written articles for the New York Times, Outside magazine, Backpacker, and Trail Runner, and has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Daily Beast, NPR's Talk of the Nation, and the CBS Early Show.

In 2016, Jennifer was the recipient of the prestigious Laurel Wreath Award, bestowed upon her by the State of North Carolina for her outstanding athletic achievements.

Jennifer lives in Asheville with her husband, Brew; daughter, Charley; and son, Gus. In addition to the important job of being a mom, she is also the owner and founder of Blue Ridge Hiking Company. For the latest on Jennifer, check out blueridgehikingco.com.

OVERVIEW MAP

OVERVIEW MAP KEY

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

RECOMMENDED HIKES

INTRODUCTION

Central

• Arboretum Explorer Loop


• Destination Center Track Trail


• Creek Overlook


• Lake Powhatan


• Rocky Cove

North

• Big Firescald Knob


• Craggy Gardens and Craggy Pinnacle


• Douglas Falls


• Hawkbill Rock


• Hickey Fork Loop


• Lover's Leap


• Max Patch


• Rattlesnake Lodge

East

• Bearwallow Mountain


• Catawba Falls


• Florence Nature Preserve


• Mount Mitchell Circuit


• Mount Mitchell High Loop

South

• Carl Sandburg's Connemara Farms


• DuPont State Forest Four Falls


• John Rock


• Lake Julia


• Looking Glass Rock


• Mills River Loop


• Turkey Pen Loop

West

• Black Balsam Knob High Loop


• Cold Mountain


• Cradle of Forestry


• Graveyard Fields


• Moore Cove Falls


• Mount Pisgah via Buck Spring Lodge


• Pink Beds Loop


• Sam Knob


• Shining Rock


• Skinny Dip Falls

APPENDIX A: OUTDOOR RETAILERS

APPENDIX B: HIKING CLUBS

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MAP LEGEND