Moore Cove Falls

We hiked to Moore Cove Falls this afternoon (me, Eli and Briggs). I saw an article in Mountain Express this week that mentioned it.

To get to US276 near Brevard using NC280 is about an hour. Moore Cove Falls is about 6.5 miles up 276 from 280. It's not got a prominent sign, so we drove by it first time; it was easy enough to turn around and get back. The river passes under 276 at this particular point in the road, so there was that to enjoy after the hike to the falls itself.

The first 200 yards were the toughtest: a pretty decent hill to begin with. After that it was a breeze. Because of rain yesterday there was plenty of mud. There are some places where they have had to construct elevated wooden walkways, but nothing much more remarkable.

The falls are pretty nice. The best part is that one can walk behind them. There is a nice-sized crevice with lots of head-room. The falls were a little slick (none of us fell, once we got respect for the rocks). There are un-official trails to the top of the falls, but a boy fell and died from there in 2007; that was enough for even Briggs and Eli to consent to remain at ground level. There were plenty of places to sit and enjoy, and obviously one can dress for the ocassion and let the falls rain down on oneself. Briggs enjoyed that immensely. Obviously, when the weather has been dry, the falls will be minimal; today they were respectable, if not gushing.

We made a journey of it and came back via the Parkway: another 8 miles up 276 to the Parkway and then 30 or so to get back to Asheville. The Parkway is now re-opened through the Mt. Pisgah area, though there is a section of one-lane road, with a traffic light controlling the flow (on a busy day it could lead to traffic backup). Not bad at all today.