Linville Gorge Wilderness Area - North Carolina

BJett

BJett

Member
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
564
The Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina is so diverse.
The 11,000+ acre Linville Gorge has it all...waterfalls, cascading free flowing river, towering walls, amazing mountain top camps and views...and for the more adventurous there's world class rock climbing and class 5 kayaking to go along with the epically steep trails the area is know for.

After talking to a couple hiking out I decided to change up my original 22 mile classic loop trip and take a more direct route into the gorge, basically chopping the Wilderness in half and exploring the southern portion. I camped both nights on the eastern rim, the last night being the highlight on top of 2,800' Shortoff Mountain.
This place is an ass kicker. Switchbacks are rare, straight up and down is the norm. 17 mile 3 day backpack trip...

Not a bad tent view from the top of Shortoff Mountain. Tablerock in the distance.
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Sunrise from camp on Shortoff Mountain
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Mountain Laurel
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Mountains to Sea Trail river crossing
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@Jackson this place deserves 3-4 days to really see it all. Plus its surrounded by microbreweries to reward oneself from the punishing trails :)
Bucket List worthy!
 
Man that's some nice photography of some nice scenery! Linville gorge area looks stunning - definitely a place on the "list". That stream crossing is quite idyllic.
 
Beautiful area! My wife and I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of times when we lived in Atlanta. Awesome photo's!
 
Linville Gorge has been on my list for years. When did you go? How was the weather? I was in the Citico Creek Wilderness last week and it was hot at 5000'
 
@wsp_scott I hiked in on Monday, hiked out Wednesday. Yes it was HOT, unseasonably. I thought Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock had beastly trails...Linville is a step up. Switchbacks would be nice!

Did you loop the North and South Forks of Citico? I've been wanting to do an epic loop linking Citico and JK/S.
 
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So great to see some pics from NC on here besides mine:lol: Thanks for sharing. It's been years since I've actually been in the gorge but I did make it up to the falls and wise man's view last year
 
BJett said:
@wsp_scott I hiked in on Monday, hiked out Wednesday. Yes it was HOT, unseasonably. I thought Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock had beastly trails...Linville is a step up. Switchbacks would be nice!

Did you loop the North and South Forks of Citico? I've been wanting to do an epic loop linking Citico and JK/S. Looks epic.
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I hiked into Bob Bald for the first night and then went down North Citico and up South Citico and out to my car. I had planned on a couple more days, but the bugs and heat at lower elevations were horrible. So, I ended up with a 16 mile and ~3000' day, glad I can still do those hikes. I'll put a trip report together in the next couple days, but I did not take many photos (too busy swatting bugs).
 
Great shots. I spent a fair amount of time in Pisgah back when mountain biking was in it's infancy there. Fantastic place.
 
Lovely! Pretty sure I butchered 'Pisgah' in my head.
Thanks for sharing!
 
BJett said:
The Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina is so diverse.
The 11,000+ acre Linville Gorge has it all...waterfalls, cascading free flowing river, towering walls, amazing mountain top camps and views...and for the more adventurous there's world class rock climbing and class 5 kayaking to go along with the epically steep trails the area is know for.

After talking to a couple hiking out I decided to change up my original 22 mile classic loop trip and take a more direct route into the gorge, basically chopping the Wilderness in half and exploring the southern portion. I camped both nights on the eastern rim, the last night being the highlight on top of 2,800' Shortoff Mountain.
This place is an ass kicker. Switchbacks are rare, straight up and down is the norm. 17 mile 3 day backpack trip...

Not a bad tent view from the top of Shortoff Mountain. Tablerock in the distance.
View attachment 78336

Sunrise from camp on Shortoff Mountain
View attachment 78337

Mountain Laurel
View attachment 78338

View attachment 78339

View attachment 78340

View attachment 78341

Mountains to Sea Trail river crossing
View attachment 78342

View attachment 78343

View attachment 78344
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Hey BJett. I'm planning a trip in April with a couple of friends to do the classic loop. I was just curious why you decided to cut it in half and not do the whole loop? Any advice would be much appreciated!
 
dragonwithmatches said:
Hey BJett. I'm planning a trip in April with a couple of friends to do the classic loop. I was just curious why you decided to cut it in half and not do the whole loop? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...
It was a spur of the moment decision, I wanted to check out the shorcut route in and out of the gorge and slow my pace. I also wanted better pics from Shortoff and stay up there one more night before heading home, so I figured I'd save the northern section and do the full loop next time. I'll probably go back this fall with fresher legs, when I did this trip I had already done a few backpacking trips the week before.

Post a TR when you get back! More Linville pic porn please.
 
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