20+ Best Hiking Trails Near Waynesville NC

Located at MP451.2, Waterrock Knob is located at the end of a short side road and off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The parking area offers incredible views, including sunrises and sunsets.  You can hike up the top is .5 miles and strenuous, but provides incredible views of the surrounding mountains, and of Ghost Town in the Sky and Maggie Valley NC.

One of the most popular areas on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Graveyard Fields at MP418.5 offers beautiful scenic views, two waterfalls, and a number of hiking options, including a loop trail and access to the Mountains-To-Sea Trail.

Another popular hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway at MP422, is 0.8 miles roundtrip, but steep.  The hike takes you through beautiful forest to the top of Devil's Courthouse for beautiful and nearly 360 degree views of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains.

Little Cataloochee Trail, takes you back into the woods of Little Cataloochee, a newer and smaller settlement not far from Big Cataloochee.   This forest hike is beautiful, and takes you by creeks and historic structures out to Little Cataloochee Baptist church.

Boogerman trail in Cataloochee Valley offers some of the largest old growth forest that you can find in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  This trail is full of history as well, with old graveyards and home sites.

Located at the Oconaluftee Visitor center, and mostly paved, this dog friendly and easy trail takes you along the banks of the Oconaluftee River and down to the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway.   The trail is nice, relaxing, and the sounds of the river are wonderful.

Another easy, paved and relaxing trail that provides some beautiful scenery is the Lake Junaluska trail, the goes around the edge of the lake.    The trail provides some incredible views of the lake and the wildlife that live there, which includes Bald Eagles.

Rough Fork trail, located in Cataloochee Valley is a very nice trail, that offers creekside and wooded hiking, and leads out to the historic Woody house and farm that you can tour.  One of our favorite easy hikes.

This moderate hike along an old railroad grade takes you through some beautiful woods and alongside a crystal clear creek.   There are two waterfalls, a smaller unnamed waterfall, and the larger Wildcat Falls, which is easily viewed from an old concrete bridge, built by the logging companies.

Black Balsam Knob, located near the Blue Ridge Parkway, is a moderate hike that goes along a ridge out to Black Balsam Knob.  The hike begins in a beautiful fir forest, then follows a ridge line for incredible views of the surrounding mountains.

Max Patch is very popular hiking location due to the short moderate hike up the Appalachian trail, for beautiful 360 degree views of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains.   Max Patch provides both sunrise and sunset views.

One of our favorite trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Big Creek Trail provides access to Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls.   The trail follows Big Creek as well, which is one of the most beautiful and scenic creeks in the park.

The hike to Sam's Knob begins off the Blue Ridge Parkway, and takes you through a beautiful meadow, that is full of wildflowers spring through summer, then up to the top of Sam's Knob for incredible views of the surrounding mountains.

Near Sam's Knob, the Flat Laurel Creek Loop trail is a beautiful hike that takes you creek side, through forest, and meadows.   This is a moderate hike, and a favorite for wildflower lovers.

Gabes Mountain Trail, in the Cosby area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was our first official hike.  The trail takes you out to the beautiful Hen Wallow Falls.   The hike is wooded, and moderate in difficulty.

Flat Creek trail is a gorgeous and moderate hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Maggie Valley NC.   The trail takes you along streams and through the  dense forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Pretty Hallow Gap is a easy to moderate out and back hike that takes you along side a beautiful creek through Cataloochee Valley, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Mingo Falls in Cherokee is a simply gorgeous waterfall, that is not far from downtown Cherokee.  The trail is strenuous due to the stairs that take you up the falls, but well worth it.  There is a nice viewing platform at the top as well.

The Mountains-To-Sea trail goes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, all the way to the Outer Banks.  We hiked a portion of it when we were on Topsail Island.  The MTS trail follows along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and provides a number of great hiking options an access points.

Kephart Prong trail is just off Highway 441 through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and takes you through an old CCC camp and up to a hiking/camping shelter near the Appalachian Trail.

A very popular waterfall hike, this trail in Pisgah National Forest, near Brevard is a pretty trail, that ends with the reward of Moore Cove Falls.  More Cove Falls is a pretty waterfall, that you can stand at the base of.