Black Dome’s Asheville Outdoors Guide

I was running on a trail off of the Parkway last week and I’m surprised I didn’t wind up tripping and landing my face square on some root due to my wandering eyes.  See, I’d been doing the same thing on the same trail two days prior and hadn’t noticed anything that out of the ordinary, but in that 48-hour hiatus, the leaves had almost completely changed face.  I’ve lived in Western N.C. since the day I was born in Mission Hospital in the late ’80s, which means that it’s all I’ve ever really known, and thus, those leaves have to look a whole lot cooler than usual to really catch my eye like that.  I’ll emphasize that statement:  The colors this autumn are extraordinarily beautiful.  Of course, I was also dodging leaf-viewing tourists left and right.  I know when I’m really trying to enjoy our area’s outdoor eye-candy I really value my peace and quiet. 
So here I am offering up some ideas of places YOU can check out for a day or two to catch all this amazing but limited scenery and still be relatively alone in the wild.
Right off the bat what I’m going to recommend is a day trip, or even a quick overnighter if you’ve got the spare time, out to Shining Rock.

Shining Rock Wilderness area can be easily accessed off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It’s southwest of Asheville and is technically seated in Haywood County.  This area is nothing short of gorgeous, especially now with this fresh splash of fall color and it boasts about 18,500 acres to get lost in.  Due to its classification as a wilderness area, group sizes are limited to 10 or less, fires are illegal, and the trails are generally unmarked, but still easy to figure out if you’ve got a map. 
My idea of a good day trip…  You’ll need a camera.
My suggestion would be to park at the Graveyard Fields overlook off of the Parkway, it’s right around mile marker 420, and nearly impossible to miss.  At first, when you walk down into Graveyard Fields, you’ll notice that there’s a good bit of water, but if you’re planning on venturing into Shining Rock, you’re going to need a good bit with you as water is usually scarce, especially after this year’s unpleasant drought.  If you just wanna get out and have a nice lunch near some water but still enjoy the sun and cool colors, Graveyard Fields in itself is a sweet area to hang out at, but because of it being so easily accessible and obvious, it typically draws the crowds.  If you get on Graveyard Ridge trail, you can hike on it until it intersects the famous Art Loeb trail at Ivestor Gap.  At this point, you can take Art Loeb up to Black Balsam or to Shining Rock, but either way, the view from Ivestor Gap is nothing short of incredible in itself and you should be able to find some piece and quiet right there.  Here’s a tip:  If you head in the direction of Black Balsam/Little Sam parking lot, as marked on the maps, but stay on the rail road grade trail, within a quarter of a mile, there should be a pipe with water flowing from it on the right, just off of the trail.  But, like I mentioned earlier, this drought has parched the land, so don’t depend on finding that; have some extra.  If you head up to Shining Rock from here, which is a good idea if you really want to get some quiet time and see some of the best W.N.C. has to offer, you can take the Art Loeb or the rail road grade trail and both will lead right up to Shining Rock ridge.  If you decide to do an overnighter, or even a night hike, try to make it to Shining Rock right before dusk and you’ll see why it’s aptly named.  A surrealistically glowing natural quartz monument in the middle of the wilderness while the autumn-hued leaves fade into the Carolina nightscape…  Do you need any more of a reason to get out there?
I don’t advise going out there without a map unless you’re very familiar with the area as the trails are unmarked in most places and just last month a group of Scouts actually got lost out there for a few days.  There’s a great Trails Illustrated map for the Pisgah Ranger District that covers this entire area in excellent detail.  It doesn’t just cover Shining Rock; the map also features Middle Prong Wilderness and most of greater Pisgah in this area.  If you want one map that covers more cool stuff than any other one, this is the one.
Remember; it’s getting chilly and when night falls you’re going to need some warm clothing, wind protection, a warm-enough sleeping bag, and maybe even a cup of tea. 
While Shining Rock is where I would go if I only had one weekend to hang out, it’s certainly not the only place around here you can head to for fall enjoyment.  Even closer to Asheville are Craggy Gardens, Bent Creek Experimental Forest, the N.C. Arboretum, and many, many more cool spots to spend an afternoon, a whole day, or even a few.  Keep in mind that these fall colors and the nice hiking temperatures aren’t going to last much longer, so get at ‘em while you can!
Feel free to stop by the Dome during the day and ask any one of us where we like to go and we’ll give you some cool ideas.  We also have maps for pretty much every area you can think of around here.
Thanks for reading, but I suggest you go and see for yourself what I’m talking about; it’s worth it.
 

Team Black Dome takes 2nd at the 3rd annual Overmountain Extreme Adventure Race.

In a very competitive race, Team Black Dome went down to perrenial southern powerhouse, Enduraventure in this 30 hour AR…See www.overmountainextremear.com for full results…and check out the Trailblazer Forum for a forum thread detailing many of the adventures had by other competing teams…