For today’s adventure post, I would like to look back on a few of my favorite adventures. Hopefully, these adventures will inspire you to either try out our adventure or to go on an adventure all of your own. Either way, our goals is to inspire you to get out there and explore this wonderful world God has given to us. There is so much to see and do! We need to take advantage of the time we have and do all and see all that we can.
Virginia Creeper Trail: White Top to Damascus
This was the first real adventure that Justin ever took me on. We’d spent the month before our trip preparing for the 17-mile bike ride. Mainly because we wanted to be able to beat the average time that it takes to complete the trail.
The Virginia Creeper Trail is a 34.3-mile recreation trail that goes through Abington, Virginia to Damascus, Virginia. You can complete the White Top to Damascus section, the Damascus to Abington section, or the entire trail. The choice is yours depending on your level of experience and fitness.
The Damascus to Abington section is about 17-miles that is mostly flat or uphill. From my understanding anyways. Having only completed the White Top to Damascus section of the trail, I can only describe that portion. So if you are looking for a challenge but aren’t up for the full 34.3-mile trip, the Damascus to Abington section may be the adventure for you!
The White Top to Damascus section is all downhill so it is definitely the more popular section of the trial. Pretty much anyone can ride this part of the Virginia Creeper Trail. When we went, we saw people of every age! From Boy Scouts to an elderly couple! Everyone was enjoying the trail.
This section of the Virginia Creeper Trail takes an average of about 4 hours to complete. Since the trail is downhill through the woods it is well shaded. And since it is so heavily trafficked it is also very well maintained. About halfway down this part of the trail, there is a restaurant that you can stop for a break and have some lunch. We do advise though that if you are trying to beat the 4 hour completion time that you skip the world famous cake. As delicious at it was, it probably wasn’t the smartest decision on our part considering how hard we were riding.
A few things to note about this adventure. There is a shuttle service available in the towns where the trail starts. Those shuttle services also have bikes you can rent if you need to rent a bike for any reason. The service we used had several options of styles of bikes to pick from which was nice. If you don’t want or need the shuttle service, there is a parking area at the start of the trail that you can drive up to with your bikes. Also, this is a 4-hour ride in the woods. The only bathroom after you start the trail is at the restaurant that is located about halfway through. We highly suggest using the bathroom at the visitor center at the start of the trail and at the restaurant halfway through the trail. Otherwise, you’re waiting for 4hrs plus to use the restroom and that doesn’t sound very fun.
To learn more about this adventure, click here.
Black Balsam Knob Hike in North Carolina
For this adventure, not only do you get a fun drive to the location but you also get amazing views along the way and on the hike. This is definitely an adventure that I want to do over and over again. I will never tire of the jaw-dropping views this adventure offers.
To get to the trailhead you drive on a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Driving that by itself is an amazing experience. Especially the section you have to take to get to the trails. As you make your way up the mountain, the overlooks showcasing the amazing view of the mountains switch from side to side as you literally are driving the ridge of the mountains. The closer you get to the trailhead, the more narrow the road gets and the more overgrown the bushes get. Don’t let this fool you though, this trail is a heavily trafficked one because of the views it offers.
When we did this hike, we made it a 5-mile loop by starting at the Ivestor Gap Trail and taking the Art Loeb Trail to Black Balsam Knob. You don’t have to do that. To learn more about hiking Black Balsam Knob, click here.
There are a few things to note about this adventure. Go to the bathroom before you get on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There aren’t really any bathrooms along the drive. If you opt to start at the Ivestor Gap Trail, there is a restroom. It is a very basic, porta-potty like facility. So we would highly advise stopping to use the restroom before you start the Blue Ridge Parkway. And save the restroom at the trailhead for extreme emergencies only.
Another thing to note is some of the paths we took had an extremely thick brush. Along with that, there are some very large step ups and downs throughout your hike. Being 5’1”, this did make the hike a bit difficult for me. Some of the steps were almost 2 foot or higher from the beginning to the ending point.
Overall though this is an amazing hike. It has it’s moments where the terrain was slightly difficult but due to how highly trafficked it is, it is not a hard hike. The views are some of THE best I have ever seen! It is definitely worth checking out if you have never been! And checking out again and again if you have been before.
To read more about this adventure, click here.
The Waterfall Highway
If you haven’t driven U.S. Highway 64, you are missing out a ton of amazing waterfalls! We’d originally found this amazing highway because Justin was trying to plan an adventure for his mom for Mother’s Day one year. Since MomLee loves waterfalls, Justin started researching waterfalls close to us and happened to find several along U.S. Highway 64.
From Knoxville to Highlands, NC, U.S. Highway 64 you will pass 4 waterfalls. Those waterfalls are Callusaja Falls, Bust Your Butt Falls, Dry Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls. After leaving Highlands, you would be able to find 5 additional waterfalls in that same area. For due to how long we look at the waterfalls leading up to Highlands, NC and how long we took exploring Highlands, we did not get a chance to see the other 5 waterfalls.
The falls that we did see though were amazing! Cullsaja Falls is tucked down below the road just off the side of the mountain. If you’re not careful you could easily pass by it without even noticing it. Though there are pull-offs near the falls and you’ll likely find people along the road trying to get a good view of the falls.
Bust Your Butt Falls is a little harder to find. That’s because it sits off the road just a short way and is probably one of the smallest waterfalls you’ll see. Don’t let that stop you from checking it out though. This waterfall leads into a popular swimming hole for the area.
Don’t let the name of this next one fool you. Dry Falls was anything but dry. This has partly been due to it having rained all week leading up to our trip. Dry Falls was definitely a crowd favorite. Due to its popularity, the pull off for this waterfall is impossible to miss. There is a large parking area and restrooms. They even built a platform and staircase that allows you multiple views of the waterfall. One of our favorite things about this one is that you can walk under the falls and to the other side for yet another viewing area. This waterfall alone is worth the trip!
Bridal Veil Falls is the last fall you see before entering into Highlands, NC. It stands at 60 feet tall and at one time allowed cars to pass behind it! Sadly due to safety concerns, it is no longer allowed and the road behind it is blocked off. Bridal Veil Falls falls straight into a small quarry which runs under the main road and down the mountain. How cool is that? You don’t often see a water that you could drive under and over!
To learn more about this adventure, click here.
Thank you so much for reading!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this post and it has inspired you to get out and explore! If you decide to check out one of these adventures, we’d love to hear about it! Also, if there is an adventure that you’d us to try out, we’d love to hear about that too!
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