Catawba Falls Loop, Old Fort

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/17/2025	3.5 miles	2 hours 3 minutes	820'	1.8 mph	52.9 miles

Parking: 

• End of Catawba River Road, Old Fort

Map:

• At trailhead kiosk

Directions:

• Take the Catawba Falls River Trail to the lower falls, then continue on to the upper falls. Rock hop across the river below the upper falls (as the observation platform has been washed away). Continue down the Ridge Trail back to the parking lot.

Popped two Advil and off to do hike to Catawba Falls again. Last time we only hiked the new Ridge Trail. This time we did the full loop, so we saw both the lower and upper falls. After lots of rain, the falls look great, but the ridge trail was quite muddy and slippery. Krumm wanted to swim, but it was a cold day, so we only let him wade in the water. We hiked up the 585? steps on the river trail. Periodically you would see a sign showing how many more steps there are to climb. Having stopped going to the gym and hiking much less has made the climb challenging. We took lots of breaks :) Some of the steps were a metal grating - not so dog friendly, but he did it without complaining.

First rock hop

Some of the steps are wood, some are this rough metal grating.

Upper Catawba Falls

Crossing the river due to the missing viewing platform

Thrift Cove Trail, Pisgah

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/10/2025	4.5 miles	2 hours 27 minutes	767'	2.0 mph	49.4 miles

Parking: 

• Art Loeb Trailhead, Davidson River Campground

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

• Take the trail from the far end of the parking lot. Cross Pisgah Highway and continue following the Sycamore Cove Trail on the other side. At intersection, turn left, shortly after that turn right. Pass Starens Branch Trail on the left. Shortly after that, keep left at the Y intersection to take the Thrift Cove Trail. At next intersection, keep straight to follow the Black Mountain Trail and take it to the Black Mountain Trailhead Parking. Turn left and walk next to Pisgah Highway, then turn right and end back at the Art Loeb Trailhead.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

• #603 Thrift Cove Trail, Pisgah 400
• #127 Black Mountain Trail (partial), Pisgah 400

Paul and Phyllis joined us for a hike in Pisgah today. We wanted to get out before the heavy rains coming our way. We headed over to the Thrift Cove Trail, which none of us have done. We saw a handful of mountain bikers, but that was mostly at the end of our hike. We took a 5-minute break during our hike, and that was when my hip started hurting a lot, but once we started moving again, it improved. Good day out in the woods. The trail was in good condition.

Always enjoy seeing fan clubmoss

North Slope Trail, Pisgah

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/7/2025	5.3 miles	3 hours 38 minutes	375'	2.0 mph	44.9 miles

Parking: 

• Pisgah Ranger Station, 1600 Pisgah Highway

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

• From the parking lot, turn right onto the Exercise Trail. Cross the road. Turn right and cross the bridge over the Davidson River at the Art Loeb parking area. Walk through the campground and turn left onto the North Slope Trail. Climb and then walk along a ridge. At a 3-way intersection, turn right to stay on the North Slope Trail. Where the trail splits, stay left next to the river. Turn left at the Art Loeb parking area to cross the river. Take a left again before reaching the highway. Turn right onto the Exercise Trail and cross the highway. On the other side, continue on the Exercise Trail back to the parking lot.

Marie and I are leading this hike later this month, so we went out today to scout it, accompanied by Glen, Joe, and Krumm. It's more than I've been hiking, but it's an easier hike so I did fine. The North Slope Trail is a nice walk in the woods. There is a bridge on the trail that was destroyed, so we did have to climb down and up a dirt embankment, but it wasn't too bad. We stopped at the 3-way intersection for lunch. From there we headed down to the river. A few sections of the trail are closed due to hurricane damage, but you can walk in the campground. We found a nice beach and let Krumm go for a swim.

Krumm wanted to take the bridge, but the humans didn't.

Please throw a stick!

A blue heron in the Davidson River

Historic English Chapel

Upper Catawba Falls, Old Fort

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/4/2025	4.2 miles	2 hours 13 minutes	955'	2.1 mph	39.6 miles

Parking: 

• Catawba Falls Trailhead, Catawba River Road, Old Fort

Map:

• At kiosk

Directions:

• Take Catawba Falls Ridge Trail to Upper Catawba Falls. Return the same way

Hip pain was bad last night, but popped 2 Tylenol in the morning so I could hike. Glen and I haven't been to Catawba Falls since they re-opened. Normally this isn't a great hike to do with Krumm, because it tends to be very crowded with tons of people and dogs. But today, the parking lot wasn't too full. We stopped at the trail kiosk to look at the map. It has changed since we last have hiked here. There was a sign saying that the Upper Catawba Falls platform is closed due to hurricane damage. We took the new Catawba Falls Ridge Trail, which is a wide dirt/gravel road. This leads up to Upper Catawba Falls, where we had the falls to ourselves for a while. The pool beneath the falls was shallow enough that we let Krumm have a swim. We saw the broken platform. You can actually get around to the other side if you are careful. Glen checked it out, while I headed back down the Ridge Trail. A nice hike, with not too many people. This is one I definitely recommend as a weekday hike, as it can be a madhouse on weekends.

Upper Catawba Falls

Hurricane damage - the platform is gone

Happy to be swimming in February!

Cold but worth it!

Sycamore Cove, Grassy Road, and Art Loeb Trails, Pisgah

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
2/2/2025	3.5 miles	1 hour 55 minutes	453'	1.9 mph	35.4 miles

Parking: 

• Roadside parking on Pisgah Highway, close to across the street from the trailhead. Room for 4 cars. Alternate parking at Art Loeb Trailhead Parking.

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

• Cross the street from the parking area and take the western branch of the Sycamore Cove loop trail. Take a sharp right to stay at the Sycamore Cove Trail, where trail #127A goes straight. Turn left onto Grassy Road Trail. Turn left onto trail #127A. Turn right onto Sycamore Cove loop trail to return to the parking area across the street. Turn right onto the Art Loeb Trail and hike to the Art Loeb Trailhead parking lot. Turn around and return to the parking area on Pisgah Highway.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

• Pisgah 400 Challenge - #143 Sycamore Cove Trail (partial)
• Pisgah 400 Challenge - #364 Grassy Road Trail

I needed some variety from the local trails we've been doing, so we headed to Pisgah. We've hiked part of the Sycamore Cove Trail before, but not all of it, so today we finished hiking the rest of it. I took 2 Tylenol before starting. This is an easy trail, though still has more elevation gain than the local trail we've been doing. There were lots of mountain bikers out, so we had to keep our ears peeled to make sure we heard them in time to get off to the side of the trail. Part of the trail follows a creek, so Krumm took a dip. I wanted to get a little more hiking in when we returned to our car, so we followed the Art Loeb Trail and let Krumm go swimming not once, but twice! A couple with a golden retriever saw us having fun, so they let their dog swim with Krumm. Krumm couldn't care about the other dog. All he cared about was retrieving a stick. A wet dog is a happy dog.

Getting his feet wet next to a small waterfall.

River next to Pisgah Highway

In some spots, deep enough to swim.