Bracken Preserve, Brevard and Estatoe Trail, Pisgah

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/19/2025	2 miles	1 hour 9 minutes	351'	1.7 mph	113.3 miles

Parking: 

• 186 Pinnacle Road, Brevard

Map:

• Facilities • Bracken Preserve

Directions:

• Take the blue trail from the trailhead. At the first intersection turn left onto the blue trail. Return the same way.

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
4/19/2025	3 miles	1 hour 20 minutes	115'	2.4 mph	116.3 miles

Parking: 

• Davidson River Campground

Map:

• Pisgah Map Company, Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

• From the parking lot, cross the bridge and turn left onto the Art Loeb Trail. Where the Art Loeb Trail leaves the river on the right, stay straight and follow the Eastatoe Trail. Hike to where it ends at Route 64. Turn around. Follow the Eastatoe Trail and then the Art Loeb trail. Cross the pedestrian bridge on the right over the Davidson River. Turn left on the other side and continue a short distance back to the parking lot.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges

• Art Loeb Trail #146 (partial), Pisgah 400 Challenge

I dropped off Glen at the Hands Off protest in Brevard and went to an urban sketching meetup in the afternoon. Since we were in Brevard, we went for a hike in the area afterwards. Luckily the parking lot was nearly empty at Bracken Preserve. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a lot of water, so after 1 mile of hiking we had to turn around. This happens the first warm day of every spring - I realize I need to start packing more water for my hikes. After our hike, we stopped by a grocery store so I could buy some water for filling up my water bottle, so we could head out for another short hike.

We headed over to the Davidson River Campground and hiked part of the Art Loeb Trail and the flat Estatoe Trail. In some sources, I see it called Eastatoe and others I see it as Estatoe. Gaia marks the tril as #111 in Pisgah, but the Pisgah Map Co. map has it unnumbered. We let Krumm in the river for a swim, but many good spots in the river had fishermen in it, so we didn't end up letting him swim much. Parts of the trail have had many new improvements, but I can't say this is a favorite of mine, other than its a chance to let Krumm in the water for a swim. There is a lot of car noise from Pisgah Highway which runs parallel to this hike. Both hikes had bicyclists on the trails.