Craggy Gardens and Craggy Pinnacle

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/30/2026	0.9 miles	51 minutes	204'	1.6 mph	63
Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/30/2026	0.8 miles	53 minutes	179'	1.6 mph	63.8

Parking: 

• Craggy Gardens Visitor Center, then Craggy Pinnacle, Blue Ridge Parkway

Map:

• Gaia GPS app

Directions:

• Craggy Gardens: Take the trail on the left side of the parking lot. Turn left after the pavilion. Continue past open field to bench at the end of the trail. Return the same way.
• Craggy Pinnacle. Take the trail uphill, ignoring side trails on the right. Hike to the summit. Return the same way.

The parkway has re-opened! That means it's time for a trip to Craggy Gardens & Craggy Pinnacle. You never know what kind of weather you'll get up there, but we got lucky, with partial cloud coverage and no fog. We started out hiking to Craggy Gardens. There were already people hanging out at our favorite sitting spot, so we continued on to the end of the trail (not a place to catch a sunset). We hung out for a while, then returned to the field (which is excellent for catching a sunset), but the people were still there. We had a long time to wait, so we decided to hike out and then hike up to Craggy Pinnacle. At Craggy Pinnacle we hung out at the top with several other people and watched the sunset. Looking forward to many more trips up there this year. One of the most beautiful spots in Western North Carolina.

First trailhead

Posing

Second bench

We arrived to find sunbeams in the meadow

The end of the trail

Sporting his resistance hat

Returning to the meadow

Craggy Pinnacle Trailhead

The base of my favorite tree on this trail. You can find many photos and sketches of this tree.

Waiting for sunset at Craggy Pinnacle

Trying to get a quick sketch in with just ink, before the sun sets.