Lasting Light: Trail Guide Companion

Hikes Featured in Lasting Light

A hiking guide companion with mileage, difficulty, and AllTrails links.

This page serves as a companion to Lasting Light: A Journey Through the Southern Appalachians. Below you’ll find direct links to each hike featured in the book, organized by region, along with mileage and difficulty ratings based on AllTrails.

Check weather conditions and comments on AllTrails in case there are hazards or closures before hiking. Due to the nature of GPS in devices, mileage for each hike may vary and change over time on sites like AllTrails.

Townsend & Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

• Cades Cove Loop — 11.0 miles, easy — AllTrails

• Spruce Flats Falls — 1.6 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Grotto Falls — 2.6 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) — 1.3 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Charlies Bunion — 8.0 miles, hard — AllTrails

Boone, North Carolina

• Roan Mountain (Balds) — 5.1 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Rough Ridge Overlook — 1.2 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Linn Cove Viaduct Trail — 0.8 miles, easy — AllTrails

• Hawksbill Mountain — 2.0 miles, hard — AllTrails

• The Chimneys (Linville Gorge) — 1.7 miles, moderate — AllTrails

Asheville, North Carolina

• Looking Glass Falls — roadside access, easy — AllTrails

• Catawba Falls — 2.2 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Blue Ridge Pinnacle — 1.5 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Blue Ridge Parkway — various overlooks, easy — AllTrails

Waynesville & Sylva, North Carolina

• Max Patch — 1.6 miles, easy — AllTrails

• Upper Sol Creek Falls — 0.4 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Sunburst Falls — roadside access, easy — AllTrails

• Black Balsam Knob — 1.4 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Tennent Mountain — 3.8 miles, moderate — AllTrails

• Blue Ridge Parkway — various overlooks, easy — AllTrails

Trail Notes

Trail conditions change often due to weather, closures, or maintenance. Always check the AllTrails page or the official park website before heading out.

Trail mileage and difficulty ratings on recreation apps may change over time. The data compiled in this list were accurate at the time of writing.

All the trails in my photobook, Lasting Light: A Journey Through the Southern Appalachians, are compiled in this AllTrails list.

My book, Lasting Light, is available for sale in the store. Also, the photos featured in this blog and my photobook are available for print.

BOOK

Lasting Light: A Journey Through the Southern Appalachians

PRINTS

Special print collection from Lasting Light.

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