Read our many Asheville posts here!

Hello! This is not a normal trip recap or planning post, sorry. We’re heading to our favorite quickie Airstream destination, Asheville, next weekend to meet our favorite people from Atlanta (who let us park the Airstream in their driveway when we visit)–but without the Airstream (gasp!) and without Bugsy (double gasp!). So unless something super-noteworthy happens, I won’t be writing about our adventures here. The purpose of this post is to help me research hikes for next weekend, and for future hiking in the Asheville area.

This is a list of hikes we’ve already done near Asheville. If you’re looking for hikes around Asheville, maybe you too will find this list, and the linked posts, helpful in choosing a hike that suits your parameters. Our criteria are usually: dog friendly (duh), lighter crowds (hikes near Asheville can be crazy crowded!), big views, less than an hour’s drive from downtown. The below hikes are roughly ordered by level of enjoyment, descending.

Bearwallow Mountain and Trombatore Trail; 7.3 miles. Fantastic views and less traffic… although we were there on a cold March weekday. Then we did it again years later on a cold November weekday.

John Rock and Cedar Rock Falls; 6 miles. Big views, pretty water, crowded

Looking Glass Rock; 6.5 miles. Not super crowded, lovely expansive views from the top. It’s an out-and-back, up the mountain and then back down, but not very strenuous

Max Patch; 7 miles. Gorgeous bald, very crowded at top, but longer hike is peaceful and pretty

Black Balsam Knob; 5 miles. Black Balsam and Tennet were crowded, but the rest of the hike was peaceful. Big views from top

Four Falls Loop in DuPont State Recreational Forest; 6 miles but would shorten it next time and skip Grassy Creek Falls. Gorgeous falls, pretty forest, well-maintained trails. Go early on a weekday to avoid crowds

Pilot Cove Slate Rock; 7 miles. Rolling stream, peaceful forest, views at top, not crowded

Lookout Mountain; 7.4 miles. Quiet forest, some views, not as populated

Florence Nature Preserve; 5.8 miles. Solitude, lovely stream

Maple Camp Bald and Mt Mitchell; 8 miles. Gorgeous views but brutally steep and overgrown in parts

Catawba Falls; 3 miles. Easy, very crowded walk to lovely falls. Close to town

Frying Pan Mountain; 1.75 miles. Gravel road to top of mountain with fire tower. Pretty views from tower, close to town so more crowded

Mt Pisgah; 3 miles. Very popular hike close to town to viewing platform at summit. Views not worth the crowds

Biltmore Estate trails; varying distances. Pretty trees, rolling hills, best suited for a trail run. It only makes sense to go here on a day when you’re already visiting the estate because you have to pay the steep entrance fee to access the trails

Bent Creek Experimental Forest; varying distances. Flat-ish paths through the woods and around a lake in the oldest experimental forest in the East. Close to town, would be good for trail running