Karen and Lee Duquette's FLASHBACK

to Graveyard Fields Waterfall
on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
September 6, 2004 and August 3, 2005

Graveyard Fields Directions: Do NOT rely on your GPS. Simply drive the Blue Ridge Parkway south from Asheville, NC to Milepost 418.8, about 37 miles southwest of downtown. It's about 10 miles past Mt. Pisgah. (Heads up: This section of the Parkway is often closed in the winter for ice and snow.)

The Yellowstone Prong is the water source for two waterfalls in a mile-high valley filled with wildflowers and surrounded by the 6,000-foot peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Graveyard Fields is a very popular hiking trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Milepost 418.8) south of Asheville, North Carolina. The Yellowstone Prong is the water source for two waterfalls in a mile-high valley filled with wildflowers and surrounded by the 6,000-ft. peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area got its name years ago from the tree stumps that looked like grave stones in a graveyard setting. The trees were toppled by a huge wind several hundred years ago. Then in 1925, an intense fire burned the recently logged area, and the forest has been slow in recovering since.

The two RV Gypsies started their 1/3 of a mile hike to the Lower Falls from the overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was a map on the sign at the parking area. They took the trail at the lower end (right side looking away from Parkway) of the parking area and descended down a paved path through a thick patch of rhododendron, then down some steps and to a bridge. They crossed the bridge, turned right along the trail and hiked to the first trail intersection to the right. They they descended a long flight of steps to a viewing platform for Lower Falls to get a closer look from the boulders at the base of the falls.

Note: From Lower Falls, it is possible to continue on the 4-mile Graveyard Fields Loop. Karen and Lee Duquette did not do this on either trip.

It was a rainy, cloudy day in 2004, but much better weather when Karen and Lee Duquette returned here in 2005.

Below: Time for Lee and Karen Duquette to hike down to the waterfall - a 1/3 mile hike to the Lower Falls.

Below: Lee Duquette bent down to feel the temperature of the water. Yes, of course it was cold.

Below: Karen Duquette at the Graveyard Fields Waterfall

Below: Karen and Lee Duquette returned to the the waterfall at Graveyard Fields in 2005. The weather was much nicer.

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