These six in-town Boone and Blowing Rock destinations have a unique wildness to enjoy within minutes (or seconds) of the downtowns.
The High Country and surrounding areas are known for places to get lost for awhile–i.e. the thousands of rugged acres in the Linville Gorge, the rolling miles along the Roan Highlands, and plenty of places along the Blue Ridge Parkway–but what if you’re just looking for the peace of wild things…a little closer to home? This is another one of the glorious mysteries unique to this area.
You could literally be finishing a beer at the Six Pence Pub off main street Blowing Rock and seconds later enjoying the three-waterfall Glen Burney Trail right at the edge of Annie Cannon Park just a short walk away. Hopefully you’ll go easy on the brews though before tackling this or any of the other patches of green and wild that we’re calling “in-town wilderness areas” of the High Country. (Seriously. Go easy on the drink–especially before tackling these trails.)
These six locations (and there are, of course, many more) have been personally traveled (many times) and curated with joy by our small team of local hikers. Each place mentioned here has the unique ability to pull you in quickly from these busy mountain towns into the relative quiet and seclusion afforded by such stark and beautiful landscapes.
Goshen Creek
This brief and rolling out and back stream-side Mountains to Sea trail stroll near Goshen Creek, which at points becomes quite a workout and hill climb, is another of those in-town wonders that transports you quickly into a wilderness excursion. And of course you could walk all the way to the coast if you wanted to.
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China Creek
This Blowing Rock trail drops down into the Johns River Gorge and might just give you the workout of your life. I might add that though it begins in a Blowing Rock residential area, you quickly find yourself in another world.
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The Boone United Trail
Part of the beauty this trail system is just how quickly you’re able to forget that you’re climbing above a university town, especially with the addition of the upper loop. The pair of loops makes you feel like you’ve done something with your day as you wind through beautiful hardwoods amid large mossy rocks and develop the sense that you’re no longer in the middle of a small university town.
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The Glen Burney Trail
The Glen Burney Trail is located near downtown Blowing Rock and winds beautifully downhill along New Year’s Creek and its cascades. But don’t be deceived by this High Country gem. This beauty can make you weak in the knees.
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The Boone Greenway
Because it’s in the middle of town, has gazebos and picnic tables (not pictured here) and is surrounded by neighborhoods, the Boone Greenway is perhaps slightly underestimated for the beauty and adventures it has to offer alongside its in-town convenience. A great place to walk the dog, go for a family stroll, and have a picnic, if you go beyond the picnic tables, the Eno hammocks that hang alongside the South Fork of the New River, through the soccer fields and to the Angel Stairway, you can get a rather nice trail experience for the proprioception and the psychological refreshment of escape to the woods.
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Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Trails
I realize you probably aren’t visiting a mountain bike park to seek solitude, but there’s still some to be had in this purpose-built park as these trails carry you through the landscape—just below rock outcroppings, through rhododendron tunnels, meandering alongside meditative streams and cascades, and into quantums of solace where birdsong and brook sound are all that echo off the hardwoods and the hills around you.
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