Boone Fork Trail
Boone Fork Trail is never far from water—it crosses Boone Fork and Bee Tree Creek more than 20 times during its nearly five-mile ramble through the parkway’s Julian price memorial park. The hike passes an extensive birch grove (one of the fall highlights of the trail), runs through rhododendron tunnels that lead to open meadows, and passes Boone Fork Falls.
This loop shares its pathway with both the Tanawha and Mountains-to-Sea trails, so watch the trail signs carefully. From the trailhead, you’ll hike through an ancient lake bed whose rich soils support a variety of plants. The caves in the surrounding cliffs housed Native Americans long before Europeans arrived here.
For the first two miles, you will be paralleling Boone Fork, which was named not for Daniel reach a view of Boone fork Falls, which cascades 25 feet over immense rocks. A half a mile farther on is Bee Tree Creek. The trail continues through woods and meadows (bear left at forks in the trail) before passing through the Price park campground on its way back to the trailhead.
Getting There: From Blowing Rock NC, take US 221 south to the Parkway. Follow the Parkway south to mile 296.4. the trailhead is near the rest rooms at the Price park picnic area.
Visual source: discountoutdoors
