Graveyard Fields
A shrub-and-grass valley at high elevation with a waterfall loop, one of the earliest and most vivid autumn color displays along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Graveyard Fields takes its name from the stumps of windthrown trees, which once resembled tombstones. Today it is an open valley at about 1,500 m. A loop trail of about 3 km links the upper and lower waterfalls, and wild blueberries grow along the way. The leaves here turn red earliest, in early October, and the parking lot fills up on weekends, so arrive early in the morning. It sits at milepost 418.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 1 hour from Asheville, and can be combined with Black Balsam Knob.
Opening hours
Open all day (along Park Road)
Nearby sights
- Black Balsam Knob
- Looking Glass Rock
- Sliding Rock
- Cradle of Forestry in America
- Looking Glass Falls
- Mount Pisgah
- DuPont State Recreational Forest
- North Carolina Arboretum