Overview

The Linville Gorge is a 12,000 acre component of the USFS Wilderness system. The Linville River drops almost 2000 feet as it cuts a gorge 13 miles long in dropping from the Appalachian mountains to the Piedmont region of North Carolina. The gorge bottom is traversed by the Linville Gorge trail (LGT), paralleling the river through the length of the wilderness. The river can be accessed by many trails descending from the rims to the river. Climbing areas include Hawksbill, Table Rock, the Chimneys, Shortoff, and Wisemans View. One can spend weeks climbing in the gorge and never repeat the same route. (The climbing areas are not covered here but some can be found on SP and via information in books and the internet.)

Access

East side: Gingercake or Fish Hatchery Roads from NC 181

west side: Kistler Memorial Highway (Old NC 105) from NC 183 or 126

Trails

The west side of the gorge is Linville Mountain, with the overlook of Wisemans view in the middle. Linville Mountain is traversed by the Kistler Memorial Highway (old NC 105). The trails dropping into the gorge from the west rim are (North to South) Pine Gap, Bynum Bluff, *Cabin, Babel Tower, *Sandy Flats, Conley Cove, and Pinch-In.

The east side of the gorge is a series of separate peaks (N to S): Sitting Bear, Hawksbill, Table Rock, the Chimneys, and Shortoff. It is accessed by Table Rock Road and the Shortoff Mountain (now the Mountains to Sea) trail. The east side trails (N to S) are the *Brushy Ridge, *Devils Hole, Spence Ridge and *Cambric Branch. The Linville trail is 12+ miles and follows the river from the Pine Gap trail near Linville falls to private land at the southern end of the gorge by Shortoff Mountain.

The above trails are 0.8 to 1.5 miles in length, all the trails are steep and drop up to 1500 feet to the river. The trails noted by * are considered "primitive", though I wonder as to what this designation means. The toughest is the Sandy Flats trail. It is difficult to locate, poorly traveled, and drops 1200' in a mile. (After the forest fire a few years ago the trail has not been maintained, though I don't think it was ever maintained.) Other tough trails are Devils Hole and Cambric Branch. Both get scant use. The Cabin trail is steep but gets much more traffic. The Pinch-In is also quite steep with the greatest vertical drop but more traffic. The other trails get much more use, are easy to follow, and usually graded. Many day loops that can be walked if a strong hiker, by combining the trails and roads.

Bob Underwood maintains a great site (Linville Gorge) on Yahoo groups. He is most knowledgeable about all the trails, both official and "unofficial".

Because the area is a wilderness the trails are not blazed, though a few intersections are signed. It can sometimes be VERY difficult to locate the east side trails when hiking on the Linville Gorge trail (LGT), because the LGT stays on the western side of the river and only the Spence Ridge trail crossing obvious. A prohibited bridge was placed at this crossing in 2007 by the USFS. Further discussion on this topic can be found below. Just remember landmarks and consult the trail map often.

Camping/Essentials

Because this is a wilderness, groups are limited to 10 persons. Permits are required for camping on weekends and holidays in the wilderness from May 1 to Oct 31. These rules are routinely violated but you don't need to. This area is being loved to death. For a permit. Contact:Grandfather Ranger District, Marion, NC 28752. Telephone: 828-652-2144 The camping areas on the LGT between Babel Tower trail and Conley Cove trail are heavily overused. Please tread lightly.

Excellent conditioning is required as well as water, compass, USFS Linville Gorge map or USGS 7.5' Linville Falls and Ashford, a good idea of direction, ability to read terrain and land forms, and common sense .

Other important/interesting information

Please be a good steward, don't break switchbacks, pack it in/pack it out (yours and someone elses garbage). Be smart; this is a very popular east coast climbing area so DON'T trundle rocks off the cliffs or drink to excess and do something foolish. Your silly action could get you or someone else killed. Summers can be very hot so look for rattlesnakes; winters are not too bad, though the access roads may be impassable due to ice or snow. When the mounains have snow, the lower gorge is usually snow free because of its elevation. Its all uphill when leaving to return to your car; so if you get off trail go up (BUT it can be unreal steep and you can be cliffed out or fall and get injured/impaled/incapacitated/killed.) Evacuation can be exceedingly difficult. (There are 1 to 2 rescues a year from the gorge, most are very long, time consuming, and difficult. Some require helicopter evacuation which greatly compounds the difficulty. There are no landing zones, patients must be short hauled.)

The Linville River has been run by whitewater experts, having first been run in 1990? From American Whitewater on the Linville River: "The high gradient and complex geology of the gorge create intense and demanding rapids that are sustained for distances unparalleled in the eastern United States."
See Linville River

Manmade developement in a USFS Wilderness

As mentioned above, a footbridge was constructed over the Linville River, connecting the Linville Gorge and Spence Ridge trails in 2007. Many persons (including this author) were (and remain) opposed to the placement of this structure. What follows is a brief discussion of the legality of this action.

In section 4c of the 1964 Wilderness Act (Prohibition of Certain Uses) it states, "....... no structure or installation within any such area". However, like most rules, there are exceptions. A structure is allowed as per Section 4d-4 (Special Provisions); "Within wilderness areas in the national forests designated by this chapter, (1) the President may, within a specific area and in accordance with such regulations as he may deem desirable, authorize........... other facilities needed in the public interest..........., upon his determination that such use or uses in the specific area will better serve the interests of the United States and the people thereof than will its denial."

The finished bridge was made as unobtrusive as possible. I do not advocate property destruction but if the bridge fell in the water, well........

History

Named for William Linville. He and his son John were killed and scalped by the Cherokee in the gorge in 1766.

Linville Gorge was first designated a wild area in 1951 by the Chief of the Forest Service. With the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964, the area became one of the original components of the National Wilderness System. The original 7,575 acres was increased to the present 12,002 acres by the 1984 North Carolina Wilderness Act.

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