This Steep Hike Off A Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway Rewards You With Breathtaking Views

The Blue Ridge Parkway is known as "America's favorite drive" for good reason. Spanning 469 miles across Virginia and North Carolina, it has some of the best mountain views on the East Coast, rare plant and wildlife species, and fun activities like biking and hiking. That's not to mention all of the cozy mountain towns you'll pass through on this epic road trip. Even though all of this and more exists on the Blue Ridge Parkway, lots of visitors think it's only a scenic drive with some stop-offs for pictures — completely missing the best of the mountains. 

The Devil's Courthouse is an iconic spot on the highway, just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, one of the top three towns in America to visit for outdoor adventure. It's a looming rocky outcrop supposedly named that way because of a Cherokee legend that says the devil holds court in a cave inside the mountain. There is an outlook with a car park right beneath this imposing monolith, but the real views are from the top of it. Hop out of your car and head up the short Devil's Courthouse Trail for a fun hike through forests and important ecological areas that culminates in 360-degree views of four states and countless undulating mountains.

The Devil's Courthouse Trail is very easy to reach and right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway itself. There is a parking lot for the overlook by milepost marker 422.4. The National Park Service warns that satnavs don't work well with the milepost system on the Blue Ridge Parkway, so you should put the Devil's Courthouse parking lot into your GPS of choice or follow the markers until you reach the right one. 

The Devil's Courthouse is about an hour away from Asheville to the southwest and Cherokee to the southeast. The Blue Ridge Parkway drive starts in Cherokee, which you can reach from the Asheville or Charlotte airports (Charlotte is the more major of the two). The eastern terminus of the parkway is in Afton, Virginia, which you can reach from the small Charlottesville or Staunton, Virginia, airports or the more major Reagan Washington or Washington Dulles Airports near the historic waterfront Virginia neighborhood of Alexandria. The entire parkway drive takes about 10 to 12 hours. 

To start the hike, you want to set off from the northeastern corner of the parking lot and follow the road for a little while before turning right into the forest. A lot of the trail is paved; however, previous hikers have reported that the non-paved sections get extremely muddy and slippery when it rains, so make a judgment call based on the weather. It's only a 0.8-mile walk that will take between half an hour and an hour, but it is very steep.

Even though it's just a short hike, the Devil's Courthouse Trail has a lot to offer. Of course, there are the views. You can cast your eye over four states on a cloudless day, and stunning mountain scenery awash with verdant forests. Each season brings a different treat on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with the fall leaves being a special delight for the senses from such a stunning vantage point. The walk through the forest is a special treat for nature lovers. A remnant from the last ice age, a number of seldom-seen flora can be seen lining the trail. These include rock gnome lichen, a type of fungus only found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. They're one of just two types of lichen considered endangered in the United States, so it's important to protect them by not veering from the trail. 

Another reason that good trail etiquette is essential on the Devil's Courthouse Trail is that there are also peregrine falcon nests on the rocky outcrops at the top. You must stay within the designated viewpoint so they are not disturbed and can continue thriving in the biodiverse Appalachians. In much the same manner, on your trip through the Blue Ridge Parkway, you should remain respectful of National Park Service regulations in pursuit of a thriving natural world. Follow the speed limits (mostly 45 miles per hour) and drive carefully, don't swim in natural bodies of water, leave no trace, and don't light fires outside of designated areas. With a bit of care, the Devil's Courthouse and its surrounding beauty can remain an adventure paradise for generations to come.