Looking Glass Rock Trail

Looking Glass Rock Trail

There are 3 major mountain ranges in the US. On the West Coast, we have the towering Sierra Nevada and Rockies reaching elevations of over 14k feet above sea level, and on the East Coast, the Appalachian scraping close to 6.7k feet above sea level and stretching from central Alabama all the way up to Newfoundland in Canada. At 480 million years old, the Appalachian Mountains are much older than the 40 million year old West Coast mountains, and those extra years of erosion have managed to pare down its height to half that of the majestic mountains out west. Instead of the jagged peaks of the Sierras and Rockies, the ridge lines here have a smoother undulating appearance.

One of the many trails around Asheville is the Looking Glass Rock trail located in the Pisgah National Forest.
Having been used to hiking in higher altitude, the 6-mile out-and-back trail here is like a walk in the park with its gentle inclines under forest canopy.
Topping out at under 4K feet above sea level, the view on Looking Glass Rock is beautiful in its own way.
With the ranges fully covered in trees, the mountains look less hostile than the alpine peaks out west.
Near the base of the trailhead is the Looking Glass falls.
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A view of the Looking Glass Rock from across the way on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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