4K Grandfather Mountain Highlights From Blue Ridge Parkway
In this video, I stop at all the best Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks for viewing Grandfather Mountain in Western North Carolina. I show the overlook names, so you can plan your photography or video shoot. Here are views of the Mile High Swinging Bridge, the Linn Cove Viaduct, and lots of beautiful parkway scenery. This video was shot in 4K with the Sony FDR-AX33, with edits in Adobe Premeire Pro CC 2014.
Let's Go Hiking! Rough Ridge - Grandfather Mountain, NC, USA - Blue Ridge Mountains
This is the full hike from bottom to top of Rough Ridge on the shoulder of Tanawha AKA Grandfather Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains just off the Parkway on 10 September 2012.
Rough Ridge is located just north of Mile Post 303 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The trail does not lead to the top of the mountain but provides some of the only exposed ridgetops in the whole range. From those smaller ridges and the summit at 4800 feet the hike boasts breathtaking views of several dozen surrounding peaks as well as the Linville Gorge (see my associated hiking vid). The trail is about .75 miles each way with a 500 foot elevation gain. As noted both here and in the video, the mountain is covered in rare, fragile plant communities so please watch your step if you visit! It might just look like a smear of color on a rock, but it's alive and is probably older than your family name.
Grandfather (or Tanawha in the Cherokee language meaning Hawk) Mountain is the highest point in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway traverses it across some amazing viaducts. It is unusually rugged for the Southern Appalachians. There is at least one flower (the pink shell azalea) that is found nowhere else on Earth. The mountain is privately owned and all other points beyond Rough Ridge keep business hours and require an access fee. The family owners donated the portion of the land Linn Viaduct crosses to reduce the environmental impact of the parkway.
The video doesn't do this place justice. It was an old camcorder that ended up failing entirely later that trip. If you have an opportunity to take the Parkway or the Skyline, take it. It's slower than any other road around but you won't care. You might even find yourself going below the speed limit just to take in all the natural magnificence.
GrandFather Mountain 2016 Linville North Carolina
A great trip on a beautiful day to Grandfather Mountain Linville, North Carolina.
GrandFather Mountain State Park is a Non profit.
Please donate if you can.
grandfather.com
Grandfather mountain - overlook
Grandfather mountain - overlook
Grandfather Mountain Autumn
Storm rolls in on Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina.
I was enjoying a nice day up on Calloway Peak(the Watauga View side) when thick fog came in fast! This is video is sped up 8x to compress the original 6ish minute video.
This storm ended up producing some intense rain and lightning while I was hiking down the mountain.
Storyteller's Rock - Grandfather Mountain State Park
10-4-17 Headed to the Grandfather Mountain area today to check out the fall color situation and ended up at Storyteller's Rock on the Nuwati Trail. Peak color is still a week or so away, but the scene was still awesome. I had to break the pano up into segments as I couldn't safely step all the way around the tripod from where I was standing.
Beacon Heights Trail - Grandfather Mountain - Wilson Creek Gorge - North Carolina High Country
Here is a video of the view from the Beacon Heights Cliffs trail, which branches off from the Mountains to the Sea trail in the North Carolina High Country- from Table Rock Mountain across Wilson Creek Gorge and up to Grandfather Mountain......
View from Grandfather Mountain, NC
Time Lapse from the parking lot at the top of Grandfather Mountain in western North Carolina.
Calloway Peak, Winter (Grandfather Mountain, NC)
Beautiful view from the top of Calloway peak in January of 2012.
Grandfather Mountain
Views of the mountain park and zoo in North Carolina. See more videos at billsvideos.weebly.com
Grandfather mountain mile high swinging bridge
Rough Ridge Trail
Hikes along the Blue Ridge Parkway - 2015 - Rough Ridge (Boulder Field)
This is a hike I have done some many times. The first was in 2010 and I also have some video from my early Samsung Android. While smart phones took great pictures in 2010, the video was no where near this good. I have had to reduce the quality some for youtube, but I am impressed with the phone optics.
This YT channel shows progress of smart phones, particularly Samsung/Android. Basically I have updated my smart phone annually since 2010 and have stayed with Samsung.
This is a great day hike and I highly recommend it. It is north of the Viaduct near Grandfather Mountain. You take a trail to a deck for amazing views, and then can continue the hike to the top for more views. At the top you can see the deck from the last main stop (there are also many views along the way) and a great well maintained trail.
This trail will take you to the lookout south of Rough Ridge at Wilson Creek. Before Wislon creek are some great rock formations that I never can capture with my smart phone or prior years with the handy cam (See end of video). You just have to see this one.
This time I turned around and hiked back after resting at the interesting rock formations. You can make it a loop and hike from Wilson Creek overlook and walk the parkway back to Rough Ridge overlook.
Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail, Overlook, Quarry and Eno River - Hillsborough, NC
The Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail in Hillsborough, North Carolina is a beautiful, relatively easy hike through some scenic trails and views.
Shot with the Sony HDR-AS10 Action Cam
Jumpinoff Rock and The Lump - Blue Ridge Parkway, NC
Mountains-to-Sea Trail to Jumpinoff Rock, The Lump, and Mount Jefferson Overlook - Blue Ridge Parkway, NC, 04-23-16, 15.1 miles
A long, peaceful section hike along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) in the northern Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The MST in this region after climbing to the Blue Ridge Escarpment in Stone Mountain State Park closely follows the Blue Ridge Parkway southwest all the way to Grandfather Mountain. This is a sparsely hiked region but offers easy hikes in a pastoral countryside setting with many views. I started at the Jumpinoff Rock Parking Area at mile 260.3, hiking south to Jumpinoff Rock. Next stop was The Lump Overlook at mile 264.4 with amazing north views from The Lump of Doughton Park, Stone Mountain, and the Sauratown Mountains. My turnaround point was the Mount Jefferson Overlook at mile 266.8 with great views of Mt. Jefferson and the dominant Amphibolite Range in addition to views of the South Fork New River Valley, Grandfather Mountain, Watauga River Valley, and Linville Gorge. It was beautiful weather for a long, gentle hike and I even saw a snake!
Hike location
Grandfather Mountain and Linville Falls, NC
Majestic Fall leaves and colors
Couldn't use the Bob Dylan song on YouTube; found a good instumental instead.
The Worst Hike in North Carolina
If you have absolutely nothing better to do, then listen to us dramatically complain for 9 minutes about a hike that we actually had a lot of fun on. Leave it to us to annoyingly whine about one of the most wondrous and beautiful places on earth: the Blue Ridge Parkway in my home state, North Carolina. Enjoy!
Love, B
Abandoned Plane Crash on Browning Knob in North Carolina
I hiked to this abandoned plane crash site located on Browning Knob in North Carolina near the Blue-Ridge Parkway. Tragically the plane crashed in 1983 around 6,000 feet up on this mountain and the pilots did not survive. Today emergency officials sometimes use this site for mock rescues. Along the way are nice views and trails to experience. If you visit this place please be respectful and do not vandalize the site as it seems many have already.
Crossing Grandfather Mountain Mile High Swinging Bridge - High Definition
What it's like to cross the Mile High Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC
Calloway Peak, N.C.
Grandfather Mountain, started at Profile Trail ended up at Calloway Peak!