Graveyard Fields Trail Map (click to enlarge)

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Note: The trail to the Upper Falls is EXTREMELY muddy. Be sure you have hiking boots or shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty. The trail also becomes very rocky, so again, boots are highly recommended, as are hiking poles.

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Length: 3.2 miles round trip
Time: 2.5 hours
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

There are two waterfalls at Graveyard Fields, the Upper Falls and the Second Falls (aka the Lower Falls—trail signs refer to this waterfall using both names). Second Falls is the better name because there is actually another waterfall farther down the stream called Yellowstone Falls, though no trails in this area lead to it. If you plan to hike the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail plus the trail to the Upper Falls, you might as well take the side trip to Second Falls, for it is just a ten-minute round-trip detour.

The Graveyard Fields parking area is well above Graveyard Fields, so you’ll need to climb down to the hiking trails via a staircase. Start your hike at the staircase nearest to the restroom building. This will set you off towards Second Falls and eventually in a counterclockwise direction around the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail. Keep in mind that the loop trail does not return to the staircase next to the restroom, but instead to the second staircase where you then climb back up to the parking area.

The trail starts off as a paved path through a ticket of rhododendrons and soon comes to a footbridge over the Yellowstone Prong, the source of the waterfalls. Yellowstone Prong is the name given to the headwaters of the East Fork of the Pigeon River.

Yellowstone Prong (East Fork) of the Pigeon River in North Carolina

The turnoff to Second Falls is marked with a directional sign. To get to the waterfall you must climb down a steep staircase (and of course back up). Second Falls is definitely the prettiest of the two, though both are more like large cascades than true waterfalls. If you are just hiking to Second Falls and back, the trip is only about a quarter mile from the parking lot (half mile round trip).

Staircase to Second Falls at the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Graveyard Fields

Lower Falls at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Once done at the falls, head back the way you came and look for a sign pointing to Graveyard Fields / Upper Falls. Most people at Graveyard Fields are hiking to Second Falls and then heading back to the car, so from here on out you’ll notice a drastic drop in traffic. You will be hiking on the northern portion of the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail to start with. The trail is flat, relatively smooth, and exposed to the sun. Because of a 1925 fire that swept through the area, the vegetation is mainly brush with some small trees. This is one of the few hikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway where you are out in the open and not in a forest. On a hot day this may be miserable, but otherwise it is a welcome change. The trail’s popularity is evident by the gully that has been worn into the ground by all the people traipsing along the path over the years.

Upper section of the Graveyard Fields Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway

There are a few intersections along the way. The first is with the Graveyard Ridge Connector Trail, a .4-mile trail that connects to the Graveyard Ridge Trail and ultimately with the Mountains to Sea Trail. I make a rare appearance in a photo at this intersection.

National Park Planner’s writer and photographer Steve Markos hiking the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The second intersection is marked with a sign that reads UPPER FALLS. This is where the Graveyard Loop Trail and the trail to the Upper Falls split. Go left to continue around the loop but right if you want to hike to the falls. This is the Upper Falls Trail.

Intersection of the Upper Falls Trail and the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Once on the Upper Falls Trail the adventure, so to speak, begins. In about ten minutes the trail dead ends at an intersection that is not on the map. The trail to the right looks like a lost cause, while the trail to the left is much more inviting. However, right is the way to go. You will now be following a creek as it heads upstream.

Just a little ways after making this turn is a creek crossing where somebody has placed a cairn, which is a stack of rocks indicating which way to go. However, DO NOT cross the creek here. No telling what the cairn marks, but it is not the trail to the Upper Falls. There are many trails running through the area, some official and some just worn through the terrain by hikers over many years.

Cairns mark a trail, but not the trail to the Upper Falls at the Blue Ride Parkway’s Graveyard Fields

Most people are going to end up at the unmarked intersection and take a right, but if you are paying attention, there is actually a turn to the right just a little ways before reaching the dead end. It is marked by a tree with two branches sticking out and up, like somebody holding his hands up while getting robbed—or keeping with popular culture, somebody about to get shot by the police. If you happen to see it, you can turn there, otherwise just make the right turn when the trail dead ends. Turning at the stick-em-up tree results in nothing more than taking the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Either way you will end up on the trail to the Upper Falls.

Odd looking tree with its hands up on the Upper Falls Trail at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ride Parkway

At this point three things change about the terrain. First off, the trail gets extremely muddy. In some cases former hikers have constructed make-shift bridges with sticks, in others you can hike off trail and around the mud holes, and at other times you just have to walk through the mud. Some of the mud holes are so large that I spent a few minutes contemplating how to proceed, though I should have just followed the example of a troop of Boy Scouts that came by splashing through the mud with great pleasure just like pigs. When detour paths have been worn around a mud hole, that’s a testimony to the fact that it is a fixture on the trail and not just the result of recent rain. There are many mud holes on the way to Upper Falls, so be sure you are wearing the appropriate shoes, socks, and clothing.

Very large mud hole on the Upper Falls Trail at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ride Parkway

Second, the smooth terrain of the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail is a thing of the past. You must cross a creek about fifteen minutes after the unmarked intersection, and at this point things get rough. You will find yourself walking over large rocks and the tentacles of snake-like roots.

Creek crossing (left) and typical rough terrain (right) on the Upper Falls Trail at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ride Parkway

The final change in the terrain is that the trail starts heading uphill, nothing strenuous, but the climb and the rough terrain will definitely slow your progress.

You should arrive at the Upper Falls within 15 minutes after crossing the creek. As mentioned earlier, Upper Falls is really just a large cascade that flows down a shoot that the water has cut into the rock over the centuries. Once you spot the cascade, just make your way over the rocks to a view point you like, as there is no official trail that takes you to it. It is 1.7 miles from the start of the hike (including the side trip to the Lower Falls) to the Upper Falls.

Upper Falls at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway

One the way back, the split in the trail at the stick-em-up tree is much more obvious. Definitely take the fork that goes past the tree instead of continuing straight along the creek. If you do keep straight, be on the lookout for the left turn at the unmarked intersection. Either way you will end up on the trail heading back towards the start of the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail.

The tricky turns aren’t over yet. At the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail you must turn right in order to return on the lower portion of the trail (if somehow you miss the turn you’ll just end up walking back the same way you came). Soon after making the turn is a bridge over Yellowstone Prong, and not long after that the trail forks again. Go to the left for the shortest route, the hypotenuse of the triangle. If you head straight, take the first left you come to.

Once you are back on the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail it is only a twenty-minute hike back to the parking lot, mainly through a thicket of rhododendrons. Unlike the trip out, you are not exposed to the sun. In fact, some of these thickets are like walking through rhododendron tunnels. You will also run into more mud holes. As with on the Upper Falls Trail, branches, sticks, and other make-shift bridging helps you cross the mud without getting too dirty. Again, such engineering tells you that these mud holes aren’t here temporarily.

Rhododendron thickets make up much of the hike back to the parking lot on the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway

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