Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ / 5
Trails: Multiple trails
Picnic Tables: None

Graveyard Fields is one of my favorite stops on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I am not alone in this assessment. This and the Humpback Gap Overlook near the very beginning of the Parkway in Virginia are probably the two busiest overlooks, and oddly enough in this sedentary age of obesity, both are hubs for exercise. There are trails all up and down the Parkway, including access points to the world famous Appalachian Trail, but none of them have the draw of Humpback Gap and Graveyard Fields. Humpback Gap has a strenuous climb to the wonderful Humpback Rocks overlook, but here the draw is waterfalls and a terrain unlike anywhere else. Young and old, fat and skinny, the people are here to hike.

Midweek in early October and the parking lot at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway is nearly full

The wide, sweeping view and the vivid reds and oranges of the leaves changing color in the fall are really just an afterthought to most who stop here. The parking lot will be bustling with activity on a nice day, and you don’t see many people gawking at the view and then getting back into their cars and driving off.

Panoramic view of Graveyard Fields from the Graveyard Fields Overlook parking lot on the Blue Ridge Parkway (click to enlarge)

As mentioned, the big draw is two waterfalls, both of which you must hike to. The Lower Falls is the best of the two and luckily the closest to the parking lot. The hike to the Upper Falls is a 3-mile round-trip hike. There are a number of other trails in the area, including the Graveyard Ridge and the Mountains to Sea Trails. I hiked a semi-loop to both of the waterfalls, which is probably the second most popular hike in the area. The most popular is the short hike to the Lower Falls and then back to the car, which is still exercise at a half-mile round trip. Get a full report along with waterfall photos on the Graveyard Fields Loop Trail web page here on National Park Planner.

Lower Falls at Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Hiking at Graveyard Fields is one of the few places on the Blue Ridge Parkway where you are out in the open and not in a deep and dark forest. It reminds me of hiking in a desert. This is not a natural environment, but one resulting from a fire in 1925. While one day the deep and dark forest will reign once again, right now there are still a lot of shrubs and small trees. In fact, the vegetation looks like that you’d find decorating the terrain on a model railroad. The name “Graveyard Fields,” however, does not come from the fire damaged landscape but from another unknown natural disaster that occurred somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years ago. Possibly a tornado or hurricane came through and uprooted all of the spruce trees that made up the forest. The stumps eventually rotted away, leaving only dirt mounds that looked like graves. By 1925 the forest had recovered only to be destroyed once again by fire.

There is a bathroom facility here, but no picnic tables.

Next Stop South | Next Stop North | Waterfalls | Scenic Overlooks

Back to the Top