FAQ

Asheville Hiking Tours is excited to offer outdoor hiking and outdoor tour options for your group and/or family during these unprecedented times. We ask that you pack a cloth face covering for your tour in order to use indoor restroom facilities. Face coverings are not required during our time outdoors *as long as* guests remain 6 feet apart.  Your guides at Asheville Hiking Tours will follow social distancing guidelines and ensure we are fulfilling our social responsibilities given current circumstances. We also ask that guests bring or purchase their own waters or snacks (or picnic lunch in case of an extended Private Tour). We look forward to you joining us for a nourishing experience in the great outdoors – a wonderful place to be during a pandemic!

Cloth face coverings or masks are not required during our time spent together outdoors. However, our tours include indoor restroom stops and we ask that you pack a cloth face covering for your tour if you intend to use these indoor facilities. Thank you for your flexibility surrounding this matter.

We recommend bringing your camera and a sense of adventure! Definitely wear sturdy tennis shoes or hiking shoes. Pisgah National Forest is technically rainforest, meaning the trails can be wet or muddy and a rain jacket is always a good idea. We provide hiking poles and ponchos (in case of rain). We recommend dressing in layers, including a light jacket or heavier coat in cooler months— temperatures drop 8° F traveling up the Blue Ridge Parkway in the morning. Also pack your own water and snacks (or purchase these during your tour). A hat and sunscreen is not usually necessary since we are under the forest canopy for much of the tour. Insect repellant is not necessary. Guests should bring their own EpiPen, as we cannot legally carry these. For those interested in swimming on a Private Tour, bring your swimsuit and towel!

If you have a half day to spend with us, we recommend the Waterfalls and Blue Ridge Parkway Tour, so you can capture the highlights of western North Carolina, including the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway, Looking Glass Falls, historic sites, and “secret” hidden waterfalls. For those who have just a few hours to spend with us, we recommend the still very scenic Guided Waterfall Hike, featuring an iconic mountain trail, Appalachian trout stream and stunning waterfall – all guided by a seasoned storyteller and naturalist.

Both the Guided Waterfall Hike (2.5 miles round-trip) and Waterfalls and Blue Ridge Parkway Tour (1-3 miles round-trip, distance based upon preference) include trails rated as easy to moderate. There are moderate inclines on both tours, with some uneven footing or sometimes slippery surfaces requiring sturdy tennis shoes or hiking boots. For Private Tours, we can reduce or increase the hiking length and difficulty.

We’ve spent weeks planning the best combination of panoramic views, waterfalls and storytelling so that your time on this tour is worth every dollar! Most of Pisgah National Forest does not have cell phone reception, so we find guests are thankful they hired us to provide a stress-free and safe excursion, visiting the most scenic sites in Pisgah National Forest in only a half-day!

This shorter tour gets raving TripAdvisor reviews for a variety of reasons. In just 2 hours, you experience a gorgeous trail with an experienced naturalist, awesome storytelling and a stunning 150-foot, multi-cascade waterfall! Our insight on nature and history truly bring the forests to life. On this tour, kids are FREE and leashed dogs welcome!

We’ve guided a range of Private Tours, from custom Blue Ridge Parkway nature tours to 6-mile Appalachian Trail hikes. We’ve arranged tours for a few wildlife photographers to 50 guests visiting Asheville for a corporate retreat! Private Tours are fully customizable, including picnic options, hiking length and difficulty, and overall tour duration. We recommend that families with kids or groups of friends book a Private Tour, where we can cater to a range of hiking abilities, incorporate your unique interests, and accommodate your preferred itinerary.

In our efforts to honor social distancing standards, we do not provide transportation for our hiking tours at this point in time. For the Guided Waterfall Hike, you will follow your guide just a short drive to the trailhead. For the Waterfalls and Blue Ridge Parkway Tour or Private Tours, you will follow your guide in the comfort of your own vehicle to the trailhead(s) and Blue Ridge Parkway. Your guide will be sure to provide you with directions with each stop to ensure you have an optimal, scenic and safe journey.

Our tours often end before the rainstorms roll in, in the afternoons. Mountain weather is not easily predicted, so we generally make weather-related decisions the morning of the tour and your guide will be sure to notify you in case the tour is cancelled. Guests tend to have a great time even in the rain, as the forest canopy breaks the rainfall, and the precipitation makes waterfalls extra stunning! We are happy to provide ponchos, but please wear appropriate footwear for rain (we do not recommend permeable or white shoes). In case we have heavy rain the morning of the tour, we let guests decide if they’d still like to join the tour, and we can provide a full refund. In case of lightning or thunder, your guide will contact you to cancel the tour.

Leashed dogs are welcome on all tours!

Absolutely! Our Private Tours are specifically offered and designed to be accommodating to all of the members of your group. We can arrange Private Tours with exclusively little to no hiking, yet incredible storytelling and sightseeing. For an alternative Private Tour option, we can also add a second guide if some members of your party wish to rest near the vehicles or hike a shorter distance. Some of the top destinations on our Private Tours are easily accessible from the roadside!

Your drive to meet your guide at Crank Coffee/ Sycamore Cycles (adjacent to Pisgah National Forest) will take approximately 40 minutes from Asheville, NC. Once entering the Forest, we will drive 20 minutes into the “Land of the Waterfalls” to visit 3+ scenic waterfalls and hike anywhere between 1-3 miles, depending upon hiking preferences. We spend at least 4 hours hiking and exploring the best of Pisgah National Forest, with multiple stops and intermittent driving between trailheads. We will then continue to travel along a winding, historic road for approximately 20 minutes, climbing 3,000 feet to reach the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). Once reaching the BRP, we will stop for stunning panoramic views and our final restroom stop after 10 minutes. We will then proceed to a scenic overlook and historic site just minutes away. We will return to Asheville with incredible mountain views via the Blue Ridge Parkway for 35-40 minutes.

Tour groups are small and intimate, with usually up to 6 or 8 guests (and often 2 or 4 guests). Private Tours accommodate only the booking party. For Larger Group Private Tours, we can accommodate multiple guides who lead smaller sub-groups, keeping the experience personal and intimate.

Our tours offer a unique experiential learning opportunity in Appalachian forests. We find that students of all ages feel relaxed and free in nature, which promotes bonding and fun learning! We would be thrilled to design a special, custom excursion for your group.

Cell phone reception is scarce in the forested areas we visit throughout the tour. Our meeting places before the tour do have cell phone service.

The Guided 2-Hr Waterfall Hike requires only a short drive to the trailhead to begin your tour. If you are seeking a longer tour, we are able to arrange a Private Tour with multiple hikes from a single trailhead or trailheads that are in close driving proximity to one another. The Waterfalls and Blue Ridge Parkway Tour is not our primary recommendation, as it requires driving between multiple stops/trailheads to make it to the “hidden gems” specifically featured in this tour.

Please call us to receive your 10% military discount.

Kids are FREE on the Guided 2-Hr Waterfall Hike, with two paid adults! Kids are discounted on the Waterfalls and Blue Ridge Parkway Tour.

We have specific hiking, waterfall and Blue Ridge Parkway tours designed for very large groups, even for charter buses! Please call us to plan your scenic tour. We can provide up to 6 guides per tour. With multiple guides leading staggered groups, we can accommodate over 50 guests on a single tour.

We will provide a full refund if the customer contacts us with the desire to cancel at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled tour. Customers will also receive a full refund in case of operator cancellation due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Contact us by phone to cancel or inquire about a cancellation. No-shows will be charged the full price.