From Chimney View Overlook in Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, see vivid fall foliage colors in mid October. Walk to see impressive Linville Falls, in Burke County, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina, USA. Linville Falls drop 90 feet in a multi-level cascade, viewable from several overlooks along two trails starting from Linville Falls Visitors Center, run by the National Park Service. Directions: Turn eastwards at Mile Post 316.3 of the Blue Ridge Parkway (north of where US 221 crosses the Parkway and south of where NC 181 crosses). Linville River begins at Grandfather Mountain and enters the 12-mile Linville Gorge at Linville Falls. Linville Gorge, near the town of Linville Falls (66 miles north of Asheville), is the deepest and one of the most rugged and scenic gorges in the Eastern USA (qualifying for the nickname Grand Canyon of the East, along with more than a dozen chasms likewise tagged in other Eastern states). It is protected by Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, within Pisgah National Forest. Spared by its rugged terrain from clear-cutting in the early 1900s, Linville Gorge has some of the best remnant stands of uncut, old-growth forest in the southern Appalachians. This is one of the few places where the Rosebay, Catawba, and Carolina rhododendron grow side by side. This panorama was stitched from 3 overlapping photos.
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