Blue Ridge Parkway
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FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway is a non-profit, volunteer organization that is dedicated to preserving and protecting the Blue Ridge Parkway, a national treasure. FRIENDS programs focus on preservation, protection and education. FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the State of North Carolina and the Commonwealth of Virginia, whose current principal business address for identification purposes is P.O. Box 20986, Roanoke, Virginia 24018. |
FRIENDS of the
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Waterfalls of Graveyard FieldsWaterfalls of Graveyard Fields
At an elevation of 5,120 feet, Graveyard Fields was named for its unique terrain. Fallen trees and stumps, which once blanketed the area, were covered with moss and spruce needles, resembling gravestones. A fire in 1925 destroyed twenty-five thousand acres, leaving a desolate open pocket of land that has been recovering slowly. To find the waterfalls, follow the paved trail for 0.2 miles through a dense rhododendron thicket to the wooden bridge spanning the Yellowstone Prong of the Pigeon River’s East Fork. The trail to the left leads to Upper Yellowstone Falls after about 1.4 miles, and the trail to the right leads to Second Falls after about 0.2 miles. The trail to Upper Yellowstone Falls follows Yellowstone Prong. While mostly flat, the path occasionally joins washed-out storm beds and is rocky in places. At trail’s end, when you see a small current of rushing water, you may think “Is that it?” Cross over the channel and walk around the bend to view Upper Yellowstone Falls. Yellowstone Prong emerges between two rock masses and pours fifty feet down a narrow stone channel. The towering rock wall, which directs the current, is not typical gray granite but pale pink in color. Second Falls, also called Little Yellowstone Falls, is just a short distance from the bridge over the Yellowstone Prong. The trail makes a sharp right and descends steeply through an area washed out by drainage to the base of the falls. The current is wider than Upper To find the trailhead for these two waterfalls, travel to milepost 419 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Park at the Graveyard Fields Overlook. The trail leaves from the parking area down a wooden stairway. ### Nicole Blouin, after spending 15 years of her adult life in the Blue Ridge, is currently living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, managing a rock climbing gym and continuing with her freelance editing and writing. "Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge" was her first book; her fifth, published last summer, "Road Biking New Mexico." |
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“Get Along Little Doggie!” “Happy Trails to You!” It’s easy to find yourself humming Western songs on your way to visit the two waterfalls in Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway. With a little imagination, you can convince yourself that you are in the West rather than a national forest in North Carolina. In contrast to the surrounding forested hills, the barren, rock-strewn landscape is only sparsely dotted with scraggly trees.
The surrounding walls create a small canyon, adding to the Western-type landscape.
Yellowstone Falls and it drops over a series of three ledges for a total of sixty feet. As the water proceeds off the last ledge, it fans to a width of twenty-five feet and flows into an inviting swimming hole at the bottom. Second Falls is also visible along the Parkway before you reach Graveyard Fields Overlook from the north.