One of western North Carolina’s many beautiful waterfalls is the delicate and high cascading Moore Cove Falls. Moore Cove Falls offers a unique experience as you can walk behind the water trickling from a rock overhang about 50 ft tall and into the cove. If you’re looking to chase waterfalls, be sure to include this easy trail to Moore Cove Falls on your list.
- Level of Difficulty: Easy
- Distance: 1.2 miles (out-and-back trail).
- Elevation Gain: ~150 ft
- Cost: Free!
How to Get to Moore Cove Falls
Located in Pisgah National Forest, Moore Cove Falls Trail is highly accessible to those living in or visiting Asheville or Brevard, NC. North Carolina is packed with beautiful waterfalls that each offer their own unique experience to visitors and many can be explored in one day.
Entering the gates to Pisgah National Forest off of US 276, continue driving for about 2 miles. You will pass by the famous Looking Glass Falls. Shortly thereafter , you will come to a pull off for Moore Cove Falls. The trailhead is not very clearly marked from the road. Although, you will see a wooden, covered board with signs of the trail and leave no trace principles. There is also a nice stone bridge over a water crossing just past the trailhead.
Hiking Moore Cove Falls Trail
The 1.2 round-trip out-and-back trail is very easy to follow. It’s extremely family-friendly, so expect to see young children exploring the trail as well! One piece of advice along this trail (and in the park in general) is that it rains and is foggy more often in the forest. So, it can be slippery and the trail involves some steps. Watch your step because it is easy to slip, but don’t be intimidated by this because the trail is well-maintained.
The trail involves wooden bridges, boardwalks, and steps leading to the 50 foot tall waterfall trickling over the rock ledge. You can go behind the waterfall into the cove, or admire from a distance. There are tons of great vantage points all around Moore Cove Falls. Depending on the season and how much rain there has been in the area recently, the waterfall can range from a slight trickle to a powerful stream.
Pictures of Moore Cove Falls NC
Add Waterfall Chasing to Your Asheville Itinerary
We included Moore Cove Falls Trail on our hiking list for one of our 4 days visiting Asheville, NC. On this day, we were able to visit 5 waterfalls! That’s 5 more than I’ve ever seen… Waterfall chasing is one of those activities you can only do in certain parts of the country, and western NC is the perfect home base for it.
You can easily combine visiting Sliding Rock Recreation Area, Looking Glass Falls, and Moore Cove Falls in Pisgah National Park. From there, it’s about a half hour drive to DuPont State Park. Dupont has several other remarkable waterfalls such as Triple Falls, High Falls, and Hooker Falls trails.
The longest of these trails is High Falls and Triple Falls trail which combined are about 3 miles. Keep in mind, going to the base of a waterfall involves some elevation change. Research these trails individually and see if your time or schedule allows for combining them! Happy Trails!
