This post is the second portion of my hike on the moderately rated Erwin's View Trail at Linville Falls. The first portion described the hike to the Upper Falls and can be found here. After viewing Upper Falls, I walked back up to the Erwin's View trail and continued on to the Chimney View Overlook of Linville Falls. The trail climbs rapidly to a small shelter at the summit. The sharply descending side trail to Chimney View is to the left of the shelter.
After entering the chute below the Upper Falls, the Linville River shoots out of the small slot canyon 45 feet above its plunge basin at the upper end of Linville Gorge. The main trail between the two overlooks has much less gravel and many more roots than the first 0.4 miles from the visitor center to the Upper Falls Overlook side trail. The distance from overlook to overlook is 0.4 miles while the distance from the visitor center to the Chimney View Overlook is 0.7 miles.
Climbing back up to the main trail from the Chimney View Overlook, I continued on to the Gorge View Overlook and then to Erwin's View Overlook. Gorge View is just a few feet off the main trail and provides a view of the Linville Gorge well downstream of the falls. The distance from Chimney View to Gorge View is 0.2 miles with an additional 0.1 mile to Erwin's View. The distance from the visitor center to Erwin's View is 0.9 miles.
The round trip hiking distance from the visitor center to all four overlooks on the Erwin's View Trail is 2.1 miles. I hiked the trail in June 2017.
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| Topographic map with GPS route |
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| Elevation profile |
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| Another bench on the main trail |
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| Gravel covers many roots |
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| Roots and more roots |
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| Shelter at junction with Chimney View side trail |
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| Beginning the descent to Chimney View |
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| Rosebay Rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) |
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| Closeup of rosebay rhododendron flowers |
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| Descending the side trail to Chimeny View |
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| Continuing the descent |
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| A glimpse of the falls from the trail |
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| Looking back at the trail |
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| Linville Falls from Chimney View |
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| A closer view |
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| Linville Gorge from Chimney View |
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| Gorge View Overlook |
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| Gorge View |
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| Descending toward Erwin's View |
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| More Rosebay Rhododendron |
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| Trail levels out... |
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| ...and then climbs atop a rock chimney |
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| View from the landing |
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| Final steps to the overlook |
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| Linville Falls and Gorge from Erwin's View |
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| Closeup of the falls |
Entry to the parkway is free.
The parkway website is https://www.nps.gov/blri.
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