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Hike To Asheville Waterfalls

Eight years ago, on our third anniversary, Kevin and I spent four days vacationing in Brevard, North Carolina. Brevard is a gorgeous, lusciously green, quiet town just outside of Asheville, located right in the heart of Dupont State Forest and Pisgah National Forest. We love hiking, woods, trails, being outdoors, picnic lunches, and especially waterfalls, and we have a tradition of going on a hiking and waterfall trip every year for our anniversary.

(You can see photos of our past trip to Brevard here, and photos of our past anniversary trips here. Scroll down to Vacations & Trips. Be careful, they’re really, really old! Proceed with caution.)

Hotel Indigo in Downtown Asheville

There Are So Many Great Waterfall Hikes In The Asheville Area

This area is famous for its high concentration of waterfalls all in close proximity, so even after 10 years of anniversary trips, that trip to Brevard has always been one of my favorites.  So many gorgeous, huge waterfalls! :) I’ve always said I wanted to go back one day.

Last weekend, one of my oldest friends got married just outside of Asheville (you may have seen this on Instagram!), and I was so excited to go to his wedding and be back in this gorgeous area. We definitely knew we wanted to head up a day early to revisit some of our favorite spots! This time we stayed in downtown Asheville at the Hotel Indigo.

Hotel Indigo in Downtown Asheville Is A Great Place To Stay

We love Hotel Indigo hotels and always try to stay there if there’s one close by. I loved our unique rooms in San Diego and Berlin. They’re always so posh, and as you can see from the photo above, they’re very pet-friendly! Miley and Howie were living it up! :) We didn’t have Miley and Howie on our first trip to Brevard, so we were super excited to bring them along this time. So glad they could stay at the hotel with us! They love hiking and exploring! :)

Hotel Indigo in Downtown Asheville

Downtown Asheville Has So Much To Offer

Getting ready for an adventure! :) Downtown Asheville is such a neat area. I loved it. It’s got a great downtown vibe, very pet friendly, amazing restaurants, fun shops, art, and cute boutiques. The Hotel Indigo is in a great location and within walking distance to everything.

We ate most of our meals with the wedding party, but we did manage to sneak away for brunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe and dessert at the Ultimate Ice Cream Company while we were there. The biscuits at Tupelo Honey Cafe were unforgettable — some of the best I’ve ever had — and Kevin’s Sweet and Sour Pork Ribeye with homemade mac and cheese was AMAZING! I kept sneaking bites of his mac and cheese!! I would definitely go back again! And I LOVED Ultimate Ice Cream Company!! Thanks so much to sweet Caroline for the recommendation! :) I could’ve had ice cream there every day. I wanted to go back again so badly, but we just ran out of time. The next time we are anywhere near Asheville, I will definitely be hitting them up for some ice cream! :)

Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest

We Visited Dupont State Forest Where The Hunger Games Was Filmed

On our free morning in Asheville we headed back to our favorite spot from our first trip, the three main waterfalls at Dupont State Forest: Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, and High Falls. While looking up directions, we discovered that this was the location where the Hunger Games was filmed! And we didn’t realize it until after we left, but the Hotel Indigo in Asheville is where the trio of stars stayed while filming. What a neat coincidence! As soon as we got back home we watched the Hunger Games again to see if we could recognize any of the spots where we’d been! :)

Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest

Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest. I have a picture of us sitting right here 8 years ago!

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest. This is one of my favorite falls because you can hike up to each waterfall and walk right out on the rocks and wade in the waters of the falls.

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest

See how close we got? The mist from the waterfall was spraying my camera lens, lol! :)

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest

It was a bit cooler this time than when we usually go at the end of May, but the falls were running much harder from the spring rains this time than they were back then. It was beautiful to see how powerful they were.

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest, near Asheville, NC

And when it warms up, it’s a great place for sunbathing and picnic lunches! :)

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest, near Asheville, NC

Two tough, waterfall-hiking dudes!

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest, Asheville, North Carolina

I didn’t get a good angle of it, because I didn’t realize it at the time, but this is where Katniss finds Peeta all disguised in the mud in the Hunger Games movie! This is the lower of the three Triple Falls. As you can see, there is a big tour group photographing it from above, lol! But there was no one down where we were. :)

High Falls in Dupont State Forest, near Asheville, NC.

And just a short hike up from Triple Falls is High Falls. High Falls is a breathtaking sight to behold. I could not capture how huge, tall, and powerful it is!! Last time, when it wasn’t running as powerfully, we were able to go stand out on that rock and get a photo right underneath the falls.

Plan Your Asheville Weekend Getaway

If you’re planning a trip to Asheville, here are some helpful links!

Where to Stay

Hotel Indigo

Where to Eat

Tupelo Honey Cafe
Mayfel’s
Early Girl Eatery
Ultimate Ice Cream Company
French Broad Chocolate
Chocolate Fetish

Things To Do

Top 25 Waterfalls near Asheville
Waterfall Scenic Drives and Hiking Tours near Asheville

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32 Responses
  1. Kristi

    I’ve been following your blog for awhile now and just wanted to say how much I enjoy all the travel posts. My husband and I are moving to Charlotte in July and now we have a few weekend trips to put on the calendar. Thanks!

  2. Jane Wood

    If your into the Hunger Games.. make a trip on I-40 heading east from Asheville to exit 119 Henry River Mill that is where the filming was done for District 12. Its a old ghost town.. well with the trip.
    Stop in Morganton and get a District 12 T-shirt… there is a beautiful waterfall not far from there. easy walk to get there.
    I have a home in Old Fort, so I”m up here all the time… so many things to do in that area of North Carolina.

  3. Robyn Stone | Add a Pinch

    How much fun it looks like you, Kevin and the pups had!!! Asheville is a gorgeous place – just like so many places in North Carolina! Awesome pics of the waterfalls – makes me want to go there – like now!

  4. Angela Evans

    Beautiful! Because of this post we are planning to go there Mid May :) We are trying to decide between staying at Hotel Indigo or The Residences at Biltmore. We have 3 kids and a dog so space and a full fridge would be nice :) I love that you can walk to everywhere from Indigo. We will most definitely be going to DuPont State Park. Our kids LOVE The Hunger Games. Thanks for all the links :)

  5. Lindsey

    I love Asheville! It is such a wonderful town. The next time you go back you must eat at Sunny Pointe. It is in the west part of town only a few minutes from downtown. They have the best brunch. There always seems to be a wait, but it is so worth it. You must get the candied bacon! It is divine.

  6. Jenn Maddox

    I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Hotel Indigo!!
    I had both my wheaten terriers with me when I went away for my birthday weekend. The hotel staff was amazing and soooo hospitable to us, but even more so to our dogs!
    Amazing pics too! I stood under triple falls and I can’t believe how much water was flowing while you were there.

  7. Emily @ LaForce Be With You

    Great pictures! We spent a wonderful weekend in Asheville last year… luckily it’s only 2 hour away from Charlotte :) When you go back make sure to check out Salsa’s – amazing fresh mexican/puerto rican food and it’s right downtown. Can’t wait to eat there again!

    Also if you are into ziplining, Navitat is an awesome experience – it was my first real zipline and we had a blast! We didn’t do the waterfalls so we will have to do that next time!

    I did a post about our weekend here: http://www.laforcebewithyou.com/2012/09/asheville-cabin-weekend.html

  8. Kristyn

    Hi, Amanda! Your pictures are so beautiful and it looks like you had an amazing time. Such a lovely place.

    I also had a quick question. Do you use a tripod? If so, which?

  9. Tina

    My husband and I are thinking about an anniversary trip to Asheville at the end of May and this is all right up our alley. Thanks so much! This is most helpful in making some decisions for us. I can’t wait to go!!

  10. Mary Jane McNeill

    Alright, Amanda. I love all of your pictures (food, waterfalls, dogs, etc…) but you must post your camera settings now for all of your pics, because they’re so good!!

    1. Amanda

      Hi Mary Jane! You can click on any photo to see the camera, lens, and settings I used. Hope this helps! :)

  11. Amanda W

    Glad you enjoyed Asheville! I am lucky enough to live among it’s beauty everyday. I don’t know if got to try any of the breweries in town but if/when you come back, be sure to try a few of the local brews from Highland, Green Man, Wedge, French Broad, Asheville Brewing Company, Lexington Ave Brewery, and many others — they are always a treat!

  12. Anele @ Success Along the Weigh

    Wonderful pics and while I never would’ve really considered that place for a vacay, I certainly am now! We’re waterfall junkies as well! :) I always appreciate your travel posts and the detail you put into them!

  13. Shelby

    Love those pictures! So glad you enjoyed the Hotel Indigo! It looks like it is Boston Terrier approved! ;-) Can’t wait to visit with Rupert and Piper.

  14. Peggy Whisenhunt

    What a georgeous beautiful place to visit. So enjoyed your pictures. Have missed your emails as they always end up in my spam mail and I don’t check it enough. thanks so much. Peggy

  15. Lisa

    What a beautiful post on your trip. I love the water falls and would love to visit them. I have visited some in NH but they are not close by like these. Thanks for the great pics!

  16. Chris

    Plan to go here someday, thanks for the preview and photos Amanda. Always enjoy the pics of Miley and Howie. Have you even done a post on how you trained them to be such good dogs? Bet lots would be interested.

  17. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    Such awesome pics! We used to live in NC like 10 yrs ago and it’s got so much natural beauty! You and Kevin look great in the pics!

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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