Graveyard Fields is the name of a flat mountain valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. The valley, itself over 5,000 feet in elevation, is surrounded by mountains exceeding 6,000 feet in elevation, such as Black Balsam Knob, Tennent Mountain, and Sam Knob. These high peaks form the source of the Yellowstone Prong of the Pigeon River, which flows through Graveyard Fields valley.
The valley's name may originate from a time when a great windstorm felled hundreds of spruce and fir trees on its slopes. These moss-covered stumps resembled graves. Another theory says that extensive logging during the early 1900s left stumps behind. Mosses and lichens grew on the stumps, resembling an overgrown graveyard.
Later, during the time when this area was logged, major forest fires swept through the area. These fires devastated the entire valley, and heated the soil enough to sterilize it. Even now, plants have difficulty growing in the fire-ravaged soils, although some trees, shrubs, and grasslands are slowly beginning to thrive.
This is a great stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are bathrooms. We hiked to the Lower Falls. They are beautiful and you can get in the water. There were people swimming there. The Lower Falls is an easy hike with stairs going to the bottom. After the Lower Falls we hiked to the Upper Falls. They were beautiful as well. This hike takes longer and is more rugged terrain, but still not a bad hike. Midway hiking back from the Upper Falls you can take Graveyard Fields trail and it will take you back to the parking lot.
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Graveyard Fields
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Wheelchair Accessible
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