This is the hardest of the kid-friendly Blue Ridge Parkway hikes, but if you feel capable of this hike as a family, we recommend it as this was one of our favorite Blue Ridge Parkway hikes. The Gully Creek Trail is found at mile 217.5 in the Cumberland Knob recreation area. and stuff for the kids to look at with their bug viewer box, which kept them interested and motivated. There were lots of cool caterpillars, millipedes, daddy long legs, butterflies, etc. One element of the Fallingwater Cascades trail which made it especially kid-friendly was the cool bugs. The Fallingwater Cascades hike was an easy hike for our kids – ours walked the entire way without help. The Fallingwater Cascades trail isn’t a loop, so you’ll need to retrace your steps and climb back up the same 364 feet (111m) you just descended. It’s perfect spot for pictures of your kids in front of the cascading waterfall. It’s a nice spot with lots of big fallen trees at the foot of the Fallingwater Cascades waterfall. After a few switchbacks, you reach the bottom of the Fallingwater Cascades hike where you can stand close to the bottom of the waterfall. You can hear the water rushing downhill, but you can’t quite see it. There appeared to be a steep drop off downstream of the natural pool, so adults need to stay close!įrom this point, the Fallingwater Cascades hiking trail gets steeper downhill as it follows the river. About halfway down this easy Blue Ridge Parkway hike, the path meets up with a stream with a small natural pool below a bridge where kids can splash around in.

The first half of the Fallingwater Cascades hike is all downhill, via a combination of dirt trail and stone stairs.

Fallingwater Cascades is a well treed, short Blue Ridge hiking trail (about 0.7 miles each way, 1.4 miles total) which takes you to a very nice cascading waterfall. There are many enjoyable, easy hikes on the Blue Ridge Parkway. After 90 minutes of very scenic driving we arrived at Fallingwater Cascades. After leaving Shenandoah National Park, we started driving the Blue Ridge Parkway at the north entrance where Skyline Drive ends. Our family visit to the Blue Ridge Parkway was part of our Southern USA road trip with kids. Here are our six favorite kid-friendly hikes along the Blue Ridge Parkway: 1. In fact, getting out of the car and hiking Blue Ridge Parkway with your kids will exponentially improve your enjoyment of the Blue Ridge Mountains. If you are planning a family road trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway your kids, take a break from driving and enjoy these kid-friendly hikes. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of America’s most beautiful drives.

Graveyard fields trail