Forest Heritage · US-276, Parkway & NC-215

The Pisgah National Forest in one loop: from Brevard the route follows US-276 past Looking Glass Falls, Sliding Rock and the Cradle of Forestry up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, rides the Parkway west past Graveyard Fields and Devil's Courthouse, and drops down NC-215 to Balsam Grove and Rosman before returning on US-64. It's 56 miles. There's no fuel on the Parkway, the waterfall lots fill up in summer and fall, and the gravel Forest Service roads off US-276 aren't part of the route.

From Brevard the route enters the Pisgah National Forest on US-276. Looking Glass Falls, about 60 feet tall, is right beside the road, with a long, narrow lot on the river side; Sliding Rock, the natural water slide, comes a few miles later. Higher up, the Cradle of Forestry marks the site of the Biltmore Forest School, founded in 1898 by Carl Schenck as the first forestry school in America; in 2026 it opened daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the fall.

At the top the route joins the Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 412 and rides west past the Looking Glass Rock overlook, Graveyard Fields and Devil's Courthouse, a stretch that a Helene slide had closed and that the Park Service listed as open on October 27, 2026. At Beech Gap it drops down NC-215 along the river to Balsam Grove and Rosman, and returns to Brevard on US-64. There's no fuel on the Parkway, cars park along the shoulder at the waterfalls in summer, and the gravel Forest Service roads off US-276 aren't part of the route.