I’ll warn you, my children are good hikers. We started them young and I don’t let them complain much about it. Shucks, we just hiked 7.65miles roundtrip up to Walker’s knob (1847ft climb) just a week ago!

For those looking for an easy first hike in Asheville, I recommend the trail that starts at the back of the Parkway Visitor’s Center. It’s the MTS (Mountains to Sea) trail- and it is a 1 mile loop that has slight inclines and declines and a well worn path. It runs by the parkway but all in the woods. Beware of the Poison Ivy. And it does cross the parkway at a busy junction, so be prepared for that. There’s a little trail helper brochure for kids to identify objects along the trail. My boys loved this. They kept asking ‘Mom, have you seen a spider web?’ or ‘Mom, we need help finding a bird’.

To increase your mileage, either do the loop multiple times.