Best Hiking Trails in Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina — updated August 24, 2026
From the ridge trails of Pisgah National Forest to the graded paths at the North Carolina Arboretum, here is where to walk in Asheville, with hours, parking notes and an honest read on the ratings.
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Asheville sits inside a ring of public land, so the question is rarely whether to hike but how far you want to drive and how much elevation you want to take on. The options below run from a national forest that never closes to a graded garden loop with a parking lot and a bathroom. We ranked them by how squarely they answer the question, using review volume as a measure of how settled each rating is.
1. Pisgah National Forest
This is the deep end of hiking near Asheville, and its 4.8 rating across more than 14,300 reviews is about as proven as a rating gets. The forest is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means sunrise starts and late descents are both on the table, though it also means there is no gate, no staffed desk and no one checking that you told someone your plans. Bring your own water and a paper map. If you are up on the parkway, the Pisgah Inn serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily from April through October, with grab-and-go food at the Grazing Deer Cafe.
2. The North Carolina Arboretum
The best choice when you want trail time without a forest-service road, rated 4.8 from 7,941 reviews. Hours run 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from April through October and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from November through March, so winter walkers should plan around the earlier close. Entry is by vehicle: parking is listed at $25 per car. The bistro is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with sandwiches, salads, soup and handmade quiche, useful if you are walking straight from the trail to lunch. Arbor Evenings runs Wednesdays and Thursdays, June 10 through September 17, 2026, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
3. Carrier Park Shelter
The flat, in-town option for a walk you can fit around a workday, at 220 Amboy Road on the west side. The park is open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week, which makes it the most forgiving entry here for early risers and after-work laps. The picnic shelter can be reserved through the city's recreation booking system if you are turning a walk into a group outing. Fair warning on the evidence: its 4.8 rating rests on just 37 reviews, so treat that figure as promising rather than settled. This is a city park, not a mountain climb.
What we left off
Earlier versions of this list included Asheville Cabins of Willow Winds, Ruff Life Dog Training Services and You Work I'll Play Dog Daycare. All three are well reviewed, but a cabin rental, a dog trainer and a daycare are not hiking trails, and a guide to trails should only list places you can actually hike. Triangle Park, a small downtown space on South Market Street, was also cut for the same reason.