Crabtree Falls and Little Switzerland

August 12, 2022                                                                Most Recent Posts:
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Spruce Pine, North Carolina

Today I was heading to Crabtree Falls right off the Blue Ridge Parkway at MP 339.5.  That’s pretty much exactly 15 miles from Bear Den Campground.  Close by in terms of these mountains.

The falls is quite famous so I was surprised to see that the visitor center was no longer in use and the restrooms were closed.

   From the parking lot surrounding it,  you walk by the amphitheater which also appears to no longer be in use.  Then through the campground which looks very nice if you want to boondock.  There are restrooms there that you can use on your way to or from the trailhead.

It was a little tricky finding the trail head but not too bad.  This waterfall hike, like most, started in the woods.

And in the mountains of North Carolina the trail almost always goes through rhododendron.  Best to come in June for those.

Often there are steps going down or maybe up.

Usually there are rocks. 

Sometimes the rocks are big.  Probably best to always have a hiking pole.

Eventually you can hear yourself getting closer to the sound of the water.  AnduUltimately it will come into your first view.

The closer you get the louder the noise and the better the view.

Crabtree really is a gorgeous falls.  70 feet high.

The way it has carved out ridges for the cascades to flow over is beautiful.

The traditional view is the one from above but very unusually for me, I like this one with the tree which has grown right in front of the falls.

Two different shots.  The above taken with my Canon and the lower with my phone.  Not sure which I like best so I put them both in here.  Do you have a preference?

Look at the place the tree has carved out for itself.   Nature is just amazing.

And of course, the I was here selfie.

The way out was across the bridge and UP the steps and stones.

If you’d like to see and hear the lovely Crabtree Falls, use this link.

On my way back, I can now stop and check out the overlooks I passed on my way to the falls.  I was early enough only to see a couple of folks at the falls when I arrived.  Being early is why I skipped this on my way.

It was quite windy up here which I hadn’t realized when I was on the hike through the woods to the falls.

Which three knobs??  This panorama video will show you the views and let you hear how windy.  The sound isn’t traffic, it’s the wind.

Not sure what I was expecting of Little Switzerland where I had come for lunch.   I knew it was mostly known for the  Switzerland Inn which I visited on another day when my friend Sharon came to visit me. 

The “town” seems comprised of a post office which told me that the elevation was 3434 feet and the population 46 people.   I guess that’s the year round population.

The view from the post office across the road was of the one and only other building in Little Switzerland.  I didn’t know that the village is extremely well known to motorcyclists as it offers “the famous diamondback”.  This is a 38 mile diamond shaped loop using NC 226A, US 221, NC 80.  No wonder US 221 was so steep and curvy on my way to Marion.  But it’s the only way to get there. 

Somehow I was expecting chalet looking places as it is advertised as a “quaint taste of Europe”.  Wherever that is, I didn’t see it yet.    The only business in town was a big long low building with a cafe on the left side and on the right, a seriously great bookstore which sells many other things including coffee and coffee beans.

The building looked more like something you might see out west with the wooden boardwalk connecting the stores.

It wasn’t quite late enough in the day for me to be hungry for lunch yet so I visited the Book Shop first.

You don’t get one step inside the door before there are things to look at on the left and right.   LOVE the checkerboard floor.

Once you enter, you have to decide.  Turn left?  Go straight, go right?  The store is a maze of rooms each filled to the brim with interesting things.  A gift givers paradise.

Among the MANY things that caught my eye were these.  They made me laugh.

I had to pay attention to which way I was turning so I didn’t get lost.

I made it back to home base and then saw the stair case going upstairs.

Up there were more rooms and books books and more books.  I could seriously have spent the entire day in this place.

Luckily there is a restroom or whatever you want to call it.  And it has a stained glass window.

While you are waiting for the Loo, you can see any of the books on all of the walls of the anti room and even reach the ones on top with the ladder.  There is yet another, tiny as a closet room, with no door but book shelves floor to ceiling on 3 sides.

The rooms up here off of the open stairway were small and specific.  Though not quite as small as the above space.  This one had maps and globes and binoculars and telescopes.  And books about anything connected to any of them.   I called it the map room.

I know I spent well over an hour looking at the rooms both down and upstairs before I headed down again and out to find my way to lunch.   Don’t miss this spot if you are in the area.

Even the wooden walk connecting the two stores was filled with tables and metal yard art for sale.

An entire barnyard.

Or Peacock anyone?

I walked the few steps up to the Switzerland Cafe which is the only spot to eat other than the Inn which was I fear a bit too high toned for my hiking boots and my budget.

I looked around inside and then grabbed this empty table outside.

First thing to check out of course is dessert.  They have some yummy looking things.

There was more seating inside than out so I felt lucky to have gotten a table on the “porch”??

I ordered their cafe BBQ platter.  The say their pork is hickory smoked for 12 hours then pulled from the bone and simmered in their own special sauce. It came with coleslaw, baked beans and buttermilk cornbread.

The BBQ was good and that’s saying something since it is being compared with the great BBQ at Paulie’s Pig Out near the farm.   It was David’s hands down favorite and I too don’t think it can be beat.  We kept trying both BBQ and Cherry Pie to see if we could find one to tie David’s pie and Paulie’s BBQ.  So far we’ve had some good ones but those two are still #1.

With all the food above, I took the raspberry cheese cake for desert home with me.

Better than what I had in Marion by a mile.

 

If you are ever in Nelson County Virginia where there is also a gorgeous Crabtree Falls, give me a shout out and we’ll pick some BBQ up from Paulie and you can judge for yourself.   But do try the Switzerland Cafe if in this area.  I’m glad I did.