Big East Fork Trail
At A Glance
3.6 mi one-way
Difficulty Rating: 3.6 
Steepness: Climbs Moderately
Tread Condition: Moderately Rough
Trail Number: 357
Description
Follows the Big East Fork Pigeon River. Pristine river scenes. Trail is wide and heavily used near beginning; diminishes somewhat the further you travel. Ends at the junction with Greasy Cove Prong and Bridges Camp Gap trails, providing long loop options in the Shining Rock Wilderness.
Intersecting Trails
This trail is located in the Shining Rock Wilderness area. For a list of all the trails in that area, see the Shining Rock Wilderness trails list page.
All Photos from the Trail
GPS Map
Map Information
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Data Formats
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About the Map
Copyright
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Base layers provided by OpenStreetMap, the US Geological Survey, the US Forest Service, and NC OneMap. Base layer images are subject to the respective copyright policies of their owners. Base layers may not be available at all times due to system maintenance or outages.
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Trail and Marker Overlays
Trail layers and downloadable data are all original works created by WNCOutdoors with guidance from a variety of sources, including ensembles of our own GPS tracks, user contributed GPS tracks, official maps and GIS data from government agencies, and field observations. WNCOutdoors data is made freely available under the Open Database License - you are free to copy and use it for any purpose under the terms of that license (summary).
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Feedback
Ratings
Average Rating: 5.0 (rated 2 times)
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Mary Hartigan said: The floods last year destroyed parts of the trail about 1-1.5 mi from the 276 entrance. We had to stop when it hit a big patch of unstable rock scrambling. Anyone know of any efforts to rebuild?
Tanya Neplioueva said: Beautiful hike. The trail is technical, but moderate with a total elevation gain around 1,100 feet. There are countless spots to relax by the river, crystal clear (but cold!) swimming holes, and adjoining waterfalls. There are a few places the trail splits, follow the larger path. We were there in March of 2019 and somebody has helpfully marked the trail with neon orange tape blazes.
Steven FitzGerald said: what a stream! it reminded us of our trip to glacier national park. gin-clear water flowing boisterously between boulders and over multi-colored rocks... we could easily see the stream bottom in five-foot deep pools... we only ventured about 1/2-mile from the trailhead on our scouting voyage, but we will return soon and often; and of course, with the fly rod... verified bobcat sightings are another reason... thankfully we recently moved to candler, so we're only 45 minutes away...