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Craggy Gardens is on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, North Carolina. The woods are known for uniquely shaped trees leading to exposed Appalachian balds. The area is popular for hiking: visit our online Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a printable Craggy Gardens trail map.

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Date Taken: 10/10/2017
Location: Rough Ridge Trail, Milepost 302.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the High Country of North Carolina near Boone and Blowing Rock.

Rough Ridge Trail is actually a part of the larger 13.5-mile Tanawha Trail, but it is also a popular trail in its own right. Along the 0.8-mile steep uphill trail, hikers will come to a series of extraordinary stone overlooks and see long-range views of Grandfather Mountain, the Linn Cove Viaduct, and Linville Gorge. To hike this trail, start at Rough Ridge Overlook, Milepost 302.8, and follow the trail signs up the hill to the right of the parking area.

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Date Taken: 05/28/2018
Location: Yankee Horse Ridge, Milepost 34.4 on the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3
Lens: EF-S24mm f/2.8 STM
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/60
Aperture: f/4.5
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: The restored logging railroad at Yankee Horse Ridge is a short distance from the parking area. There is plenty of room to set up a tripod which is needed because of the heavy shade.

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Date Taken: 06/29/2017
Location: Moses Cone Carriage Trail at Moses Cone Memorial Park, Milepost 294.1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone and Blowing Rock.

Camera: Sony A7Rii
Lens: sel70300g
Focal Length: 78mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/8 sec
Aperture: f16
Filters: none
Exposure: Aperture Priority
How I Got This Shot: At 8:15 PM, the Sun was just a few minutes from going down. I looked up the trail and decided that it made for a better composition than the sunset. If you look closely, in the shadows, you can see the last few hikers of the coming back to their cars. Tripod used and stopped down to f16 to keep both the fore and background in focus.

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Date Taken: 06/18/2016
Location: Pink Beds Loop Trail in Pisgah National Forest at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

Camera: Canon 7D Mark II
Lens: EFS 18-135
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/40 sec.
Aperture: f/5.6
Filters: None
Exposure: Aperture Priority
How I Got This Shot: Hiking along the beautiful Pink Beds trail.

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Date Taken: 05/28/2018
Location: Greenstone Overlook, Milepost 8.8 on the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

Camera: Canon T3
Lens: EF-S 24 mm
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/100
Aperture: f/8
Filters: None
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: A short hike on the trail at the Greenstone Overlook brought me to this spot. I loved the little trail that hugged the huge boulders along the trail.

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Date Taken: 11/01/2017
Location: Rough Ridge Overlook, Milepost 302.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the High Country of North Carolina.

Camera: Canon 5d Mark 4
Lens: Canon 16-35mm f4
Focal Length: 16mm
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/10
Aperture: 16
Filters: Singhray
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: This was a calm morning with no wind at all. I came up to this spot 10 mins before sunrise to set up for my composition. As soon as the Sun hit the horizon, I knew that my shot was gonna turn out nicely. It was an amazing sunrise to be remembered!

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Date Taken: 10/13/2016
Location: Rough Ridge Trail, Milepost 302.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the High Country of North Carolina.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4
Focal Length: 17mm
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/50
Aperture: f/11
Filters: HiTech 4 stop graduated ND filter
Exposure: Manual
How I Got This Shot: This image was a tough one to capture. I arrived at Rough Ridge Parking Area (milepost 302.8) to catch a sunrise with some fall foliage sprinkled in. I made the short hike from the parking area, up a staircase and to an opening where I was exposed to some brutal winds – gusts well over 40 MPH, occasionally knocking me and my camera off balance. A tripod (a heavy, durable one) is a must here. I originally set up to shoot some distant images of the fog way off in the distance with a telephoto lens, but the wind oscillated my lens to the point where I couldn’t get a sharp image, even at a higher ISO speed. Then the sun rose; and I switched to my ultrawide Tamron lens, using the staircase as a focal point and a leading line to the rising sun. I boosted my ISO speed to 800 – a sensitivity I rarely, if ever, use. But it was crucial here with the high winds and low light. I had to freeze the blowing branches and foliage in front of me, otherwise they’d be blurry from a slow shutter speed. Also, with a high contrast scene, I had to use a graduated ND filter to hold back the bright sky while projecting the foreground. At 1/50 of a second and at 17mm, with an aperture of f/11, and using the aforementioned graduated ND filter, I was able to control depth of field, capture everything I wanted in the scene, expose the image properly, all the while ensuring there wouldn’t be much, if any, blurring of the colorful leaves or branches in my foreground. In post-processing I was able to remove the modest amount of noise present from the high ISO speed, while doing my usual developments for contrast, color, luminance, clarity, and a quick smart sharpening pass in Photoshop. The end result came mighty close to what I saw with my own eyes, given the limitations of my gear.

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Date Taken: 06/06/2017
Location: Rough Ridge Trail looking south towards Linn Cove Viaduct, Milepost 302.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the High Country of North Carolina

Camera: Sony A7Rii
Lens: sel70300g
Focal Length: 70mm
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/45
Aperture: f16
Filters: none
Exposure: Aperture Priority
How I Got This Shot: Hiked up to top section and was looking for foreground elements I could include, especially the blooms. Late afternoon, so lighting was fairly harsh.

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Date Taken: 06/21/2017
Location: Roan Mountain, Carvers Gap hike

Camera: Sony A7Rii
Lens: sel1635z
Focal Length: 28mm
ISO: 160
Shutter: 1/15
Aperture: f13
Filters: None
Exposure: Aperture Priority
How I Got This Shot: Went to see the rhododendron, but they were mostly gone. The consolation was the “lower” trail that had lots of Fire Azalea in bloom. Hike from Carver’s Gap.

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Learn about Flame Azalea and more Blue Ridge wildflowers in our Nature Guide.

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