Valle Crucis Conference Center opens new trail to Crab Orchard Falls

VALLE CRUCIS — The Valle Crucis Conference Center has announced a new trail leading to Crab Orchard Falls at the Valle Crucis Conference Center.

The new trailhead is approximately 50 feet from the existing trailhead, and adds a quarter-mile to the distance between the conference center’s main campus and Crab Orchard Falls. The new trail provides a gentler slope up the mountain, as well as more sustainable surfacing and more opportunity for native plants to flourish near the trail.

The old boardwalk to the falls has been replaced with beautiful stone steps. Hikers can choose an up-and-back path on the new trail, or use the old trail to return to the main campus, for a total loop of 1.3 miles and an elevation gain of 324 feet. While the trails continue past the turnoff to the falls all the way up to the top of the conference center’s campus at the Hermitages, the focus for this project was on the much-traveled portion leading to Crab Orchard Falls.

The Crab Orchard Falls trail project was the result of community impact studies and advocacy by local company Destination by Design, which led to approval and funding by the Watauga Tourism Development Authority. Design and implementation of the trail was a joint effort by Destination by Design and Greenville, S.C.-based Benchmark Trails Inc.

Work was completed over a 3-month period by a crew of 2-3 trail experts from Benchmark Trails. Margaret Love, the conference center’s executive director, praised the initiative and resourcefulness of Destination by Design, as well as guidance by the Blue Ridge Conservancy.

“This trail renovation is in perfect keeping with the mandate to preserve and protect the natural beauty entrusted to us, and we are proud to offer this renewed way of enjoying the gift of nature to everyone,” Love said.

Crab Orchard Falls was a local secret with little traffic until the COVID pandemic, when its popularity soared with tourists looking for an outdoor place of great beauty that was also accessible and safe. When the Falls was listed on www.alltrails.com the word spread rapidly, and the trail is now one of the most popular destinations in the High Country. This popularity — and the fact that the conference center allows and encourages free access by the public on private land — was a major factor in funding decisions.

The conference center is a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina. It is a full-service conference and retreat center, located about a mile past the Mast Original Store on Highway 194 S. The Conference Center is housed in the historic Mission School, featuring buildings dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century, many of which are on the National Historic Register. The conference center is open year-round to accommodate groups of 5 to 150. Meeting and event space and (delicious) food service are also offered.