Parking
Park at the Boone Fork Parking Area off the Blue Ridge Parkway; follow the Tanawha Trail briefly to reach the Nuwati junction.
Overview
About Nuwati Trail
Why go
- Designated streamside campsites make an easy intro to backpacking
- Old logging road grade keeps effort low while still feeling rugged
Heads up
- Rocky, rooty tread the entire way—tedious for some hikers
- Blue Ridge Parkway closures complicate access in winter
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Blue Ridge Parkway map
Full mapElevation3,999–4,531 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Blue Ridge Parkway alerts
- ClosureNorth Carolina Helene-related closuresAvoid the closed Parkway section from MP 344.2–355.3; recreation of any kind is prohibited there.Official details
- ClosureVirginia Parkway closures and detourFollow the signed detour around the closed James River Bridge and avoid the closed Roanoke Mountain Loop. - James River Bridge (MP 63.5–63.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Guide
Your drive to Nuwati Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Blue Ridge Parkway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Blue Ridge Parkway audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Boone Fork Trailhead: Choose Your Grandfather Mountain HikeListen
“The parking area ahead is for Boone Fork, and it serves as a major gateway into the Grandfather Mountain backcountry. This spot offers two very different hiking experiences.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Pilot Ridge Overlook: A Quiet Break
- Wilson Creek and Boulder Field Overlooks
- Rough Ridge’s Ice Age Boulder Fields
- Rough Ridge: A Famous Short Hike with Big Views
- 277 audio storiesacross Blue Ridge Parkway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 112 trails, 232 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“…We knew we wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. The narration was impeccably timed. The facts and info provided were meaningful. Without it, the trip would not have been near as awesome.”
Trail guide
Hiking Nuwati Trail
The easy way to Storyteller’s RockFrom Boone Fork Parking Area, follow the short Tanawha Trail connector to the signed Nuwati…
From Boone Fork Parking Area, follow the short Tanawha Trail connector to the signed Nuwati junction, then continue along the old logging-road grade to Storyteller’s Rock. The complete visitor walk is about 3.0 miles round-trip from the parking area; the named Nuwati section is roughly 1.2 miles one way. Allow around two hours at an unhurried pace, with extra time for the view.
A mellow route with rough footingNuwati is gentle in grade but consistently rocky and rooty, with small stream crossings and…
Nuwati is gentle in grade but consistently rocky and rooty, with small stream crossings and designated backcountry campsites along the way. The last move to Storyteller’s Rock is a short, steeper scramble. Dogs are allowed on leash, but this is not a smooth or fully accessible path. The Cragway Trail is a separate, tougher extension—not part of this route.
Take the view homeStoryteller’s Rock looks into Boone Bowl and toward Calloway Peak.
Storyteller’s Rock looks into Boone Bowl and toward Calloway Peak. For a better photo, frame the open view with the surrounding rhododendron or a little of the rocky foreground so the scale reads clearly. The Blue Ridge Parkway can close in winter; when it does, check the signed Asutsi Trail access from U.S. 221 before setting out.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Blue Ridge Parkway
1,208 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
1,020 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
2,257 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
200 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
1,126 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
255 sightingsRed-tailed HawkMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Blue Ridge Parkway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
