Fall Foliage Scenic Drive to Jump Off Rock

Hendersonville Welcome Center
201 S. Main St.
Hendersonville, NC 28792

• 13.5 Miles
• Approximately 40 minutes of driving time + however long you stay at Jump Off Rock to explore

Beginning on Main Street in Hendersonville, this drive will take you up a winding road to the top of a mountain that is just outside Downtown. At Jump Off Rock, there is free parking and after a very short walk, you will be able to see sweeping views of Pisgah National Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains and more. This is a great place for a picnic lunch, to catch a sunset, or to hike any of the short trails through the woods around the summit. The drive back winds you down a different side of the mountain, back to Main Street.  

1. Depart from the Welcome Center, turning left out of the parking lot onto S Main Street, continuing north for a few blocks.
2. When you reach 5th Avenue, make a left. After about a mile, the road name changes to Laurel Park Highway. Stay on this road (for a total of about 5 miles) until you reach Jump Off Rock. Park in the gravel parking area to the side of the road.
3. When you are ready to leave, head back down the way you came, taking Laurel Park Highway.
4. After about a mile, turn right onto Roberts Drive.
5. After 0.4 miles, turn right onto Essowah Drive.
6. After 0.2 miles, turn right onto Hebron Road. Follow this for about a mile, it is a windy road along the side of the mountain. 
7. When you come to an old, abandoned church, make a left onto Finley Cove Road. This is somewhat of a blind intersection, so use caution. As you continue to wind your way down the mountain, you can expect to see a wide variety of trees. Along this route, you are likely to see yellow poplar trees, copper oak trees, orange elm trees, red sumac trees, and much more, depending on how far into the season you are.
8. After about 2 miles, you will reach a stop sign. Turn left onto Willow Road. Here, you will drive through more of a neighborhood, so you are likely to see burgundy foliage of dogwood trees, and a variety of colors of shrubs and bushes.
9. Follow Willow Road for about 2 miles until you come to Kanuga Road, where you will turn left.
10. Follow Kanuga Road for about 0.3 miles until you find yourself back on Main Street in downtown Hendersonville, a few blocks south of the Welcome Center.

There are plenty of routes throughout Western NC that offer scenic drives throughout the year, but one thing that makes fall extra magical is that the Southern Appalachian region is so biodiverse! There are more varieties of plants that grow here than most other parts of the world, and the trees, bushes and shrubs that reveal their lovely fall colors is extremely diverse, happening at all different stories of the forest and for weeks at a time! Check out the other scenic drives you will find across the region by clicking below.