Blue Ridge Parkway · North Carolina, Virginia

High Meadows Trail

1.3 mi of trail, end to end · about 150 ft of climbing · 2,598 ft–2,701 ft · hiking

2,642 ft 2,634 ft · 0.6 mi high 2,674 ft

Trailheads Trailhead 2,597 ft Drive there · Trailhead 2,620 ft Drive there

Hike the High Meadow Trail at the Blue Ridge Music Center the Park Service's write-up

60-90 Minutes · dogs allowed · season Accessible in the off season (November-Early May)  via Foothills Road and the alternative trailhead. Entering the Music Center from the parkway, proceed to the stop sign. Turn right down the gravel, one-lane Foothills Road until you see a gravel parking lot to your right.

Start Blue Ridge Music Center at Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 213

A narrow trail leads a short distance through a field before entering the forest
High Meadow Trail at the Music Center Photo: NPS Photo

The High Meadow Trail is an easy, family-friendly Kids In Parks TRACK Trail, that is full of woodland and meadow scenery to explore. The 1.35-mile-long one-way trail provides views of birds, flowers, fungi, and the Chestnut Creek. As you are hiking, listen for mountain music floating on the breeze. Musicians play every afternoon at the nearby Blue Ridge Music Center, from May through October.

Children especially enjoy hiking this Kids in Parks TRACK Trail. Young hikers can pick up free TRACK trail brochures to help them explore the trail. Brochures are available at both trailheads. These pamphlets are full of interactive activities to introduce kids to the outdoors. Learn what trees are best for string instruments, identify birds on your hike, or play nature hike and seek!

Identifying some of the wide variety of trees and flowers that you encounter along the trail can add to the enjoyment of hiking this leisure trail, so be sure to take a few guides with you. Spring, summer and fall hikes will provide seasonal wildflowers and mushrooms to identify. During autumn, vibrantly colored leaves line the trail.

Return to the Music Center after your hike to enjoy some old time or bluegrass music! The Blue Ridge Music Center has live music daily during summer and early fall. Test your mountain music knowledge by visiting the indoor museum to discover the roots of this music in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Accessibility The high meadow trial is not handicap accessible due to the terrain and narrow trail bed. Trail width is anywhere from 2ft to 5ft wide. The surface material is mostly compacted dirt and leaf litter. Watch for raised roots and sticks on the ground. Uneven tread requires good balance.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

All 224 trails in Blue Ridge ParkwayFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.