Nowhere else in North Carolina can you bear witness to an old-growth forest quite like the one found at Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in Robbinsville. In fact, it may be the oldest virgin timber in all of the Appalachian Mountains. Step inside for a walk through and find out just how special this tract of land is.

One of the very first things visitors notice is the extraordinary large number of enormous trees found in the forest.
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Many are in excess of 450 years old, making them the largest trees in the mountains of North Carolina.
alltrails/Bobby Russell
And some have grown to really tower over the landscape. Many are over 100 feet tall!
alltrais/Manuel Mattei
For the most part, 13 trails reach underneath the forest canopy here.
alltrails/Patrick Stone

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But if you want to hike the best of the best, you'll hop on the 1.9-mile Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Loop Trail. Follow alongside a river for part of the hike, and expect a total elevation change of just 383 feet along the way.
alltrails/Indra Indra Jenkins
Prepare for some awesome photos!
alltrails/Brian Matzen
And try all you want, but you'll never quite get your arms looped all the way around many of the larger trees in the forest.
alltralis/Dylan Ward
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest was named for Joyce Kilmer, who was killed during World War I in France. Kilmer wrote the poem, 'Trees."
alltrails/James Catalfamo

The forest is open to the public year-round. It’s rarely crowded. Learn more about it from the official Forest Service website right here.

For a place to hunker down and call home while you’re in Robbinsville, check out these cool treehouses by the river. And don’t pass up the chance to drive the challenging Tail of the Dragon while you’re in the area!

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Featured Addresses
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, Cheoah Ranger District, Nantahala National Forest, 5410 Joyce Kilmer Rd, Robbinsville, NC 28771, USA