ARDEN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — How about a hard one this week? Collier Cove Nature Preserve is a Buncombe County park perched on an Arden mountaintop. Trails on the preserve may not be long, but they are about as steep as they get.

Fast facts

• Collier Cove Nature Preserve is a public park located at 194 Rhododendron Dr. in Arden. Like the trails in the park itself, the road to get up to Collier Cove is steep, narrow and a little precarious. Drive with caution.
• Dogs are permitted, but must be leashed.
• The park closes after dark, so plan your trip accordingly.
• The network of trails in Collier Cove can be a little confusing, but with our route, you can expect a 1.2 mile hike with a 300 foot elevation gain.

Down, down, down, up, up, up

After the mildly distressing ascent to Collier Cove Nature Preserve, it is nice to have such an easy time parking. There are a good number of parking spots in a gravel area just inside property gates. The nearby electrical tower also serves as a great vantage for beholding the task before you: far below is the bell curve bottom of the park trails.

Parking at Collier Cove Nature Preserve.

A look down at the bottom of the park.

The park kiosk and trash can.

The wooden signs and benches that are a park signature.

Walnut Way is marked by orange blazes.

A lookout bench with a great mountain view.

Check out the park rules on the kiosk to the far left of the parking lot, and then pick your poison. For my hike, I chose to trot along a primrose path, otherwise known as Walnut Way. There are numerous wooden signs indicating the direction of the trail, but head straight forward. After a short distance, you will be treated to a seat on a wooden bench – also prevalent, precious presences throughout the park – and a view of the mountains of Arden.

After that sojourn, there is a long, long, long descent. Walnut Way is designated with orange blazes, ensuring you will not stray off the path, but the route is unmistakable.

Down.

Down…

…down…

…beautiful flora on the way…

…down…

…down…

…an irrelevant Walnut Way split on the way down. Both go the same direction and wind up in the same place.

However, Walnut Way is not forever. At the bottom of the slope, the route intersects with Sassafras Circle. Attempts to hike to the right will be precluded by a trail closed sign, so head to the left around the meadow, instead. Sassafras Circle is marked with blue blazes.

Follow Walnut Way.

A portion of the Walnut Way/Sassafras Circle route is closed.

Take to Sassafras Circle, instead.

Sassafras Circle leading around the meadow.

Blue blazes mark Sassafras Circle.

Blue blazes mark Sassafras Circle.

Eventually, Sassafras Circle will spit you out along the same electric line as the parking lot, which you can spot far away through the tall yellow grass. There is an option here to take a branch onto Hickory Hike, but that route exits to a different trailhead. To return to the parking lot, you must take the Herculean route of returning from Sassafras Circle to Walnut Way, which in turn leads back to the beginning.

The parking lot electric tower visible from the bottom of the hill.

Hike past Hickory Hike.

A bench en route on Sassafras Circle.

Another view of the upper electric tower.

All of this, of course, uphill.

I can’t stress enough how difficult (and rewarding) this final leg of the hike will be. At the bottom of the slope, you will have hiked around .9 miles. To return to the top, it is a scant .4 mile push, but almost exactly 300 feet of climbing inside of that distance.

Up…

…up…

…up…

…a brief resting point on the way up…

…the final few steps.

Look up once back up for a brilliant blue view.

There are benches along the way, which help, but it does not get easier. Until the final step back onto the parking lot plane, you will be making a push. Your calves, meanwhile, will have never looked better!

Collier Cove Nature Preserve has indeed preserved the difficulty and beauty of the best of North Carolina hiking. Just be prepared before heading in.