Conley Cove is a trail of the Linville Gorge Wilderness area that goes from its trailhead by Old NC 105 Hwy to the bottom of the gorge by the Linville river’s west shore. The trail is relatively well maintained (compared to other trails in the area) and has nicely graded switchbacks all the way to the bottom.
There are a few parking spots right by the trailhead, but if you arrive from mid-morning to mid-afternoon in the weekends, expect to have to park your car further away and walk back to the trailhead.
It took me about one hour to hike down, at a leisure pace, the 1.6 miles to the river bank. From there, I hiked north along the intersecting Linville Gorge trail for another mile, all the way to the intersection with the Spence Ridge trail, the site of the “broken” bridge that got washed out by floods years ago. From there I doubled back and hiked back up to the Conley Cove trailhead to finish the day with a 1600 ft elevation gain workout. It was definitely worth the effort!
For a more detailed view of my day hike down the Conley Cove trail in June, 2020, here is the GPS data of the activity:
