The views from the top of Hawksbill Mountain are amazing. In my humble opinion, you will get the best view of the Linville Gorge Wilderness canyon from there. A 1.5 mile long trail with a 730 ft elevation gain will get you there. Plenty of flowery bushes and trees along the trail are the cherry on top of this fantastic place.
The trailhead is located off Table Rock Road, with a few parking spots that fill up by mid morning in the weekends. Cellphone reception is not that good along the road to the trailhead, so if you plan to use your smartphone’s GPS to get there, be on the safe side and pre-download the map of the area before you drive there.
From the very top of the mountain you will get a 360 degree view of the region. Though my favorite view is the one of the canyon corridor to the south, towards Lake James. Breathtaking!
For a more detailed view of my day hike to Hawksbill Mountain in June, 2020, here is the GPS data of the activity: