Park at the Graveyard Fields Overlook off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This is one of the most popular overlooks, and the lot can sometimes fill up (though, if it does, people just park on the grass).  From the overlook, head down the Graveyard Fields Loop trail on the right which is a paved path through dense rhodedendreon.  The path reaches the Yellowstone Prong, a beautiful rocky river.  Cross the bridge and turn left on the Graveyard Fields Loop (blue blaze).  Enjoy this walk through a rare and beautiful mountain meadow with views up to all the mountains and ridges around you.  The trail then turns right onto the Graveyard Ridge Connector (yellow blaze)  which will take you up from Graveyard Fields up to Graveyard Ridge.  This trail can occasionally be confusing (as can several of the trails on this hike as they are not very well marked nor heavily used), but as long as you remember where you are coming from and where you are going, you should be ok.  For example, trails zig-zag across the Graveyard Ridge Connector (these trails mostly just go around some obstacle on the trail), but as long as you continue going away from your car and up Graveyard Ridge, you will be ok.

The trail will reach the Graveyard Ridge Trail (orange blaze) onto which you want to turn left.  This is a mostly flat and easy trail that walks along the side of the ridge with beautiful views over Graveyard Fields and up to Black Balsam Knob.  The trail will eventually come to a 4-way junction.  The trail on the left is the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) ascending Black Balsam Knob, the trail straight ahead is the Graveyard Ridge Trail heading to Ivestor Gap, and the trail on the right is the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and Graveyard Ridge Trail (Graveyard Ridge is a loop).  You want to go left on the MST up Black Balsam Knob.  We dubbed this trail the Mountainous Sea of Grass Trail as the trail is clearly not heavily used and is pretty overgrown with grasses and shrubs.  This is by far the most strenuous part of the hike with the majority of the elevation gain coming here.  The views really begin to open up on this trail with Mount Pisgah to the northeast and Looking Glass Rock (and, believe it or not, your car) to the southeast.  The trail descends a bit from a rocky overlook to the headwaters of Yellowstone Prong before climbing to near Fire Road 816 which the trail parallels a bit before connecting with the Art Loeb Trail.  Parking along this road is popular for doing into the Shining Rock Wilderness or taking a quick hike up Black Balsam Knob.  This is where we first saw other people on the trail.

Join the Art Loeb Trail (white blaze) and begin the balds portion of the hike.  The first bald is Black Balsam Knob (6,214') where the views open up on a grand scale in all directions with the Smokies to the west and countless mountains of Pisgah National Forest all around (and you can still, amazingly, see your car if you have binoculars).  The balds are a unique feature of the southern Appalacchians where the latitudes are too low for an alpine zone but nevertheless the mountain summits are treeless.  Theories for why this is so range from livestock grazing to forest fires.  Whatever the reason, they provide beautiful, wide views.  The  Art Loeb Trail is a lot like the MST, though, with lots of overgrown grass.

After Black Balsam Knob, the next peak we came to was Tennent Mountain (6,040'), which provides even more imcredible views (since the entire hike along the balds is exposed, the views are basically never ending).  The trail curls along the east side of Tennent Mountain before descending toward Ivestor Gap with only one more small hill in between.  Water supply is the biggest challenge of a hike across the balds as you are entirely on the ridge.  Luckily for us, a thunderstorm rolled through before we got up on the balds, so there were plenty of puddles around and we filtered from a large puddle between Tennent and this small hill.  We decided to camp and make this a two day trip so we began looking for a camping site at this point.  We saw three other tents already set up including an amazingly beautiful spot in a field in Ivestor Gap with views both east and west.  Sadly, we didn't get this spot, but ours was pretty cool too.  We camped right off the trail on a thick bed of grass on top of the hill between Tennent and Ivestor Gap with great views to the east and of Tennent Mountain.  There is also a stand of large-ish trees nearby which we used to hang our bear bag.  Camping is allowed anywhere in Pisgah National Forest, so it's really a finders-keepers sort of thing.  The night got pretty cold--despite the 90 degree day, I was comfortable in the 25 degree rated bag.  We hit the trail at about 7 the next morning and began the last part of the hike through dewy grass that quickly soaked our socks.

When you arrive in Ivestor Gap, several trails come together.  First, take a moment to enjoy the view to the west one last time before descending the east side of the ridge.  Then take the wide dirt trial on the right heading east.  This is the Graveyard Ridge Trail again.  This trail is pretty wide as it is supposedly for multiple use like horses, though I cannot imagine a horse walking on this trail covered with small rocks.  the trail winds around the east edges on the mountains before crossing Dark Prong, which is a beautiful, cold stream which we filtered for replenish our bottles.  The trail continues and pretty quickly returns to the 4-way junction from yesterday.  You want to go to the trail from which you came yesterday so go straight on the Graveyard Ridge Trail (right goes back up Black Balsam and left is the MST along Graveyard Ridge).  From here just retrace your steps back to your car.

This hike can be done in one day as long as you get an early enough start.  Thunderstorms pop up pretty frequently in the mountains in summer, though, so be ready to revise your plans.

TO TRAILHEAD: Park at the Graveyard Fields Overlook off the Blue Ridge Parkway around milepost 419. The trailhead is the Graveyard Fields Loop trail that leaves the parking lot (there are two trails, use the one on the right).