Come along with me on an Adventure Session at Bear Wallow Mountain in Hendersonville, NC! I’ll tell you what to expect (from cow pies to wind gusts), and of course, I’ll show you photos from this epic gallery of my most recent session there!

5 Things to Know Before You Go

1. Settle in for a scenic drive!

Even though this mountain is technically in Hendersonville, I would not consider it necessarily “close” to downtown Hendersonville. Expect a 35-40 minute drive through the beautiful countryside (lots of apple orchards, cow pastures and mountain views on the way), then expect a bit of a steeper/windier drive for the last section (maybe 3 miles or so?) as you go up the mountain and approach the trailhead.

Cell service is quite spotty once you embark on the uphill portion of the drive, so if you’re caravanning with others, that can be a great time to maintain safety in front of or behind you! Once you pass a gated community with gorgeous homes called the “Grand Highlands”, you’ll know you’re close.

Once you’re near (especially if it’s a busy and/or holiday weekend), you’ll find cars parked along either side of the road. Feel free to park anywhere along this area! Don’t forget to secure or hide any valuables, locking up your car or bringing them along with you for additional safety! This goes for any trail, but honestly, it’s a good life lesson in general.

2. Those views take some legwork!

The Bear Wallow Mountain Trail is considered a moderately challenging hike! It’s a 2-mile roundtrip hike with an elevation gain of 537 feet and takes about 1 hr 10 min to complete. Probably 40 minutes up and 30 minutes down, give or take. There are two options for completing the hike, a traditional hike up the dirt packed mountain side under the trees with rocks/roots/etc to step on and a service trail made of gravel that is basically a flat steady slope.

Personally, I have actually only taken the service trail! It made sense for this photoshoot too because I wanted the path that would have the least impact on my clients’ wardrobe. We talked a lot on our way up and definitely found ourselves a little breathless. We stopped at the first sign of blue sky, wildflowers and COWS in order to take a break as well as a few photos.

3. Speaking of cows, it’s a COW PASTURE!

I might should have put this one first, but you definitely need to be comfortable with being in close proximity to cows in order to enjoy this experience. They are not contained by a fence, so a lot of them were NOT shy! I got LICKED by one of them as did one of the family members! They were friendly cows, but definitely wayyyy friendlier and more comfortable approaching humans (uninvited) than I thought they would be.

If your family loves animals, this will only make your experience 100x more exciting, enjoyable, and adventurous!

And of course, with a cow pasture comes a lot of cow “pies”…yes…cow poo is everywhere.

It’s not everywhere in the sense that you’ll have it ON you necessarily but it is everywhere in the sense that you need to watch where you’re stepping all of the time (once you get to the top) especially when you’re in the grassy fields.

Don’t worry about this impacting your final images though! I’ll pose you in places with minimal poo, and I’ll edit it out if it’s still in the background so your images will still look clean and fabulous!

And if you’re worried about the smell, it surprisingly did not smell that bad at all! I think with it being on a windy mountain top, the smell had plenty of places to go!

4. Speaking of wind, it’s windy up there!

This goes for any mountain top session really! The temps can be cooler and the winds can be higher than what you experience at a lower nearby elevation. I think it’s one of those things we know in theory but don’t always think about when we see or plan for mountain top photo sessions!

My advice? I’ve got two pieces of advice for you: 1. Plan Accordingly and 2. Embrace it!

5. You’re not just taking family photos, you’re making family memories!

Family Adventure Sessions are about WAY more than updating your family photos, and WAY more about enjoying a fun experience together as a family in the beautiful WNC mountains…and I just happen to get to be there to capture it all! What I love about adventure sessions in particular, is that they allow older kids who might be more shy/self-conscious in front of a new person and a camera, to let down their guard and have some fun! The hike up is for building rapport and getting comfortable, the mountain top is for exploring and enjoying the views and capturing gorgeous photos, and the hike down is to reminisce on it all and talk about what you’re going to eat next lol.

If you would like to break the mold of traditional family photos and make your next Family Photo Session in Hendersonville an ADVENTURE…I would love to help!

Thanks for Reading!

with joy, Rachel