If you love waterfalls, here are some of the best hikes in the Southern Appalachians. And if you love plants--or simply would like to learn more about them--you will be in hiking heaven: naturalist Tim Spira's guidebook links waterfalls and wildflowers in a spectacularly beautiful region famous for both. Leading you to gorgeous waterfalls in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia, the book includes many hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. As he surveys one of America's most biologically diverse regions, Spira introduces hikers to the ""natural communities"" approach for identifying and understanding plants within the context of the habitats they occupy--equipping hikers to see and interpret landscapes in a new way. Each of the 30 hikes includes: a detailed map and GPS coordinatesa lively trail description highlighting the plants you are most likely to see, as well as birds and animals along the wayan associated plant species listAlso featured:beautiful color photographs of 30 destination waterfalls, 125 plants, and moredetailed descriptions of 125 key plant species22 drawings to help identify plant structuresa glossary of botanical terms