When we went hunting for a place to hold our annual Editors’ Choice trip last year, we had a few requirements. It had to be gob-smackingly beautiful. It had to be extremely challenging. And critically, it had to be close to an exceptional post-hike hamburger. Asheville, North Carolina, and its surrounding wilderness hit all three marks.

　　Our gear-bashing extravaganza is something the editors at Outside look forward to all year long. After a long season of testing from dozens of expert category managers, our small team of specialized editors assembles to try the best of the best. Anything that proves exceptional in its class—a standout rain jacket, for example—or moves the goalpost entirely for a category—like a backpack that utilizes a trailblazing ultralight material—is eligible.

　　The Pisgah National Forest, which sits just 30 minutes northeast of Asheville, is one of the most remarkable wild areas in North America. Part of the Southern Appalachian mountains, it’s a place of endless expanses of old growth forest and thundering waterfalls. It’s also historic, as the very first national forest established on the east coast.

　　Of all the trails in Pisgah, the most iconic might be the 30-mile Art Loeb Trail. We wanted to see the Art Loeb’s famous panoramic views, but we’d also heard that the trail was a brutally steep, gear-destroying hike. So naturally, that was the one we picked to put our editors’ choice candidates through their paces.

　　With help from the local Appalachian guides at Blue Ridge Hiking Company, we headed southbound, setting out from Camp Daniel Boone and eventually ending up at Davidson River Campground two days later. It didn’t take us long to confirm that the Art Loeb deserves its reputation. This trail is hard—even by Appalachian Trail standards, with roughly 8,000 feet of elevation gained and over 9,000 lost. Gnarly roots and slick rock were ideal testing conditions for footwear and trekking poles, while dense thickets of mountain laurel along the ridgelines separated the durable packs from the pretenders.

　　As any backpacker knows, the views are better when you have to earn them. That was definitely the case when, after a day and a half of climbing through dense forest, we reached the above-treeline stretch of trail from Shining Rock Mountain to Black Balsam Knob. Big patches of exposed white quartz were the perfect place to take in the views of the entire Pisgah National Forest, which stretches for countless miles of rolling green hills.

　　After three long, hard, sweaty days in the Pisgah National Forest, we set out to explore the city of Asheville and everything it has to offer.

　　First, we feasted. Our editors made a beeline for Baby Bull just north of the River Arts District, which makes the platonic ideal of a double cheeseburger, complete with American cheese, bread and butter pickles, and a Martin’s potato bun. Post-hike mission accomplished! The next morning, still aching from our challenging trek, we grabbed breakfast at Montford Area Historic District’s All Day Darling, where consummate breakfast sandwiches, a fried chicken biscuit, and spicy tomato shakshuka gave us fuel for the rest of the early morning.

　　Next we headed to the North Carolina Arboretum, where we explored 434 acres of beautiful gardens, a wild collection of very old trees, and a massive Bonsai exhibition. The ten miles of hiking trails are mostly flat, which our team appreciated after the calf-burning week we’d had.

　　Not yet sated, we visited 12 Bones Smokehouse, a celebrated, old-school barbecue joint in the River Arts District and a favorite haunt of the Obamas. We walked off our ribs and corn bread on the multi-use paved trail along the French Broad River, which runs for over 200 miles from North Carolina down the Tennessee.

　　Downtown, we stopped by the Friday night drumming circle in Pritchard Park, an improvised public gathering of drummers and dancers who ranged from professional to total beginners. (We came back later that night to find it still going strong.) For dinner, we stepped into La Bodega by Cúrate, a next-level Spanish tapas restaurant that slings specialty Spanish goods and freshly-baked bread by day. To cap the night off, we visited the Asheville Pinball Museum, where you can play almost 70 different classic pinball and arcade games to your heart’s desire.

　　As a home base for exploring Pisgah, and Great Smokey Mountains National Park to the west, you can’t do much better than Asheville. We’ll be back for the wilderness and the city’s vibrant, eclectic culture, food, and music.