First timer to Linville Gorge...advice?

[Hawk-eye]

You can never goto the gorge alone? seems kinda extreme

Extreme things can happen ... even around a swimming pool ... right?

[slowhike]

Considering that you are "very new to wilderness camping", I think you could do a trip down the Spence Ridge trail to camp for a night or two, but I wouldn't do it unless you were willing to read up a little on the basic ideas of "Lite Weight Backpacking".

Keeping it light & simple will allow you to enjoy a trip that requires you to travel away from the car.

Unfortunately, I & just about everyone here has seen the "extra stuff" left behind by those who carried way to much into wilderness areas & left the trash that should have been carried out, as well as tarps, sheets of plastic, tents, coolers, sleeping bags... you name it, because they didn't want to carry it back out
A lot of us here have done the not so fun work of toting that stuff out too, in order to leave the "Wilderness Area" looking natural, the way it should.

Not trying to say that you guys would do that, just saying that people regularly get BOGGED DOWN with all the unnecessary stuff they lug into the woods & it always takes away from the experience for them (& others).

Keep it simple & take serious the cautions about taking unnecessary risks in the river & elsewhere.
Then you can "Have a GREAT time"

[MacEntyre]

If you want to camp by the river, Conley Cove Trail is a good choice, because of the string of camp sites along the river, south of the lower end of Conley.

I complain about the weekender traffic on the ridges, but there are *lots* of places to visit and hike from the ridge on both sides. It's well worth being a tourist/hiker along the ridges, and there are several campsites on each side too.

[Salty]

Welcome to the forum! I see you are from Gastonia, also. I won't hold that against you. Good advice here. If you are planning a weekend trip, remember that you will need to register and reserve a slot. Since you are new to wilderness areas and backpack camping, I'd recommend giving a ranger your preferred route, where you will be parked, your license tag, and expected date you plan to leave, even if it isn't the weekend.

I don't know this for a fact, but I would be surprised if anyone that visits the gorge regularly hasn't fallen or twisted their ankle, or had something unexpected happen down there. It's not that it is dangerous, it's just rugged and steep in many places. Just last week I took my kids up one of the side trails to the summit of Hawksbill overlooking the gorge.It's a mild trail compared to some. Both boys fell. Both boys were injured, but only a tweaked ankle and knee, and they were able to walk it off.
I didn't put it in my trip report, but we deviated from our plan to refill water at the car before cooking our lunch. Instead, we decided to cook on top of Hawksbill with the water we brought. Both my son and I were cooking. That deviation was fine until the first pot of boiling water slid off my son's stove and poured out on the ground. Things like that happen. We barely had enough for a do-over, and it was only a short hike back to the car, but deep in the gorge without a water filter or water treatment, and it could have been a more serious problem.

If you search up "gear list", you should find some examples of what people typically carry.

The Scouts motto is a good one -- be prepared -- and you'll have a great time.

Salty