The full Rocky Mount lariat is known as one of the Shenandoah’s most punishing hikes, but if you do it as an out-and-back (like us!), you get a moderate 6.8 mile hike with great views and a lot of solitude! Our route eliminates the less scenic Gap Run Trail on the back side of the mountain.
Adam takes in the view from the summit of Rocky Mount. Below: A view of Rocky Mount from the parking area on Skyline Drive; Wild violets along the trail; Adam walks through the mountain laurel.
Adam Says…
We’ve covered most of Shenandoah National Park already – there aren’t many trails we haven’t written about! But, Christine did some research and found a hike we hadn’t done yet. We entered the park at Swift Run Gap. We needed to buy a new annual pass, since ours had expired. The park ranger asked where we were going and we said, “Rocky Mount”. She looked at us with a disapproving pause and questioned why we would want to do that one. Christine told her we had covered most of the rest of the Park and the ranger just handed back our pass with a shake of her head. After leaving the fee station, we began to wonder how tough this hike really was. We had heard it was one of the toughest in the park due to the elevation gain split over several tough climbs. Most of the reviews we read were based on the Rocky Mount-Gap Run lariat loop which incorporates the Gap Run Trail. The back side of the mountain, which uses the Gap Run Trail, is repeatedly described as very steep and lacking in any noteworthy scenery. So, we decided to do this one as an out-and-back hike that hit the big view payoffs.
The weather was quite warm based on what we had grown accustomed to during the cold winter. The temperature was already in the 60s and it was barely 9:00 a.m. We parked at the Twomile Run Overlook and then walked north for a short distance. After the barrier wall ended on the western side of the road, we saw the concrete post on the left which marked the beginning of the blue-blazed Rocky Mount trail. The trail begins with mostly descending through the woods. You drop down about 700 feet (some level sections, some steep sections) until you reach the junction with the Gap Run Trail at 2.2 miles. We stayed straight at this point and began a steeper ascent. The trail climbs along a path that wraps around Rocky Mount, leading to a few (mostly obstructed) views along the way. At 3.4 miles, the climb ends near the summit and you can see a short side path to the left leading to a rock outcropping. Here is where the best views on the mountain can be seen.
Adam takes in a view of Rocky Mount through the trees.
We paused for a while to take some photos and eat some lunch. However, there were biting bugs that were trying to eat me alive. It took away from the experience! After swatting and flailing like a man possessed, I covered my body in DEET. Those insects were probably drooling over their first available human meal after months of starvation. For some reason, they preferred me over Christine, who got quite a chuckle over my melodramatic gesticulations. One thing that I don’t like about hot weather hiking are the insects. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of what’s to come for the rest of the warm season. We headed back the way we came, arriving back at the junction with the Gap Run Trail at 4.7 miles. The trail then starts a rather long climb back up. We finished the climb and got back to the trailhead to make the out-and-back trip 6.6 miles.
Christine Says…
An out-and-back route was the perfect way to tackle Rocky Mount – we enjoyed all of the views and suffered none of the slogging! Certainly, there are some folks who like tough climbing and don’t need spectacular scenery to have an excellent day on the trail. I’m not one of those people! If I’m going to have a great time a tough hike – there must be views or waterfalls or a near 100% guarantee of seeing wildlife. Don’t get me wrong, I love the cardio challenge. It’s just not enough to make me endorse a hike as a must-do hike.
The trail gets rockier near the summit. Below: Trail junction with Gap Run; Views from the trail – sometimes we had nice views, sometimes they were tree obstructed; The summit of Rocky Mount.
The day we hiked Rocky Mount was unseasonably warm. I loved being back in shorts and a tank top again! My mom always tells me that I should wear long sleeves and long pants to avoid ticks, but honestly the only ticks I’ve ever found attached to me have been on days that I DID wear full-coverage clothing and repellent. I think it’s just easier to spot ticks moving on bare skin and flick them off before they attach. I’ve also had good luck with using a combination of DEET and treating my clothing with permethrin. Ticks are such a huge problem in our part of Virginia, and the recent increase in cases of Lyme disease is shocking and scary. The threat isn’t enough to keep me off the trail, but I am definitely vigilant about preventative measures and doing thorough tick checks. Typically, if you remove a tick within a few hours of it attaching, there isn’t time for Lyme disease to transmit into your blood stream. OK… end of my public service announcement!
Adam did a thorough job describing the terrain and distances. I’ll just add that I found the ascents at both the middle and end of the hike to be fairly moderate. They were probably a little tougher that day since we weren’t accustomed to the warmer weather yet. It was in the low 80’s by the end of the hike. The trail also had quite a bit of direct sun exposure. The route will be shadier as the park gets leafier, but right now there is still a lot of light coming through the canopy. I got a little bit of sunburn on my shoulders, but I was glad that the bare trees gave us views that we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy later in the season.
Christine enjoys views through the trees on the walk back. Below: Adam takes in views; More views; pine needle covered trail.
We ate lunch on the rocky outcropping near the summit of Rocky Mount. For whatever reason, the biting flies just weren’t bothering me. Poor Adam – he’s not exaggerating when he describes his flailing. He was pretty close to having a full insect-driven meltdown! After lunch, we returned the same way we came and headed back to our car.
Over the course of the hike, we didn’t see a single other hiker! When we got back to the parking area, there was one guy who had just come off the trail, but he had done the loop in the opposite direction and our paths never crossed. Rocky Mount is definitely one of the less-traveled trails in the park, but I think it is definitely worth doing. I thought the views were well worth the climbs! Ambitious hikers might enjoy the extra challenge of the mountain’s backside, but for me the 6.6 mile out-and-back was just right!
Trail Notes
Distance – 6.8 miles
Elevation Change – 1,937 ft.
Difficulty – 4. The hike to the summit wasn’t too tough, but the return trip has a long, slogging uphill climb.
Trail Conditions – The trail was well-maintained with only one blowdown on the entire trail. The path was very clear and only covered by leaves in a few places.
Views –4. Great 180-degree views for miles from the rock outcropping.
Streams/Waterfalls – 0. Nothing to report.
Wildlife – 1. We didn’t see any wildlife on the trail, but we saw a ton of signs of either bobcat or coyote droppings on the trail. Pressing forward from the summit, we did startle a hawk resting on a log.
Ease to Navigate – 4. As soon as you follow the trailhead, you just head straight on the Rocky Mount Trail. The side path for the views at the rock outcropping isn’t marked, so it could be possible to just walk right past it.
Solitude – 4. We didn’t see anyone else on the trail, but at the trailhead we did run into a solo hiker that had finished the entire loop.
Directions to trailhead: In the Southern Section of Shenandoah National Park, park at the Twomile Run Overlook at MM 76.2. Head north a short distance. When you reach the end of the retaining wall, you’ll see the concrete post marking the trailhead (around MM 76.4) on the left (western) side of the road.
This 14.5 mile section of the Appalachian Trail includes great views of Wintergreen Resort from Humpback Mountain. The campsite for the evening is the Paul C. Wolfe Memorial Shelter, which is located on the bank of lovely, rushing Mill Creek.
Adam traverses Humpback Mountain. Below: We found trail magic right away on our hike; Adam climbing the southern side of Humpback Mountain; Rock walls along the trail.
Day One
For Christine’s birthday this year, we decided to do a quick overnight backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail. Following an all-day soaking rain and a cold front on Saturday, we had ideal weather for hiking and camping on Sunday into Monday – low humidity, clear skies, daytime highs in the 70s and a nighttime low near 45. It was perfect!
We started our morning with a big breakfast at Thunderbird Café and then made the 40 minute drive to the trailhead. For this hike, we left one car parked in the small lot near where the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) crosses I-64 and Rt250. From there, we drove our second vehicle to the Dripping Rock parking area at mile 9.6 on the BRP. The name Dripping Rock refers to the small spring adjacent to the parking area. Supposedly, it was a water source well-used by Monocan Indians en route to summer hunting grounds.
The AT crosses the parkway at this point, so it’s an easy place to hop on without using any access trails or spurs. The hike starts out climbing gently uphill through the woods. Almost immediately, we spotted a small cooler alongside the trail – trail magic! We didn’t need (or take) any trail magic on our hike, but we were curious so we opened the cooler to see what was inside. We found a log book, a camera, a small whiteboard, a bottle of ibuprofen and a nice supply of granola bars. The camera and whiteboard were provided so that hikers could take photos with their trail names.
A couple tenths of a mile down the trail, we passed even more trail magic in the form of 2 liter-sized bottles of tap water from Wintergreen Resort. Typically by September, streams and springs in the Shenandoah Valley are dry or running very low, so the free, clean water would be quite welcome. The bottles were situated next to one of the trail’s spring-fed water sources. We noticed the sign marking the spring indicated that water might be contaminated and should be filtered or boiled. The sign included an outline drawing of a moose, and we both found it comical to think about the implausibility of Virginia water being contaminated by a moose.
Christine enjoys the outcropping overlooking Wintergreen. Below: Hiking up Humpback Mountain; Adam checks out the view of Wintergreen; Pretty views.
The hike continued gradually uphill along the side of Humpback Mountain. We saw several nice campsites along the trail. Soon after that, the views started to open up. We didn’t really have any expectations for great views on this hike. We figured we might take the side trail to Humpback Rocks and eat lunch there. We also knew from past hikes on Dobie Mountain that we’d be passing one decent overlook at Glass Hollow. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find spectacular views along the rocky, spiny ridge of Humpback Mountain. These views are about 2.5 miles from the better known outcropping of Humpback Rocks, and we thought they were even nicer! The crowds, graffiti and car noise always take away from the experience at Humpback Rocks. We had this lofty ridge all to ourselves.
We took some time to take off our heavy packs and enjoy the view. We could see the Priest, Three Ridges and the slopes of Wintergreen Resort. When we got home, we read more about this section of the trail and learned that the view is named Battery Cliff, because the condos on the slopes of Wintergreen look like fortifications from a distance. The rocks on the cliffs are Catoctin greenstone formed in an ancient volcanic eruption. When you sit on these rocks and look across to Wintergreen, you’re looking over to where the Appalachian Trail used to traverse the mountains. Five miles of the trail used to cross the resort. But in 1983, the resort sold the land to private developers – basically pulling the rug out from under the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Luckily, the organization was able to quickly pull funds together and preserve the land across Humpback Mountain – where the trail currently sits.
Leaving the open ridge, we dipped back into the woods and continued walking along a long, impressive stretch of stone ‘hog wall’. People living in the area before the establishment of the parkway built these long walls to roughly mark property and attempt to contain livestock. Eventually we arrived at a junction, one direction headed toward Humpback Rock and the other continued downhill along the Appalachian Trail. We decided to skip the extra mileage it would take to visit the Rock and continue toward our destination. We’ve seen the Rocks many times and didn’t really want to face the crowds that arrive with beautiful-weather Sundays.
Adam walks along one of the many hog walls.
As we walked downhill, we started contemplating our lunch break. We decided that the next spot with good ‘sitting rocks’ we’d stop for lunch. As it turned out, the next rocks we found were just a few, big random flat boulders right alongside the trail. We had lunch of apples, peanut butter, cheese, and energy bars. As we ate lunch, two groups of people passed us – a couple with their dog and a man who had just visited his daughter at JMU’s family weekend. All in all, we only saw a total of eight people over the entire ten miles of hiking that day. The solitude was nice!
After lunch, we continued the 5.5 mile descent toward our evening stop point. The trail was in great shape and the downhill was easy going. At the bottom of Humpback Mountain, the Appalachian Trail intersects with the Howardsville Turnpike – an old toll road that was heavily used to transport goods before the Civil War. It’s long been reclaimed by the forest, but the wide, flatness of the trail still has the definite feel of a well-traveled road. We continued along the Appalachian Trail until we spotted a small sign marking the Glass Hollow overlook. We followed the short access trail and spent a good twenty minutes relaxing on the beautiful rocky viewpoint. The views this time were much clearer than they had been two years ago when we visited.
Taking in the view at Glass Hollow. Below: Trail lunch, AT logos carved on deadfall; Pretty trail with late season wildflowers.
After leaving the overlook, we continued along the Appalachian Trail, passing the junction with the Albright Loop Trail – a popular day hike in this area. From this junction, you can follow the Albright Trail for two miles back to Humpback Rocks parking. We continued northbound on the Appalachian Trail, descending Dobie Mountain. The trail follows a series of gradual, well-graded switchbacks. There is one nice view of the valley about halfway down the mountain. Eventually, we started hearing the sounds of running water through the trees. After crossing Mill Creek, we arrived at our stop point for the evening – the Paul C. Wolfe shelter. This shelter is one of the nicest we’ve seen. The location is beautiful, the picnic table is on the porch and the shelter has sidelights, so it’s bright and cheerful inside. So many shelters are gloomy and dark. We will caution you – the privy at Paul C. Wolfe shelter is kind of weird – the door is only a half-door. When you sit on the toilet, you have a nice view – but people can also see you sitting there.
We were the first campers to arrive for the night, so we got a prime campsite near the banks of Mill Creek. We had our own established fire pit and our own bear pole – fancy! We immediately got started setting up camp and taking care of necessary chores. Mill Creek was running beautifully, so we had a clear, cool water source to filter from.
Our nice campsite along Mill Creek. Below: Overlook on the descent of Dobie Mountain; Junction with the Albright Trail; Crossing Mill Creek
We decided to take our dinner up to the shelter so we could use the picnic table for meal prep. Dinner consisted of pepper steak, wine and dark chocolate cheesecake. As we were finishing up dinner, a southbound thru-hiker named Nightwalker arrived at camp. He told us he had hiked almost 30 miles that day. He was from the Boston area and freshly out of high school. We chatted with him a bit and marveled at him eating huge handfuls of candy corn mixed with Skittles. He had the look of a true trail-weathered hiker – beard, tattered long-johns and feet held together by duct tape.
When the sun was going down, we headed back to our own camp. Despite the heavy rains the night before, we were able to find enough old wood to have a small campfire for a while. We heard another southbound hiker arrive sometime after sunset, but we never met him. With the temperatures dropping with the darkness, we headed to bed around 9:00. Both of us slept pretty well, but Christine woke up around 3:00 a.m., struggling to close both of the doors in the tent fly. It was in the upper 30’s and she’s a cold sleeper.
Our nice little campfire. Below: Adam filtering water; The Paul C. Wolfe Shelter; The steep climb that starts Day 2.
Day Two
We were up at first light, but noticed both the thru-hikers were still sleeping. We didn’t want to disturb them, so we cooked our breakfast of oatmeal, cheese, coffee and hot chocolate near the fire pit at our campsite. We were packed up and back on the trail within 45 minutes of waking up.
The morning’s hike consisted of a rather steep climb up Elk Mountain. From the back of the shelter, the trail climbed almost straight up via a series of switchbacks. We had about 1000 feet of climbing in just about a mile. A8fter that, the remainder of the hike was more moderate or even gently downhill.
The remnants of an old cabin sit right along the trail. Below: Approaching Rockfish Gap; We can see Rt. 250; Waynesboro’s great network of trail angels.
The five miles of trail back to Rockfish Gap are largely unremarkable; just a nice walk through the woods. There are a few small stream crossings, but no views along the way. The one noteworthy feature would probably be the ruins of an old cabin, about 1.7 miles north of Paul C. Wolfe. The chimney and hearth are still standing right alongside the trail. Evidently, there is also a cemetery for the Lowe family and additional cabin ruins somewhere east of the trail, but we didn’t see it. The trail exits onto Route 250 at Rockfish Gap through an opening in the guardrail. Thru-hikers can find lists of trail angels at the guardrail opening. Waynesboro has one of the best organized trail angel networks along the AT. It’s easy to find a ride or shelter at this point on the trail.
We arrived back to our car around 10:30 in the morning. By the time we shuttled back to our car parked at Dripping Rock, we were already thinking about lunch. We realized how close we were to Devil’s Backbone Brewery and decided it was a perfect place to wrap up our backpacking weekend. We had a huge lunch – beers, a big soft pretzel to share, and sandwiches (French Dip for Christine, BBQ for Adam). After lunch, we decided to take Rt. 151 back to Waynesboro. This allowed us to also pass Bold Rock Cidery. It’s definitely worth a stop if you enjoy hard cider. Since it was a Monday, we were the only people there. We got to go behind the scenes into the cider pressing room and the fermentation/bottling facility. That was really neat!
The tasting room at Bold Rock. Below: Enjoying a post-hike beer at Devil’s Backbone.
Trail Notes
Distance – 14.5 miles (9.5 miles on Day One, 5 miles on Day Two) (Check out the stats from Map My Hike – [Day One] [Day Two])*
Elevation Change – 1800 ft. on Day One, 1100 ft. on Day Two
Difficulty – 2. This is an easy backpacking trip with moderate, well-graded climbing.
Trail Conditions – 4.5. Trails are in excellent shape.
Views – 4. Views from Humpback Mountain and Glass Hollow are beautiful!
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Mill Creek is pretty and a great water source. There is a small waterfall and swimming hole downstream from the shelter.
Wildlife – 2. We saw a few deer and heard owls at night.
Ease to Navigate – 4. There are several intersections/junctions to pay attention to, but following the white blazes is pretty easy.
Solitude – 4. Because we avoided Humpback Rock, we only saw a small handful of people on a beautiful Sunday.
This 7.2 mile hike takes you to the summit of Mt. Moosilauke – Dartmouth College’s ‘home mountain’. It’s also the first place in New Hampshire where Appalachian Trail hikers walk above treeline in the alpine zone.
Adam enjoys the summit of Mt. Moosilauke. Below: Damage from Hurricane Irene forced the rerouting of trails; Adam climbs the Gorge Brook Trail; Open views along the ‘balcony’ section of the hike; The area right below treeline was thickly forested with evergreens.
Christine Says…
For the final hike of our granite-state adventure, Adam and I chose to hike the western-most of New Hampshire’s 4,000-footers – Mount Moosilauke. At 4,802 feet, Moosilauke is the first spot northbound Appalachian Trail thru-hikers truly walk above the treeline. Yes… there are balds and high grassy meadows in the south, but those are not created by the unforgiving alpine climate it takes to truly create areas above the treeline.
There are several different routes up Moosilauke. We chose a 7.2 mile loop following the Gorge Book Trail, the old Carriage Road and the Snapper trail. It’s probably the most popular route for dayhikers.
We started off from the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. Before I get started talking about the actual hike, I wanted to take a moment to talk about how much I enjoyed visiting the Ravine Lodge. The lodge and several surrounding bunkhouses were built in the late 1930’s and were originally used as a hub for competitive skiers. Nowadays, the lodge is owned by Dartmouth College and run by students. You can stay the night or just come in to enjoy a hearty home-style dinner. The lodge is everything you would imagine a rustic mountain cabin to be – antique skis, old trail signs and mooseheads adorn the walls. There’s a big stone fireplace (yes… a fire was necessary and burning cheerfully on this chilly August morning) and an old piano along one wall of the dining room. There’s even a cozy library on the lower level! The lodge windows and back porches also offer stunning views of its namesake mountain.
Dartmouth College owns and runs the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. Below: The lodge is very rustic and comfortable. It was even cool enough in August to have a fire in the fireplace; The food at the Ravine Lodge is supposed to be pretty good!; Adam checks out out route.
Now back to the hike… our route started off behind the lodge. We almost immediately crossed the Baker River on a nice, sturdy bridge. The Gorge Brook trail climbs uphill gradually over rocky terrain. We soon came to a sign announcing a reroute of the Gorge Brook Trail. Evidently, the heavy rains from Tropical Storm Irene caused rock slides and irreparable damage to part of the original route. A group of Dartmouth students built the Wales Carter Connection, a short section of trail that bypasses the damage. The connection eventually came back out on the Gorge Brook trail near it’s junction with the Snapper Trail. We continued gradually uphill on Gorge Brook. Much of this section of trail followed a pretty stream. After passing a memorial plaque and a sign for ‘last sure water’ we moved away from the stream and into forest increasingly made up of evergreens.
At 2.3 miles, we got our first open views of the hike. Through a wide opening in the trees, we could look across the valley in the direction of Mount Cardigan – our first hike of the trip! Around this part of the hike, we came across our first human company! One group of three was carrying on a loud and detailed conversation about the best spots to get clear 3G service in the wilderness. Another group, maybe a father/daughter, was arguing about the nature of God – whether he’s benign and quietly observes suffering or if he’s like a menacing boy who enjoys pulling the legs off of bugs to watch them struggle. I think we overheard them talking about Shakespeare, too, but I can’t be certain. Usually when Adam and I talk on the trail, we talk about the scenery/wildlife or we just walk in companionable silence. It made me curious… are you a chatty hiker? What are your typical trail topics?
Adam climbs the rocky Gorge Brook Trail. Below: Beautiful stream scenery; The Gorge Brook trail was very rocky; Our first views along the way.
After the first view, the trail got a bit steeper and the trees a bit sparser. We enjoyed several nice views from a section of the trail called ‘The Balcony’. After climbing the massive stone steps along the Balcony, we dipped in and out of thick stands of evergreens. It was almost like walking through an overcrowded Christmas tree farm.
We soon stepped out into the alpine zone – the barren rocky expanse that exists above the treeline. We could see the rocky path winding across the bare terrain toward a copse of rocks a top the summit of Moosilauke.
As soon as we were in the open, I had to dig my fleece out of my backpack. It was a good 15-20 degrees colder (and much windier) on the summit. We enjoyed a snack, took our photos at the summit sign and marveled at the views. I especially liked looking across and seeing the Kinsmans, Franconia Ridge and the distant Presidentials.
Mt. Moosilauke is the first New Hampshire peak on the Appalachian Trail that includes an alpine zone. Below: Coming out of the trees; The final push to the summit; At the summit marker.
Leaving the summit, we briefly followed the white-blazed Glencliff trail (which is also the Appalachian Trail across this mountain) to its junction with the Carriage Road. This section of trail was almost perfectly flat and went through more areas that resembled large groupings of Christmas trees. We could have taken a detour to visit the South Peak of Moosilauke, but we decided to skip it.
The Carriage Road was wide and graveled, but a little steep. I can’t imagine people coming up this route in horse-drawn carriages! This part of the hike was pretty uneventful, and we were glad to finally reach the Snapper Trail.
The Snapper Trail descended gradually through stunningly beautiful New England woods. There were thick beds of moss, peeling white birches and several small bubbling streams. It was a lovely way to bid farewell to New Hampshire trails. Before we knew it, we were back at the Ravine Lodge and finished with a productive week of hiking!
Adam Says…
Mt. Moosilauke was one of the three hikes we most wanted to do in New Hampshire. Having hiked Mt. Washington and Franconia Ridge earlier that week, we were feeling a little tired and sore but we decided to press on to cover Mt. Moosilauke. We try to get a lot accomplished on our vacations, so we didn’t want to have any regrets of not doing a certain hike. We always say that we can be tired when we go back to work, so we run ourselves ragged on our vacations.
Parking at Mt. Moosilauke can at times be a challenge. There is one long gravel road and during the summer, you will likely see cars lining one side of the road, parallel parked. We had to drive to the end of the road and then turn around and backtrack, but we were able to find a decent spot since we left so early in the morning.
We first visited the lodge and you can just imagine the history here. The lodge is rustic but has that snuggle-by-the-fire cozy feel to it. Since this is maintained by an Ivy League school, my mind began to wonder if there were academic secret society meetings held here or if famous alumnus, Robert Frost penned any of his poetry here. All I witnessed were a few students playing Magic: The Gathering in the basement.
The first trail we used for our descent was the Appalachian Trail, also called the Glencliff trail in this area. Below: Christine makes the descent; Looking back through the pines toward the summit; Alpine zone marker.
The trail had us a little confused to start off on the right path. My recommendation would be to go to the back of the lodge and as you are looking into the backyard, head down the lawn towards the right. You will soon come to a path that will lead you to the Baker River. In a short distance, you will cross the bridge over the river. The Gorge Brook Trail starts off to the left. The trail takes a right turn in a short distance and you begin a moderate ascent through a very rocky trail. You’ll hear the sounds of the Gorge Brook to the left of the trail at times as it carries water to the Baker River. As you keep climbing, at .6 miles you will reach the junction with the Snapper Trail, your return route. The trail has been rerouted at this point with the Wales Carter Connection. Follow the signs through this .5 mile connection to continue along the Gorge River Trail. The trail continues to ascend through a steeper section of trail through the woods.
At 2.3 miles you reach a break in the trees and can see your first views of Mount Carr, Mount Cardigan, and Mount Kearsarge. The trail continues to ascend and then loops back around to the northwest as you gain some more views from the area known as The Balcony at 3.0 miles. The views were quite delightful and gave us something else to focus on as we labored up more rocky steps. The trail then ducks away from the views and you find yourself soon immersed into a dense forest of spruce and fir as the trail snakes through. You will see signs reminding you to stay on the trail to protect the fragile vegetation. At about 3.25 miles, you will come out of the trees and into the open alpine area. Large cairns are placed on the side of the trail. The summit looks misleadingly close, but due to the open nature it still takes about 10 minutes to reach the summit at 3.5 miles.
At the summit, the wind had picked up quite a bit across this vast, open area. We found lots of people huddled up against rocks, trying to protect themselves from the wind. We ate some lunch on the trail, snapped a few photos from the summit, and made our way back on a different set of trails.
The Snapper Trail was delightfully green and shady. Below: Adam descends the Old Carriage Road; The Snapper trail was mossy; Water crossing on the Snapper Trail.
From the summit marker, we followed the signs for the Glencliff Trail (also known as the Appalachian Trail) southwest of the summit. This trail started off as a ridgeline hike which gave us even more views along the way to start our hike. At 4.4 miles, the Appalachian Trail ducks off to the right to take you to the South Peak summit. We stayed on the main trail which is the Moosilauke Carriage Trail, which drops steeply down the rocky “road”. The trail was fairly uneventful, but the downward climb can be hard on the knees. At 5.7 miles, we reached a junction and took the Snapper Trail. This trail was thickly wooded and had lots of beautiful fern along the trail. At 6.4 miles, we rejoined the Gorge Brook Trail and made our way back to the lodge, which we reached at 7.2 miles.
The trail returns to the Ravine Lodge. Below: Looking back toward Mt. Moosilauke; A pleasant patio spot to take in views of the summit; Lodge decor
One thing that amazed me about this hike is how Dartmouth College has integrated with and adopted this mountain. They maintain and run the lodge and the network of trails is maintained by students in the Dartmouth Outing Club. We had the opportunity on our visit to New Hampshire to step on the campus and actually walked into the Dartmouth Outing Club building. Yes, this college has a building designated for this club and they even post information for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers to get them connected to where they could stay for the night. I was amazed at how the students have made this a strong tradition of caring for the mountain and environment. They even hold freshman pre-orientation trips where they all meet up at the Ravine Lodge. I wish more colleges and universities had more intentional connectivity with the outdoors.
What a great last hike for our trip to New Hampshire! We felt so blessed to have great weather for the entire week and our hiking adventures whetted our appetites for more trips in the future.
Directions to trailhead: From Interstate 93, take exit 32 for NH-112 toward North Woodstock/Lincoln. Follow NH-112 West for 3.2 miles. Take a slight left onto NH-118 S/Sawyer Highway. Follow this for 7.1 miles. Take a right on to Ravine Road. Follow this gravel road for 1.5 miles. The entrance to the lodge is on the left. Go behind the lodge across the lawn to the right to start the hike.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
This 4.5 mile ascent of Mt. Washington follows challenging, steep, slick terrain along a ravine that showcases waterfall after waterfall. Once you clear the treeline, you are treated to a hut visit and some of the most dramatic alpine walking in the east.
From Lakes of the Clouds Hut, you follow the Crawford Path (America’s oldest continually used hiking trail) to the summit of Mt. Washington. In this photo, you can see the summit and its weather towers looming in the distance. Below: The trailhead begins near the cog railway on Basecamp Rd; The beginning of the trail is deceptively easy; There are many water crossings en route to the top – some easy, some not so easy.
Adam Says…
Hiking to the summit of Mount Washington (also known as ‘the most dangerous small mountain in the world‘) was definitely a bucket-list item for me. Making it to the top of the highest peak in New England feels like an accomplishment and we definitely have memories from the hike that we will never forget.
We arranged for Christine’s parents to meet us at the top and shuttle us back to our car. Many people descend by trail, but there is a hiker shuttle and a limited number of seats available on the Cog. It’s important to note that you should always be prepared and have a plan for walking off the mountain. Trains and shuttles book up quickly and the auto road closes from time to time. Ultimately, you are responsible for your safety and the manner of your descent. Visit New Hampshire’s Hike Safe site so you can learn more about mountain safety and the state’s expectation that every hiker be prepared.
The entire Ammonoosuc Ravine trail followed a stream which tumbled down the mountainside in waterfall after waterfall. Below: Lakes of the Clouds advertisement; The early parts of the trail are rocky, but only slightly uphill.
As we were driving along the road to the parking lot, the sky was completely cloudy. The online forecast said it was going to be a perfect day, but the clouds were saying something different. We hoped that the weather would push off and made it to the parking lot. We packed some extra gear knowing that the temperature was going to be much cooler at the top. We started off from the parking lot and filled out our parking permit, enclosing $3 in an envelope to allow us to park in the lot. The parking lot was already getting full and we could tell that all the people getting ready to hike were in great shape. We hoped we were ready for the challenge and started on the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail from the end of the parking lot. The trail started off relatively flat through a thickly forested area. At .25 miles, we reached a stream crossing. Because a heavy rain fell just the day before, the crossing, which is normally easy, presented a real challenge. We saw a few others cross in different areas, but ultimately decided the best route was tightrope-walk across a thin log that spanned the creek. This is always more unnerving when you are carrying expensive camera gear, but we made it across without a hitch. We were worried how many other crossings we would have to make seeing the Ammonoosuc River on our trail map coming ahead.
At 1.0 miles, the trail reached the Ammonoosuc River, but the trail turned quickly to the right. We saw the rushing water of the river and glimpsed up at the sky, which looked less foreboding than earlier. The trail hugs the riverside and begins a steep ascent up a rocky slope. At 2.1 miles, we reached the Gem Pool, a serene swimming hole created by a small waterfall. We rock-hopped across to continue the path from the pool and stopped for a short rest in this peaceful area. After leaving the Gem Pool, the trail becomes very steep as you climb up the rocky slope. At 2.35 miles, a small trail to the right leads about .1 miles to The Gorge waterfall. I highly recommend checking out this waterfall, which you can see plunging over 100 feet. We returned from The Gorge and rejoined the trail. The trail continues its steep ascent and you can only imagine that you are climbing up a slope that seems to be as steep as the slope of the waterfall you just saw.
Christine crossing the water at Gem Pool. This is the point of the hike where the climbing starts getting serious. Below: Adam works his way uphill on the steepest part of the hike; It was seriously steep; One section had a little ladder to help you over the boulder.
We continued to climb up the very steep slope until we reached a great viewpoint at 2.7 miles. Along with the view, there were also multiple waterfalls falling in dramatic cascades. It was here that we were finally able to see that the clouds had moved off and we should have a gorgeous hike to the summit. The unnerving thing was that in order to continue the trail we had to walk across the top of a waterfall with a very precipitous drop to one side Due to the rain, there was no way to rock-hop across. We knew we had to put our feet in the water to make it across, but we couldn’t tell how deep the water was or how fast it moved. As we realized that a false step could have meant a long plummet down, it definitely gave us a gut-check to see if we could make it. We tried to look around for the best way to cross and decided to wait and let a few other hikers attempt it first. After learning what others had done, we followed suit and crossed without any difficulty.
The hike from this point continued to be steep as you climb along some areas of bare, slick rock. Eventually, we began to rise above treeline and were able to see Lakes of the Clouds hut seated on the edge of the ravine. The wind was already picking up and the cold wind had us switching into cold-weather clothes. To the left of the hut was the summit hike to Mount Washington and we could clearly see the Observatory Tower in the distance. We reached Lakes of the Clouds hut at 3.2 miles and decided to go inside to eat a snack.
One little spur trail on the steepest section of climbing led to this large and impressive waterfall called Gorge Falls. Below: Christine picks her way through boulders and across the water; Our first views into the Washington Valley; At the halfway point
Lakes of the Clouds Hut was built here over 100 years ago and has some interesting history. Two AMC members, William Curtis and Allen Ormsbee, were hiking up the Crawford Path to go to an annual AMC meeting at the Summit House on the top of Mount Washington in 1900. They reached what is now Mount Eisenhower and met 60 mph winds and cold temperatures. By the time they reach Mount Monroe, the temperature had plummeted to freezing and the rain became ice. Curtis died at Lakes of the Clouds and Ormsbee pushed on for help before perishing himself only a few hundred yards from the summit station. The storm lasted for 60 hours and their bodies were discovered. The AMC created a wooden shelter first near where Curtis had died. In 1915, the wooden shelter was replaced with a stone shelter and it has since had several additions and improvements made. It can accommodate up to 90 guests per night.
From the shelter, you can see a trail that leads up to Mount Monroe. If you are interested in peak-bagging a few of “the Presidentials”, it is a short but steep hike. We decided to save our energy and just tackle Mount Washington. We continued along the trail and soon reached views of the Lakes of the Clouds, which are actually more like mountaintop ponds than full lakes.
Since we were now above treeline, the hike to the summit of Mount Washington was now just a series of steps across boulders for the remaining 1.3 miles. The wind was incredibly strong and I believe gusts were at least 50 mph, which is considered more of a calm day on the mountain. The wind was blowing up the ravine to the left of our bodies, so there were times that we had to angle ourselves to fight the winds as we pushed onward. The views of the ravine and behind us were more breathtaking with each step. Whenever we stopped to turn around, the wind had our noses running from the cold and it was hard to even talk to each other through the force of the gusts.
Near the top of the headwall, there is a series of several impressive waterfalls and the scariest water crossing we’ve ever done. Below: This trail had so many waterfalls; Our first view of the Mt. Washington summit; Hikers coming out of the ravine.
At 4.5 miles, we reached the summit area. We followed the signs to the summit marker, that was crawling with people. Most people reach Mount Washington by car or by the cog railroad. When you pay to take the Mount Washington auto road, you receive a sticker that states “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington”. We waited our turn to get a picture with the summit sign. Some people were amazed that we had hiked up. We made our way over to the visitor center and snack bar. We had agreed to jokingly meet her parents by the “death plaque”, a plaque that shows a list of the names of people who have died on the mountain. When we arrived at the snack bar area, a group of hikers we had seen earlier on the trail whispered to us “there’s a hiker’s lounge downstairs”. While the upstairs area was crawling with people, the hiker’s lounge was quiet and nearly empty. We had a peaceful time to eat our lunch and then were able to meet her parents in about 30 minutes. From here, we jumped in their vehicle and enjoyed the car ride down the narrow road that snakes down the mountain. We stopped a few times along the way to catch some last views of the Presidential Range before we were back on the road.
The hike up Mount Washington was definitely something that Christine and I felt that we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish several years ago. I can’t think of any other time that I have felt such a sense of accomplishment after reaching this summit. We were so blessed with the great weather and we have already begun talking about how we could do an entire hut-to-hut Presidential traverse.
Christine Says…
With our days in New Hampshire running out and great weather in the forecast, we decided we had to tackle Mt. Washington. With a reputation for fickle weather, ice storms that happen at the height of summer, and gusts of wind that can blow a grown-man sideways, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The night before our hike, we were looking at maps and guidebooks and discussing our different route options. Across the living room, my mother was Googling ‘deaths on Mt. Washington‘, ‘failed hikes of Mt. Washington‘ and ‘accidents on Mt. Washington’. Comforting, right? She also told me to make sure I had the phone number for New Hampshire’s Fish and Game department on hand – they do most of the mountain rescues in the state. Her worries and cautiousness got into my head, and I went to bed feeling really nervous about my ability to make it to the top.
Adam approaches Lakes of the Clouds Hut. Below: Inside Lakes of the Clouds; We ate cake!; Wooden racks for carrying supplies.
On the drive to the trailhead, dark blackish clouds completely obscured the mountain. I said to Adam, ‘This is probably a bad idea.’ He reassured me, telling me he was certain the clouds would blow off, the day would be beautiful, and that we would have a great time. I let my worries non-verbally stew in the back of my mind. We parked, geared up and made our way down the trail with several other groups of people.
Within the first mile, we came to a rain-swollen stream with no clear way to cross. The rocks normally used to rock hop were all under rushing water. I tested a few spots, and ended up falling shin deep into water and wrenching my knee. I was feeling discouraged, because the only other potential crossing left was a thin, bouncy, moss-covered log that had fallen across the stream. I have problems with vertigo and balance, so situations like this really push me outside my comfort zone. Adam carried all the expensive camera gear, and I slowly and carefully stepped across that log. Phew! I told Adam if there were lots of crossings like this one, I didn’t think I could do the hike. He offered to turn back, but I told him that I wanted to challenge myself and keep going.
Fortunately, most of the hike followed alongside the stream with only a few much easier crossings along the way. Eventually we reached the Gem Pool. What a gorgeous spot! It’s a crystal clear, green, pool; fed by a cascading waterfall. It would be a great place to take a picnic and go for a swim. We did one more rock hop at the end of the pool and prepared ourselves to do some serious climbing!
Mt. Monroe looks like a small hill above the hut. Below: Mt. Monroe; The Lakes of the Clouds’ namesakes.
About 1600 feet of elevation gain comes in just about a mile of hiking after you pass the Gem Pool. It’s grueling and steep, but both Adam and I were well-prepared with all the hiking and other cardio we’d done to prepare for this trip. We were able to make the ascent without having to take a breather! The only stop we made along the way was the side trail to check out the Gorge Waterfall.
On the climb up, we started seeing glimpses of the valley through the trees. The majestic Mount Washington Hotel looked like a tiny red speck below. We’d come a long way up already! The remainder of the steep climb followed the Ammonoosuc River through the plunging ravine. Even when we couldn’t see the water, we could hear it.
Eventually, the trail exited from the woods onto a wide rock plateau. Above, we could see a waterfall falling in several distinct drops and below, we could see the water crashing over a steep, long drop. We decided to take a break and enjoy the view from the rocks. We sat for a minute taking it all in. At that point, I noticed I didn’t see the trail continuing anywhere. Horror dawned on me when I realized that the trail continued on the other side of the river. We saw two people cross it successfully, but I still wasn’t so sure. The water was fast and a little deep from the rainfall the day before. I had no idea how slick the rock under the water would be. The crossing had just a couple feet of flat width on the downhill side before the water dropped over a 100 feet down into the ravine. A slip at this crossing would almost surely be fatal. I took a moment to hyperventilate and freak out, and then I plunged across. This was followed by another ‘Phew – I’m still ALIVE’ moment.
Adam fights the 50-60 mph winds. Below: The hut grows increasingly tiny; Christine hikes along; There were several rock fields to cross.
After that crossing, the hike was less steep but a lot rockier. The trees were getting smaller and more stunted as we approached the treeline. We could see the summits of both Mt. Washington and Mt. Monroe looming above. Lakes of the Clouds Hut was in view, but distances are so deceptive above treeline. Everything looks so close, but it’s always further than you expect. I guess it’s a bit of an optical illusion when you don’t have trees to compare for scale.
As soon as we broke the treeline, just slightly below the hut, the wind was shockingly strong. I was hiking in long pants and long sleeves, but I had to add my hooded jacket right away. Even so, my face and hands were freezing! I was sure I had packed gloves. I usually keep a spare pair in all my backpacks, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I ended up paying the premium price to buy a cheap pair of gloves at the hut (only to find the spare pair of gloves in a side pocket that night when we got home).
We took a twenty minute break at the hut and enjoyed some of the baked goods made by the Croo. Adam had pumpkin cake and I had chocolate cake. I had my phone with me, so I decided to take a look at MapMyHike to see how we were progressing. I found that Lakes of the Clouds actually has 3G service, so I posted an Instagram and a Facebook status from the hut. Ah… technology! 🙂
Adam pushes uphill against wind, over rocky terrain. Below: Spectacular Presidential Views; Christine has made a lot of uphill progress; Many cairns mark the way above treeline.
After our snack and rest, we were ready to tackle the last mile and a half of trail to reach the Mt. Washington summit. I can’t even describe how much I enjoyed this portion of the hike! The climb up the Ammonoosuc ravine had been moderately scary, physically challenging and really slippery, but the hike along the Crawford Path was pure, unadulterated hiking joy!
The Crawford Path was built in the 1800’s and originally used as a horse trail to the summit of Mt. Washington. The trail celebrated its 175th anniversary in 1994 and is the oldest, continuously maintained, hiking path in America. I felt so privileged to be walking someplace so beautiful and historic.
We spent some time exploring and photographing the glacial ponds that give Lakes of the Clouds its name. On this particular day, the pools were sapphire blue and covered with scalloped ripples from the brisk wind. It was spectacular and gorgeous.
We toiled along, pushing our bodies against the 50 mph winds. The alpine terrain was breathtaking and otherworldly. I’ve never seen mountain views like the ones I saw in New Hampshire on this trip. Between the walk along Franconia Ridge, and then the hike along the Crawford Path, I had my mind blown twice in one week. These places should be on every American hiker’s bucket list!
We made it to the top! Below: Adam makes the last push to the summit, The Crawford Path is also the Appalachian Trail; The summit was crawling with people who had driven or taken the cog to the summit.
The stretch of trail between the hut and the summit is a rock field. Sometimes the rocks are wide and flat, sometimes they are uneven, loose and pumpkin-sized. The trail isn’t so much a path as it is a series of cairns that keep hikers on course.
At first, the trail between the hut and Mt. Washington was pretty flat, but the final push to the summit required a little more steep climbing. The weather station towers looked so close you could almost touch them, but it turned out they were still about a half mile away.
We could tell we were getting really close when we started seeing more and more people in jeans, sneakers and sweatshirts milling about the trail. These were the car and train people! Eventually the trail emptied us out onto the summit. We passed the historic hotel-turned-museum – Tip Top House – and made our way over to the summit marker. We actually had to wait in line with all the car and train people to have our picture taken at the summit sign. It’s always funny to finish a hike that has a summit that can also be reached by car – Clingmans Dome comes to mind (the high point on the Appalachian Trail).
The cog makes a few daily ascents/descents of Mt. Washington. Below: The crowded summit building; The Mt. Washington Hotel sits below the mountain – what a beautiful day!
After taking our obligatory summit photo, we grabbed some drinks and hot dogs from the summit building’s snack bar and waited in the hiker’s lounge. My parents still hadn’t arrived, so we had about a half hour to kill. It made me wish we actually had taken the time to do the short side-trip climb to the summit of Mt. Monroe when we had been at Lakes of the Clouds. I just didn’t want to leave my parents waiting in case we took longer than expected. I didn’t want them to worry more than they had to.
Every 10 minutes or so, I ran up the stairs to look for my parents. On the third trip up, I spotted my father and my (nervous-looking) mother waiting by the death sign. I know it sounds kind of mean to have them meet us there, but honestly, it’s the easiest ‘landmark’ to find in the summit building. The place is so crowded that you can’t really say ‘meet me by the snack bar, museum or gift shop’. My parents were both relieved and impressed by how quickly we’d made it to the top.
Honestly, other than the two nerve-wracking water crossings, the hike up Mt. Washington was not nearly as difficult as I expected. The elevation gain was challenging, but I think it would be doable for most reasonably fit people. And the walk from Lakes of the Clouds to the summit was a pure pleasure, and definitely one of my most memorable hikes ever!
Difficulty – 5. The steepness of the hike is no joke. The winds and weather possibilities just add to the difficulty.
Trail Conditions – 3.5. The trail is well-maintained, but there were some stream crossings, loose and wet rock that made this tough in some parts.
Views – 5. Once you rise above treeline you have great views of the ravine. The view from the top of The Gorge is also nice.
Waterfalls/streams – 5. You get the rushing waters of the Ammonoosuc River, the Gem Pool, The Gorge waterfall, and Lakes of the Clouds.
Wildlife – 1. We didn’t see much other than squirrels. Some moose have been spotted near the lower parts of the trail.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Junctions were clearly marked. The hike from Lakes of the Clouds to the summit could be difficult on foggy/rainy days, but follow the cairns.
Solitude– 2. On a gorgeous day, there were lots of people. But, due to the danger of hiking this trail, that is probably a good thing to have others nearby. We were always able though to find our own space to enjoy views.
Download a trail map (PDF)
Directions to trailhead: From Interstate 93, take exit 35 to merge on to US-3. Take US-3 for 10.4 miles and then take a right onto US-302 East. In 4.4 miles, take a left on to Base Station Road. Follow this about 5.7 miles until you reach a large gravel parking lot on the right. The trailhead can be found as you entered on the lefthand side of the lot.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
This nine mile hike is challenging, but pays off extravagantly in terms of spectacular views, alpine ecology and gorgeous waterfalls. The route also allows you to pay a visit to the AMC’s Greenleaf Hut.
The Appalachian Trail makes its way across the knife edge of Franconia Ridge. The most scenic section is the 1.8 miles between Lafayette and Little Haystack. Below: Walker Brook; Trails signs for the Old Bridle Path; Adam climbs a few of the many rock stairs on the way up.
Christine Says…
Hiking Franconia Ridge has been on my must-do list for as long as I’ve known it existed. The knife’s edge trek, stretching from Mt Lafayette to Little Haystack, is a breathtaking walk across dramatic alpine terrain with a 360-degree view that goes on for almost two miles. The hike shows up on countless lists of hiking superlatives (best hikes, best views) and is definitely one of New Hampshire’s most popular hikes.
The AMC’s White Mountain Guide describes the most popular section of the ridge (from 5,260-foot Mount Lafayette to 4,780-foot Little Haystack Mountain)…
“It’s a Gothic Masterpiece, suggesting the ruins of a gigantic medieval cathedral. The peaks along the high serrated ridge are like towers supported by soaring buttresses that rise from the floor of the notch.”
You can’t help but be drawn to this beautiful place, but you should never forget that it’s also perilous. Numerous injuries and deaths happen on this section of trail every year, mostly due to hypothermia, falls, and fatigue. Franconia Ridge is the first prominent roadblock to fierce weather rolling in from the North Country, putting the exposed trail at high risk for lightning strikes, surprise storms and howling winds. It’s also a challenging climb. With well over 3500’ of ascent, this hike will challenge your lungs and leg muscles.
We were incredibly lucky to have beautiful hiking weather almost every day of our ten-day trip. The day we planned our Franconia Ridge hike came on the heels of a cold front that had pushed through the area. It was forecast to be 70 degrees with crystalline blue skies. I was so full of happy/nervous anticipation when we set out in the morning.
At about 1.5 miles, the trail takes a sharp turn and puts you on on open ledge overlooking Walker Ravine. At this point of the hike, Franconia Ridge was still completely obscured by clouds and fog. Below: The Old Bridle Path has relatively nice footing and climbs steadily, but moderately; They don’t call New Hampshire the Granite State without good reason; Christine is happy to see a clearing view!
The trailhead was a short 25-minute drive from my parents’ house. The parking area is literally right off I-93, making it one of the easiest hikes to access in the White Mountains. As we approached Franconia Notch, we saw lots of thick, cottony fog still swirling around the summits. Adam and I both expressed a little concern that it might not blow off in time for us to enjoy views, but we pressed on with our plans.
We started off on the Old Bridle Path; climbing steadily uphill over stone stairs, smooth rock and switchbacks. There is nothing technical about this part of the trail. In fact, it’s called the Old Bridle Path for a reason – it’s the route historically used by horses and pack animals. In the 1800’s, there was even a stone shelter and stable at the summit of Lafayette.
About a mile and a half into the hike, the trail comes out of the trees onto an open ledge. If you listen, you can hear Walker Brook roaring in the ravine below. We were able to perch on a rock and look across the notch toward Cannon Mountain. Had it been clear, we would have been able to see Franconia Ridge looming above, but the peaks of Lafayette, Lincoln and Little Haystack were still completely consumed by clouds and dense fog. Adam and I again wondered (and hoped) that the ridge would clear off by the time we reached that point of the hike.
Adam climbs one of the three ‘agonies’ on Agony Ridge. (It really wasn’t that bad!) Below: Christine climbs one of the ‘agonies’; Looking back at Cannon Mountain Sku; Adam takes in the nice view that comes shortly after the second agony.
From the first view, the trail continued more steeply up the ridge. There were a couple more open views along the way, and at each we felt like the clouds seemed to be getting thinner and thinner. We crossed Agony Ridge and it’s three ‘agonies’ – large, steep, stone humps that you must traverse to continue. After the second agony, there is a great view. I was so impressed to look back and see how much elevation and terrain we had already covered!
After the final ‘agony’, the trail leveled out. We passed through misty, lushly vegetated forest. There were colorful fungi, mosses, and Indian Pipes everywhere. Within a couple tenths of a mile, Greenleaf Hut appeared, still veiled by mist.
We were really excited to arrive and have a chance to visit our first AMC hut. It was charming– rustic, but cozy with a nice view of Eagle Lake below. We shared a gigantic Whoopie Pie we had picked up from a bakery in Canaan, NH the previous day. We explored the hut a bit, checking out maps, browsing the library and signing the guest log.
After our brief rest, we made the final 1.1 mile push to the summit of Mt. Lafayette. The route follows the Greenleaf Trail, descending briefly from the hut, past Eagle Lake and then back into a dense coniferous forest. There were so many evergreens that it looked like an overpopulated Christmas tree farm. The thick trees quickly gave way to the Alpine Zone – the rocky, wind-swept area that exists above tree line. The New Hampshire Department of Forests and Land (NHDFL) has a great website and brochure about this climate and ecosystem if you want to learn more.
The climb to the summit was very steep and made even more challenging by the strong winds. The remainder of the cold front and clearing clouds on the summit brought sustained winds over 40 mph, with occasional gusts to 70 mph. We both got our jackets out and prepared for wilder weather. The upside of the strong wind was that it blew away the last of the low-hanging clouds and fog. Views were AMAZING looking back in the direction from which we had just come. We could see the increasingly tiny Greenleaf hut, precipitous ski slopes, tiny Lonesome Lake tucked into a plateau on the other side of the notch, and the dramatic, shining cliff-side of Cannon mountain.
Greenleaf Hut comes into view. Below: We passed briefly into fog and mist near Greenleaf Hut; Indian pipes along the trail; Inside Greenleaf Hut.
We continually plodded uphill until reaching the trail marker at the top of Lafayette. At this point, the Greenleaf Trail ends and joins the Franconia Ridge Trail (which is also the Appalachian Trail). The wind at the summit was insane. I felt like a windsock in my jacket. We decided to go ahead and eat our packed lunch at the summit. To escape the wind, we found a protected place within the foundation of the old shelter/stable that used to be located at Lafayette’s summit. It definitely helped, but it was still really windy! One lesson I learned… don’t pack shredded cheese when wind exceeds 40 mph – your lunch will mostly blow away. I didn’t get to eat much of my cheese, but I had plenty of other windproof options for food, so I didn’t go hungry. 🙂
From the summit of Lafayette, the real pay-off portion of the hike begins – 1.8 miles of stunning, spectacular, breathtaking views. From photos I had seen in books and magazines, I knew the scenery along Franconia Ridge would be amazing, but until I saw it in person, I really had no idea how amazing. The beauty almost overcame me emotionally – I felt awestruck and blessed.
The walk along the ‘knife edge’ of Franconia Ridge passed all too quickly. Even though the ridge was crowded with other hikers, I still took every moment possible to appreciate the views and live in that moment. We scaled Mt. Lincoln and eventually made our way over to Little Haystack. It was the best 1.8 miles of hiking of my life!
At Little Haystack, we looked back over the Franconia Ridge Trail one last time. I told Adam, “We’re not even done hiking for the day, but I already want to do that again!’. I can’t even compose words that convey how much I enjoyed that bit of hiking.
On the summit of Little Haystack, Adam consulted a map and I put on my newly acquired knee brace. My knee felt fine, but I knew the Falling Waters Trail would be steep and rocky. I figured a preemptive brace might help me prevent another hard twist like the one I’d experienced on Grandfather Mountain.
Christine looks at the shoulder of Lafayette before making the final push to the summit. Below: Eagle Lake sits right below Greenleaf Hut; you can see it from the dining area windows; From a cairn marking the way, you can look back toward the hut and Cannon Mountain; Christine takes in the amazing view from the shoulder of Lafayette.
I’m glad I did, because the descent from Franconia Ridge was TOUGH – so much harder than the climb up. We picked our way slowly down the trail – scrambling and climbing ‘crab-style’ over large boulders and loose rocks. In retrospect, it might have been better to ascend Falling Waters and come down on the Old Bridle Path. Experts seem split on the preferred route, our Falcon guide and the Dartmouth Outing Club outline the route we used. However, we learned after-the-fact that the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game says the Falling Waters Trail is ‘a route normally recommended only for ascending the mountain because of its steepness’. Fish and Game is responsible for hiker rescues in New Hampshire, so their advice is solid.
We saw a lot more people on the Falling Waters Trail than we had on the Old Bridle Path. Some were out for day hikes to see the waterfalls, but others were still making their way up to Franconia Ridge to spend the night at Greenleaf Hut. We saw several hikers that were really struggling; it was later in the day and they still had miles to go to reach the hut. I hope they all made it safely!
On the way down, one of Adam’s knees starting hurting pretty badly. It was hurting seriously enough that I was concerned for him. I offered to give him my knee brace, to take his pack weight – basically to do anything I could to help make his climb down a little easier. In the end, there’s really nothing you can do with pain like that other than take it slow and gut it out. (For the record, after this hike, Adam also acquired his own shiny new knee brace to use the rest of the week. It helped!)
My worry for Adam took a little bit of wind out of my sails. It’s impossible to fully enjoy scenery when you know your partner is hurting. Nevertheless, the Falling Waters trail in incredibly beautiful and scenic. If you think Virginia’s Crabtree Falls presents waterfall after waterfall, this trail has way more falls. I tried to take time to appreciate each of the beautiful waterfalls along the Falling Waters trail. I hoped that the loveliness of the falls would distract Adam a little from his pain, though I don’t think it did.
The spectacular Knife Edge of Franconia Ridge. Below: Christine is blowing up like a windsock on the summit of Lafayette; The foundation of an old stone shelter still sits on the summit of Lafayette – the 6th tallest mountain in New Hampshire; Adam begins the traverse of Franconia Ridge.
Each waterfall along the trail was unique and had its own special feature. Some slid gently over smooth expanses of rock, some came tumbling out of openings in the forest and some plunged steeply from ledges and spilled into clear pools below. Cloudland Falls was probably the most beautiful of the many cascades.
There were a few water crossings, with only one being of moderate challenge. Occasionally the trail would become more level and smooth, tricking us into thinking that the tough terrain was behind us. But the steep, rocky descent just kept coming and coming and coming! The trail finally leveled out for good about a mile from the parking lot. When we crossed the wooden bridge over Walker Brook, we knew we had just a short .2 mile walk back to the car.
Even though I was physically tired, I also felt really energized by all the wonderful things I had seen and the physical accomplishment of completing the hike. It was a great day, and I look forward to doing this hike again someday.
Adam Says…
Christine and I both felt that Franconia Ridge is probably the best hike we’ve ever done. The views are amazing and you definitely feel that you have accomplished quite a feat when you’re hiking along the ridge. This was also probably the toughest hike we had done up to this point. I don’t think we’ve ever done anything with quite this much elevation gain before. After reflecting, we were thinking that we probably couldn’t have done this type of hike a few years earlier when we weren’t in as good of shape. Hiking in the White Mountains is quite tough and you have to be honest with yourself when judging your abilities.
The directions for this loop are fairly simple. We started off from the parking lot heading up a paved path that led us right by a couple of bathrooms. Once you pass the bathrooms, the paved walkway ends. We started our hike on the Old Bridle Path. At .3 miles, we saw a bridge to the right, which crossed over Walker Brook and served as the junction with the Falling Waters Trail, our return route. The Old Bridle Path begins to move away from Walker Brook. The trail begins a moderate climb. At 1.6 miles, you reach “Halfway Corner” and come across “Dead Ass Corner”, an area so-designated because a pack mule that was bringing up supplies to Greenleaf Hut was spooked by lightning and fell to its death. At about 1.8 miles, the trail begins to open up to views of a deep gorge. Across the gorge, you can stare up at Mount Lincoln and (on a clear day) can see your future path across the ridgeline.
Mt. Lafayette looms large behind us on our way to Mt. Lincoln. Below: Christine walks Franconia Ridge; Hikers on the ridge (we liked the red, white & blue); Adam near the summit of Mt. Lincoln – the pointy summits in the background are Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty.
From this viewpoint, we saw the clouds still hanging on the mountain. We were hoping that the clouds would roll off, but we really weren’t sure if it would happen. We continued upward and the trail led to a few overlooks of the gorge. We looked behind us and were impressed with how high we had climbed up by this point. At one viewpoint, I was watching a thick patch of clouds rolling down the mountainside. I told Christine that I wanted to wait until it crossed down a certain point. I felt that if the clouds were rolling down far enough, we would have some clear views, but the clouds just stuck on the side. I felt my hope for clear views starting to wane, but we pressed on. We saw a few families climbing down that had stayed at the Greenleaf Hut the night before. A young girl told us about the bad storms they had at the hut, but she was having a great time. We thought about how happy she seemed and we thought it was great that her parents had given her such a great experience. The trail started to be a bit steeper at this point, as you reach the area at 2.0 miles called “Agony Ridge”. The footing was a little looser and there were different steep ascents up the different humps. We both felt they weren’t that tough in comparison to some things we have climbed and the “agonies” were over within a short time. At 2.9 miles, we reached the Greenleaf Hut.
Greenleaf Hut is operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and reservations can be made online to stay at this and other AMC huts. Weekends fill up quickly, so plans should be made well in advance. In 1929, the AMC was asked by the state of New Hampshire to run the nearby Lonesome Lake cabins. They agreed, but felt that Lonesome Lake was far removed from the other existing huts at Lakes of the Clouds, Madison Spring, and Carter Notch. After receiving a donation from Colonel Charles Greenleaf, the AMC decided to build the hut at this picturesque location. The hut can accommodate 48 people and is open from early May to mid-October, depending on weather. We hung out a while at the hut. I was pleased to find that the kitchen had leftover pancakes and bacon from the morning breakfast. I always like taking advantage of free bacon whenever the opportunity presents itself. The hut still had a thick bank of fog around, but we felt that it may be clearing off from above.
Franconia Ridge offers dramatic scenery! Below: Looking back over the ridge walk; Adam checks our map on the summit of Little Haystack Mountain.
Continuing from the Greenleaf Hut, you take the Greenleaf Trail and pass by Eagle Lake. The trail dips into a dense pine area and then starts a steep, rocky climb. We followed a path of cairns along the mountainside. The air was cold and the steep hiking had us stopping in a few spots. As we looked behind us, the Greenleaf Hut started to look smaller and smaller and the views were opening up around us. One gentleman that was hiking down Mount Lafayette told us that we may have timed the Franconia Ridge hike perfectly, as the clouds were moving off quickly. We continued the climb until we reached the summit of Mt. Lafayette at 4.0 miles. The wind was blowing strongly and we stopped for a brief moment to get a summit picture of us, thinking this could be good photographic evidence of our hike before we were blown off the side of the mountain. The views were phenomenal as we could see back the way we had hiked and across the gorge to Lonesome Lake and the cliffside of Cannon Mountain, where the Old Man of the Mountain was located.
From the summit, we took a right on the Appalachian Trail. Once we crossed over the rocks of the summit, it helped to shield us somewhat from the winds, but it was still windy and cold. However, we didn’t think much about the wind or cold, since the views were absolutely breathtaking. We were walking along the knife-edged ridgeline with nothing but clear views for hundreds of miles. We can’t even do justice along to Franconia Ridge by trying to describe its beauty in words. The hike along the ridgeline goes up and down for the next 1.8 miles, crossing over Mount Lincoln until you reach Little Haystack Mountain at 5.7 miles.
Christine picks her way through the boulders on the Falling Waters Trail. Below: Adam crosses the stream on the Falling Waters Trail; A beautiful slide fall; Falling Waters is steep and extremely rocky!
Here you reach the junction with the Falling Waters Trail. Take in some last views and then take this route down the steep mountain. The trail enters into deeper forest almost immediately. Boulders and deep steps greet you in a painful climb down. In fact, this trail had me feeling the worst pains I’ve just about ever felt. My left knee was killing me and because I was needing to overcompensate for it with my other leg, that hurt as well. Every step I felt I had daggers shooting up my knees, but I had to press on. We continued down the steep terrain down a zig-zagging trail that then took a more gradual descent near Dry Brook. At 6.1 miles, you reach a junction with a side trail to Shining Rock Cliff. We decided not to go the extra distance, but the Shining Rock Cliff gives you views to Franconia Notch and the granite cliff-face is supposed to be worth the trip if you want to check it out. The trail crosses the stream at 7.3 miles. At this point, you then climb down more boulders on this side of the trail. It rejoins Dry Brook at 7.7 miles, with another crossing. At this point, you begin to see waterfalls along the trail. We passed by Cloudland Falls (7.7 miles), Swiftwater Falls (8.0 miles), and Stairs Falls (8.1 miles) along the path. We began to see a lot more people along the trail at this point, as many families take the trip up to the waterfalls to wade in the swimming holes created beneath the falls. (Taking the Falling Waters Trail to Cloudland Falls is a popular and moderate family hike.)
To be honest, the pain was so bad for me, I barely stopped to look at the falls. I needed the hike to be over soon, since I was in excruciating pain. I regret that I wasn’t able to take the time to enjoy these beautiful falls, but I couldn’t focus on anything other than where my next step was taking me. We finally reached the bridge to rejoin the Old Bridle Path Trail at 8.7 miles. We took a left here and made our way back to the car.
Cloudland Falls was the largest and prettiest of the waterfalls on the Falling Waters Trail. Below: Other smaller falls on the trail.
Despite the pain I was feeling, I was so glad we did this hike. I know Christine was already wondering if I would ever be willing to do this hike again. She realized what I was going through and thought this may be something I wouldn’t want to do again. However, I would go through all the pain again to do this hike. It is truly that remarkable. I think next time though, I would probably recommend climbing up Falling Waters Trail (which appeared to be what most people did) and then heading down the Old Bridle Path for this loop. So, to put this as a public promise to my wife – we’ll do this hike again.. The views here are the best I’ve ever seen, and there is no way that I would not want to see them again.
Difficulty – 5. This is a tough one! The climbing is challenging, but the descent is actually harder. The walk along the open knife’s edge of Franconia Ridge makes all the challenge worthwhile.
Trail Conditions – 3.5. Nice trail conditions, but lots of rocks, boulders and a few possibly challenging stream crossing.
Views – 5+. WOW, WOW, WOW – what an amazing gift to visit this place on a clear day, because the views are magnificent.
Waterfalls/streams – 5. On the descent of the Falling Waters Trail, Walker Brook presents waterfall after waterfall.
Wildlife – 1. We saw far more people than animals, though we did cross paths with an angry, chattering (but adorable) red squirrel.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Trails are well marked.
Solitude– 0. Everybody who is physically capable (and some who are not) wants to hike this trail. It’s one of New Hampshire’s most popular dayhikes and also provides access to Greenleaf Hut.
Directions to trailhead: Head north on I-93 until it becomes Franconia Notch Parkway. Pass exit 1 and the exit for the Basin. Take the next exit (for trailhead parking). Park in this parking lot and the trailhead starts near the large billboard sign with the map of hiking trails.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
This ten-mile hike follows the Appalachian Trail along the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Most of the hike is above a mile high, so in open spots you get some very impressive views of the Smokies. The bald itself is rather disappointing, as it’s been mostly reclaimed by the forest, but we did enjoy the vistas and visiting two Appalachian Trail shelters.
Since much of the hike is along a mile-high ridge, views can be spectacular (when you’re not in the clouds). Below: Adam climbs the foggy path to the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower, The tower looks kind of like a space ship; The Appalachian Trail in the fog.
Christine Says…
This is a hike we planned on doing on our Spring 2012 Smokies trip, but we had so much stormy weather that we didn’t want to risk a long, mostly unprotected hike along mile-high ridgeline. So, we settled for the shorter trip to Andrews Bald. In the end, it actually turned out that Andrews Bald was a larger, more scenic bald than Silers. But, we still found many reasons beyond the slightly disappointing bald to enjoy this hike.
We started pretty early on Tuesday morning, after a lavish breakfast at The Pancake Pantry (Swedish Crepes with lingonberries!!). It was sunny in Gatlinburg, but as we made the drive toward the summit of Clingmans Dome, clouds began to envelop the mountain. At the very top, we were completely socked in. We knew it would burn off over the course of the morning, so we started the climb up the paved road to the observation tower.
From there, we picked up the Appalachian Trail. We followed it, descending downhill, sometimes steeply and sometimes gently. There were some sections of descent that caused Adam and I to look at each other and say ‘This is not going to be a fun climb back up!’
Since we were completely in the fog, we had no idea what views or scenery the trail would have to offer on the return hike. It was almost like doing one hike in the morning, and a completely different hike in the afternoon. I kind of like that! Also, the fog made the woods extremely beautiful and mysterious. There’s just something about mist and evergreens!
Because of the high elevation, a lot of earlier season wildflowers were still blooming. This red trillium was especially pretty! Below: Many different kinds of moss grow abundantly in the high country here; Flowering tree; Wildflowers along the trail.
We saw lots of wildflowers, including some spectacular red trillium that Adam spotted. We listened to birds singing in the fog and watched the sky become increasingly brighter.
When we came to the first vista that wasn’t covered by fog, I got out my wide angle lens. Unfortunately, it had been sitting too close to my icy cold CamelBak water bag, so as soon as I got it out, it fogged up so badly I couldn’t take a single photo until it acclimated and dried out.
By the time we got to Double Springs Shelter, larger patches of blue were already opening in the sky. We took some time to read the shelter journal – lots of fun entries.
From Double Springs, the trail seemed to ascend and descend repeatedly. We watched the mileage on our GPS and thought that it was about time that we should be approaching the bald. Honestly, we could have passed it without notice. It wasn’t really much of a bald. It had been described in our guide as ‘a large, mostly grassy bald with a few heathers and berry bushes’. What we found was a small clearing with no grass, covered completely by tall bushes.
The forest is so beautiful, dense and ethereal.
We thought ‘This can’t possibly be it!?’ But, it was – as confirmed by GPS data and our imminent arrival at the second shelter – Silers Bald Shelter. We ate lunch at the shelter – Subway and these awesome locally-made trail bars by Granola Naturals (Toffee and Chocolate Granola Crunch Bar – YUM!) that we picked up at the NOC.
Right after lunch, we headed back the way we came. The hike back was tough, hiking ten miles after climbing LeConte the day before was probably not the best plan. But when we’re in the Smokies – we hike ‘til we drop.
Most of the way was hard, but not unbearably tough. However, the last push to Clingmans Dome was about a mile of very steep climbing. My legs were screaming and all I could think was ‘put one foot in front of the other, repeat, repeat, repeat’. The only thing that softened the pain of the climb were the spectacular views! These views made me oooh and ahhh repeatedly. Despite my exhaustion, I kept thinking ‘This is so darn gorgeous – worth every sore muscle and drop of sweat!’
There is nothing like hiking a mile-high ridge that offers views of the Smokies rolling out beneath you.
Adam checks out the shelter log at the Double Springs shelter. Below: Arriving at the shelter; It was interesting to read entries. Many thru-hikers struggled through deep snow in the Smokies.
Back at the Clingmans Dome observation tower, we were met by massive crowds. Lots of people had questions and made comments about our trekking poles. An older guy called us ‘show-offs’ – not really sure why, but it was done jokingly. Adam and I really enjoyed seeing our first clear view from the tower. The two previous visits had both been low visibility/cloudy, so this visit was a real treat!
After the hike, we headed back into town for a massive feast on Mellow Mushroom pizza followed by Kilwins Ice Cream and free samples of just about every wine, whiskey and moonshine offered in Gatlinburg. I think the town offers so many free alcohol samples to loosen tourists’ purse-strings. After 14 moonshine samples, who knows – you may just wake up owning a new airbrushed t-shirt that says ‘Sexy and I Know It’ (not that I did that).
Adam Says…
Christine and I had tried to get into good hiking shape for our trip to the Smokies. We had grand ideas of all we wanted to accomplish – Christine had picked about 120 miles of hiking trails she wanted to do. Christine did a much better job than I of getting in to shape. Accomplishing this 10 mile hike after finishing about 11.5 miles of hiking through steep terrain up Mount LeConte the previous day, took a toll on me. Since this hike is almost all downhill until you reach the bald and the shelter, I was dreading the return trip.
We enjoyed our trip last year to Andrews Bald where we were able to relax at a scenic spot from the bald area. Silers Bald is not very “bald” at all. In fact, I would say it doesn’t even show much of a receding hairline. But, there were some nice views along the trail elsewhere.
Silers Bald was less impressive than we expected. Evidently, 100 years ago, balds stretched from Clingman’s Dome all the way over to Gregory Bald (which is hiked from Cades Cove). The land was used for grazing. Since becoming a park, nature had filled most of the bald terrain back in. Below: One of our first views of the day not covered by clouds; As we approached Silers Bald, the forest changed from pines to grass and deciduous trees; Another view of Silers Bald.
As Christine mentioned, we started off the hike in the thick fog. Visibility was minimal. We were hoping that the hike would be similar to our first hike up Mount Rogers, where it felt like a different hike on the return trip. Luckily, the fog lifted to give us this same experience. It also made us feel that we were continuing to hike to get the best views; otherwise, this hike would have been more of a disappointment if we had the best views early.
We started off by hiking from the Clingman’s Dome parking lot up the steep hill for .5 miles. The walk on the paved road is short, but very steep. There is a reason there are benches on the side of the paved trail. – it can be a challenge for those out of shape. Most of the people that are visiting Clingman’s Dome will just walk up the paved trail and return without venturing further. Expect to see a ton of people on this part of the trail, but you’ll have a lot of seclusion for the rest of the trail. After you near the winding tower of Clingman’s Dome, take the trail to the left that begins your hike on the Appalachian Trail. You’ll stay on the Appalachian Trail throughout your hike. At .75 miles, the trail opens up into an area filled with views along the trail. Continue to go downhill (you’ll descend about 1100 feet over a little over the next two miles). At 2.75 miles, you’ll reach a junction with the Goshen Prong Trail. Continue to go downhill and at 3.25 miles, you’ll reach the Double Spring Gap Shelter. The trail goes up and down slightly over this next section and at 3.75 miles, you’ll reach a smaller bald area known as Jenkins Knob.
By the time we hiked back, skies had cleared and we had better views. Below: Silers Shelter – our lunch stop; The return hike had some tough climbing.
We found Jenkins Knob to be a little more impressive than Silers Bald in terms of views and openness. The trail continues to mostly go downhill until it finally bottoms out around 4.5 miles. At this point, the trail begins an uphill climb to Silers Bald. At 4.7 miles, you pass the junction with the Welch Ridge Trail. The trail becomes quite steep at this point until you reach the top of Silers Bald. We found a USGS benchmark on the ground to signify the top of Silers Bald. The trail begins to descend from the benchmark and opens up to the area that is Silers Bald. The trail goes through the small bald area and reaches the Silers Bald overnight shelter at 5.1 miles. Retrace your steps, largely uphill, to make your way back.
The views were much better from the tower on the return leg of our hike. Below: Adam at the end of the hike; Views from the observation tower.
We were dreading the climb back up, especially after hiking up Mount LeConte the day before, but we were rewarded with great views as the fog and clouds lifted. As we reached the paved trail to Clingman’s Dome, we climbed up to the top of the tower and we really felt like we earned the 360-degree views. The elevation is 6643 feet (the tower adds another 45 feet) and you can stand at the top of the tower knowing you are at the highest part of the Great Smoky Mountains. This spot is actually the third highest peak east of the Mississippi, to only be beaten by Mount Mitchell and Mount Craig. We enjoyed spotting Mount LeConte from the tower, since it is the sixth highest peak east of the Mississippi. We were ecstatic to see views from Clingman’s Dome, since the last two times we had visited we had clouds hanging on the mountain. The clouds were still taking up a lot of the skies, but it didn’t prevent us from seeing miles of mountain ranges around us.
Christine mentioned that we enjoyed going back to Gatlinburg, TN and eating some pizza and drinking some free moonshine and whiskey samples. While we didn’t feel the need to buy cheesy T-shirts, I definitely felt the need to visit the Hollywood Star Cars Museum. While Christine waited for me, I toured around quickly but the highlight for me was to sit in the Batmobile from the 1966 TV show with Adam West. I grew up watching re-runs of that show and it was my older brother’s favorite show as a child, so it was great to have something to make him jealous. You can pay a little extra on the tour to have your photo taken within some of the cars. I also got to see Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, a DeLorean from Back to the Future, KITT from Knight Rider, and the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard. It’s a neat place to check out if you’re into Hollywood cars.
Elevation Change – About 2200 ft. – it looks like closer to 1500 ft on GPS, but with all the rolling climbs it adds up to quite a bit more!
Difficulty – 4. The climbing and descending never seem to end on this hike.
Trail Conditions – 4. This was mostly nice, well-worn Appalachian Trail walking. The climb to the observation tower in paved.
Views – 3.5. Very nice, but not quite panoramic.
Streams/Waterfalls – 0. None on the hike.
Wildlife – 2. We saw a lot of fresh bear scat on the hike, but no bears. Clearly, they frequent the area.
Ease to Navigate – 4. The trail is well-marked with white blazes and signed at each junction.
Solitude – 3. Expect thick crowds at the observation tower, thinning toward Double Spring Shelter. After Double Spring, we only saw a couple people.
Directions to trailhead: From US-441, head south a short distance from Newfound Gap. Take a right on to Clingmans Dome Road. Go 6.4 miles until you reach the large parking lot area. The paved trail up to Clingmans Dome starts at the end of the parking lot, passing a visitors center/gift shop.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
This eleven mile hike of Mount LeConte is beautiful and lots of fun! The scenery is diverse – streams, views, towering bluffs, an arched rock that you get to climb through, and a visit to the famous LeConte Lodge.
LeConte provides great vistas from the Cliff Tops viewpoint, located about .2 miles above the lodge. Below: The Walker Camp Prong at the very beginning of the hike; A lot of the hike had views; The famous LeConte llamas.
Adam Says…
When we were planning our trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the hike that we were most excited to do was the hike up Mount LeConte. We hiked this trail last year by taking the Trillium Gap Trail, so it was time to try an alternate route. Last time we had talked to several people that had taken the Alum Cave trail, so we thought it may be a good option.
The weather was gorgeous this day, but we knew we had a chance for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we decided to get as early of a start as we could. When we had hiked up via the Trillium Gap Trail, we didn’t run into a lot of hikers; however, it was evident early on this route was going to be a different story. While Christine was taking advantage of the facilities near the trailhead, I was getting nervous as I saw large groups of people starting the trail. We’re fairly fast hikers and I was worried we were going to get stuck in a jam behind families with small kids that would slow us down. Christine arrived and we got on our way.
We both jumped into the hiking and started hiking at a frenetic pace. We wanted to get in a spot that was far enough ahead of others where we could stop periodically and snap some photos. It took us a while to get separated from the larger groups, so we didn’t take as much time to enjoy the scenery in the first mile. We convinced ourselves that we could have more time to amble along on the return trip.
Adam waits his turn to pass through Arch Rock. Below: Early parts of the hike have gentle elevation gain and lots of roots; Christine crosses a foot bridge; The trail was extremely crowded.
The trailhead starts from the Alum Cave Bluff parking lot on US-441. At the trailhead, there is a larger map and some trail information guides you can purchase for $ .50. You will immediately cross a bridge over the Walker Camp Prong stream. The trail starts off very flat, but you know you’ll have lots of climbing to do later on in the hike. The first mile of the hike goes along the Alum Cave Creek. There are several options to jump slightly off the main trail to take in the scenes of the cascading creek. At 1.4 miles, you will reach a footbridge to cross Styx Branch before you reach the interesting geological feature known as Arch Rock. Arch Rock is basically a hollowed-out rock tunnel. You will climb up some steep stairs with a guideline as you go through to the top. Once you emerge out of the top, you go a little further and then reach another footbridge to cross Styx Branch one more time.
The trail begins to climb more steeply at this point as you make your way to Alum Cave Bluffs. At 2.4 miles, you start to come across a larger rock outcropping. As the trail starts to climb around this, you behold the enormous Alum Cave Bluffs. With the word “cave” being in the title, your initial expectations would be a large cave would be here. However, the cave bluffs are basically a humongous rock overhang. It is still jaw-dropping impressive and unlike anything I’ve seen. The ground underneath is dry and dusty. We saw a few drops of moisture come over the edge, but the overhang reaches out about 60 feet. Standing at one end of the outcrop looking at people at the other end, gives you a perspective of how large of an area this is.
The Bluffs are impressive! Below: The beautiful, rugged terrain of the Smokies.
From the Alum Cave Bluffs, you will see a sign that shows the direction to continue up Mount LeConte. The trail climbs steeply for the next .4 miles, passing some views of Little Duck Hawk Ridge. The trail reaches a peak and then descends into a saddle for another .4 miles. The trail begins to climb again rather steeply for a good portion of the remainder of the hike as you make your way up the mountain. Along the way, you will pass by a rock slide, which opens up to some gorgeous views with nothing but layers of mountain ridges to see. At 3.8 miles, you reach a set of stairs on a switchback to continue your climb. The trail eventually comes into a steep, rocky climb with cables put in to use as handrails (since this trail gets very icy with little sun in the winter).
The trail finally starts to level off at mile 4.75 as you enter into a tunnel of fraser fir trees. Continue on a short distance and then you’ll reach a junction with the Rainbow Falls Trail. Continue a few hundred feet and you’ll reach the LeConte lodge.
Getting a spot at the LeConte Lodge is competitive and highly coveted by Smokies visitors. Reservations are made by lottery and typically start booking in early October for the following year, so it takes some planning and a little luck to be able to stay in one of these spots on top of the mountain. We were lucky enough to get a spot here last year and we hope that we’ll do it again in the future.
The Alum Cave Bluffs trail had lots of nice views along the way. Below: Some slick, rocky areas along the trail had cables to provide assistance with staying upright; Parts of the trail were quite narrow; The last stretch toward the lodge is flat and passes through evergreens.
From the cabin area, we wanted to get some nice views and headed up the main path until we reached a junction. Hang to the right to go to the Cliff Top trail. This trail is rocky and quite steep. The sign says that it is .2 miles to the top, but it feels longer than that. However, when you get to the Cliff Top area, you will have great views for miles on a clear day. After taking in the views, we grabbed a sack lunch from the dining room to refuel for our trip back down. We talked with some fellow hikers at the top and relaxed for a while. After staying up there a previous year, it was hard to motivate ourselves to head back down.
On our way back down, the trip went by fairly quickly since everything was downhill. It’s always interesting when you see people hiking uphill that look like they are in complete misery. We spotted one woman, who was staring daggers at her husband (who I’m guessing convinced her to go hiking). Her daughter was hanging back with her and said, “I love you, mom”. The mother’s response was, “That’s nice”. She was definitely not having a good time hiking. We imagined how the father was going to get an earful for the rest of day.
If you are interested in geocaching, there are not a lot that are available in Great Smoky Mountains National Park since the national park prevents physical caches from being placed. However, there is a virtual cache on the trail to find – Alum Cave Bluff.
Christine Says…
Monday morning dawned in spectacular fashion. It was cool, sunny and crystal clear. Even the typical haze that makes the Smokies seem smoky was absent. That was such a treat, because clear air really lets you appreciate the magnificent, green, lushness of the mountains in this area.
We kicked off our morning with breakfast at Mountain Perks – a little café and espresso bar across from the train depot in Bryson City. The owners, Jeff and Pam Pulley are so friendly and are ready to serve local tips alongside their tasty breakfast and even better coffee. I left there with a pound of their ‘Black Widow’ roast coffee to enjoy at home after the trip.
Fully fed and caffeinated, we made our way into the park. On the way to the Alum Cave Bluff trailhead, we spotted a couple elk grazing in a pasture just north of the Occonaluftee visitor center. What a treat!
We were happily surprised to find the llamas still at camp! Below: Adam arrives at LeConte lodge; The obligatory pose with the elevation sign; We purchased bag lunches from the lodge for $10.00. Lunch came with bottomless lemonade -of which we took full advantage.
We got to the Alum Cave Bluff parking area around 9:30, and found that it was already 100% full. We had to park a ways up the road on a pullout. We geared up, and hit the trail – along with dozens and dozens and dozens of other people. I’ve rarely hiked with so many people on the trail at the same time – even on Old Rag. I’ll admit, it made me a little stressed. As you might have guessed, I stop frequently to take photos along the way. Also, Adam and I are relatively fast hikers. So, when I stop to take photos, we end up leap-frogging the same people over and over again. That’s not a problem when there are only a few groups on a trail, but coming up on the heels of large multi-generational families time after time makes me feel bad. It’s easy to pass a couple, it’s more disruptive to squeeze past ten people, six of them kids under the age of ten. I probably didn’t take as many photos early in the hike as usual so that I could avoid being disruptive.
The first couple miles of the hike were relatively easy, following a stream and climbing very gently through the moss covered forest. The terrain changed when we reached Arch Rock. After crossing a log footbridge, stone steps led uphill steeply through an arch of stone. Very cool!
After the arch, the trail began to climb more steeply. In several places, wire was affixed to the rocky side of the trail to help you keep your footing over narrow, slick areas. We climbed uphill for about .7 of a mile before reaching the famous Alum Cave Bluff. Along the way, the trail alternated between rocky and forested. There was even one nice view on a rocky, sand myrtle-covered turn in the trail.
WOW! I had seen photos of the Bluffs, but they were even more impressive in person. The rock wall soared and arched overhead, forming an immense overhang. The terrain beneath the arch was dry and silty. It was tough to walk on and I imagine this area is tough to traverse when it’s wet and rainy.
The nice view from Cliff Tops. Below: Time to leave the lodge; Adam walks along the trunk of a fallen giant; The steep and rocky descent.
I think a good number of people stop at the Bluff and then return to the parking area, so the trail traffic was much lighter after passing that area. We pressed on toward the summit of LeConte.
After the Bluff, the climbing is serious and steady. There are also a number of great views along the way. The Smokies really take my breath away. I kept thinking about how lucky and blessed I am to visit such places and have the physical capability to enjoy the tough climbs.
Eventually the trail turned a corner and leveled out and passed arrow-straight through an evergreen forest. The trail bed looked almost like cobblestones – white, round, smooth rocks. From that point, we had an easy .75 mile walk until we arrived at LeConte lodge.
At LeConte, we did all the obligatory things – took our photo in front of the dining hall with the elevation marker/date, said hello to the llamas, visited the office to get our exclusive summit-shop-only 2013 shirts, sat on rocking chairs, drank copious amounts of LeConte lemonade with our bagged lunches and made the .2 mile climb to enjoy the view from Cliff Tops.
Being at the top on a nice day was such a different experience than our 2012 visit in the rain! However, as the afternoon wore on, we noticed that some darker clouds were starting to build in the sky. We headed back down after about an hour at the summit.
The hike down went very quickly – all downhill! It’s amazing how much faster you can descend 2700 feet than you can climb it! We saw several cute red squirrels that took the time to chatter loudly at us. We scared a grouse from it’s resting spot – and the grouse scared us equally back! They really explode out of the brush when they startle!
Adam rests at Alum Cave Bluffs. Below: Climbing back down through Arch Rock. Notice the tiny people waiting at the bottom; Painted trillium; This pretty stream follows the beginning and end of the hike.
We enjoyed passing back under Arch Rock and taking some time to enjoy the beautiful stream beside the trail. We were back at the car before 3:00, tired but really happy with our day.
That evening for dinner, we rewarded ourselves with a feast at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. I got the Brewery Ale Steak, which might be one of the tastiest steaks I’ve ever eaten. I also really liked their Tuckaleechee Porter.
Trail Notes
Distance –11 miles + a little extra for walking around the lodge grounds and up to the Cliff Tops Viewpoint
(Check out the stats from MapMyHike)*
Elevation Change – About 2650 ft.
Difficulty – 4. The hike up Mount LeConte is a steady uphill.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is well-used and maintained, so we didn’t find much difficulty. During heavy times of rain or ice, parts of the rocky areas could be incredibly slick.
Views – 4. The best views are along the hike up to Mount LeConte and at the Cliff Top overlook.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Early in the hike, you do get some nice views of Alum Cave Creek and Styx Branch.
Wildlife – 2. We did see some cute red squirrels, but last year people had seen a bear. There were some nice spots for birdwatching though.
Ease to Navigate – 4. There are not many places to get steered wrong based on signage and the trail was always clear.
Solitude – 0. On a nice day, expect heavy crowds on the way up to Alum Cave Bluffs. After that point, there should be fewer people on the way up Mount LeConte; however, this is definitely the most popular way up Mount LeConte.
Directions to trailhead: From Gatlinburg, TN take US 441-S into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Go 11 miles. Parking is available in a large lot on the left or alongside the road. The trailhead starts near an opening on the southern side of the parking lot.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
This 7.3 mile loop has a bit of everything – views, waterfalls, history! The route takes you over Hazeltop Mountain, along several streams and past President Hoover’s Rapidan Camp.
Camp Hoover sits where the Laurel Prong and Mill Prong spill together, forming the Rapidan River. Below: Trillium was blooming everywhere when we hiked; The route had many stream crossings; Adam enjoys the view from Hazeltop.
Christine Says…
We love hiking in this part of Shenandoah! It’s the area we typically choose when we have out-of-town friends who want to visit Shenandoah National Park. It’s also a likely choice when we’re hitting the trail with hiking newbies. Why? Well… we think it’s pretty much perfect. The climbing isn’t difficult, so it helps convince non-hikers that hiking isn’t just torturous uphill climbing. This area is great for spotting wildlife. (In his portion of the post, Adam will tell you more about the exciting wildlife experience he shared with his office.) It’s also scenic, with lovely streams and a waterfall along the route. There is even a significant piece of American history sitting in the middle of the forest – the Rapidan Camp, which served as Herbert Hoover’s presidential retreat.
Our normal route in the area is a relatively easy 4 mile out-and-back to ‘Camp Hoover’. For this post, we decided to go the long way and make a 7.3 mile loop incorporating the Appalachian Trail, the Laurel Prong Trail and the Mill Prong Trail. This longer route added a nice view, many stream crossings and a bit more elevation gain.
Lots of trees were blooming in the park! Below: Adam walks along the Appalachian Trail. Adam was like a wind sock on Hazeltop.
We parked at Milam Gap. The hike started across Skyline Drive on the AT, headed southbound. Almost immediately, the trail began a long, gentle ascent to the summit of Hazeltop Mountain. The AT is so well-worn into the mountain that the path looked like a ribbon of dirt through the bright green of spring grass. On this particular May morning, the trail was abundantly lined with my favorite wildflower – Trillium. They were everywhere with big showy flowers in pink and white. We also saw (and heard) many birds. The prettiest songs came from the eastern towhees. This type of towhee has striking orange, white and black markings, which makes them easy to spot.
After almost two miles of climbing, we reached the high point of the hike on Hazeltop Mountain. There was one nice place to take in the view. It was really windy on the rocky outcropping, but I enjoyed looking out over the spring-green valley. From the viewpoint, we hiked downhill for almost half a mile to reach the junction of the AT and the Laurel Prong Trail.
There are obstructed views from the Laurel Prong Trail. Below: Eastern Towhee; Huge boulders and rocks along the Laurel Prong Trail; A neat tree near the junction of the Cat Knob trail.
The Laurel Prong trail descends all the way to Camp Hoover. Along the way, you’ll get some obstructed views from the trail, especially when trees are without their leaves. There are lots of rocks and boulders lining the path, especially right at the beginning. The lower parts of the Laurel Prong trail pass through a mix of open forest and mountain laurel thickets. As you approach the low point of the hike, you should begin to hear the sounds of water. Most of the time, streams along this trail will be shallow to non-existent. When we hiked, it was after several days of heavy rain. Single-step crossings became multi-rock hops and in many places the trail was under several inches of rain. It was fun to cross so much water!
At around the 5.25 mile mark, we reached Camp Hoover. It was a great spot to eat lunch, soak in the sunshine and enjoy the sound of rushing water. The camp is built at the headwaters of the Rapidan River, making it an ideal fishing spot. Most of the buildings that made up the camp have been lost to the ravages of time, but several cabins, including the president’s personal residence, have been renovated and preserved and are now open to the public (check park schedules for tour opportunities!).
While Adam napped in the sun, I went and did battle with my new carbon fiber tripod. It’s really light and stable, but it’s like an engineering puzzle to get it initially set up! I may have threatened to throw the tripod into the river. I guess I should look at this hike as the tripod’s dress rehearsal. It can prove its true worth on another hike. Besides, it really wasn’t a good day for taking photos of moving water (too sunny), but I think I was able to capture the impressive flow we witnessed on this day. I’ve never seen the streams around Camp Hoover flowing so powerfully! There were rapids and small waterfalls in places I’ve never seen them before. It was beautiful!
The Laurel Prong joins with the Mill Prong to form the Rapidan River just a few hundred feet from this spot. Below: Adam cross the stream again; The Brown House has a great back porch; Another streamside view of the Brown House.
After leaving Camp Hoover, we walked the trail along the Mill Prong. There is one spot where the trail crosses the stream (right below Big Rock Falls). We probably could have rock-hopped if we were careful, but both Adam and I decided to take off our boots and put on our Crocs to wade across the stream. The water came over my knees, which is really high for this spot.
After crossing, we took a few minutes to enjoy Big Rock Falls and then made our way back toward Milam Gap. For much of the way, the trail stayed close to the stream. We had several more stream crossings to complete, but none that required a shoe swap. The last couple miles of the hike went quickly, and we were back at the car by early afternoon.
We were surprised by how few people we ran into on the hike. I would have expected big crowds on a perfect, sunny Mother’s Day, but we really only saw a handful of people – a few backpackers making a short overnight of the loop and a pair of birders at the camp. I suppose we saw a few more people as we hiked back up the Mill Prong trail, but overall the crowds were light.
If I were to recommend a version of this hike – the 4 mile out and back or the 7.3 mile loop, I think I’d probably stick with the shorter version. The longer version is nice, and great if you’re looking to pick up some mileage, but there’s really not a lot to see on the Laurel Prong and it can sometimes be really muddy. The main reasons to hike in this area are Camp Hoover and beautiful stream scenery; and you get both of those on the shorter out-and-back.
Adam Says…
The hike down to the Rapidan Camp is always one of our favorites in Shenandoah National Park. We have taken several groups of people down to this area. When I talk to people about Shenandoah National Park, they have no idea that a Presidential retreat was once here and how this helped to establish a national park in Virginia. This route adds a view to the hike for an extra bonus.
Big Rock Falls was as big as we’ve ever seen it! Below: Adam crosses the stream right below Big Rock Falls; Lots of water in these little streams.
We’ve seen that on Hiking Upward and in our Hiking Shenandoah National Park Falcon Guide the hike was done in the reverse direction that we did the hike. But, our way has less of a continuous elevation climb and it puts Camp Hoover in the last third of the route (save the best for last!). We started off from the Milam Gap parking area and crossed Skyline Drive near the southern entrance to the lot to start on the Appalachian Trail. Heading southbound on the white-blazed AT, we quickly came across the junction with the Mill Prong Trail. This is your return route, so continue to go straight. The trail gradually climbs up a total of 450 feet. You reach a nice viewpoint to the right of the trail around 1.8 miles before you reach the Hazeltop summit in 1.9 miles.
The trail then begins to descend and at 2.6 miles, you reach the junction with the Laurel Prong Trail on the left. Take this blue-blazed trail which continues to descend. At the 3.6 mile, you will pass a junction with the Cat Knob Trail but stay on the Laurel Prong Trail. At 4.9 miles, you reach another junction with the Fork Mountain Trail, but again stay on the Laurel Prong Trail. The trail changes to yellow-blazed at this point, since it is now accessible to horses. At 5.3 miles, you will pass by a fire road on the left and then come up to a side trail for Five Tents. The Five Tents location was where some of the staff would stay at the Rapidan Camp, but there is no longer a building there. Christine took this route, but I stayed straight and we met up shortly at the Rapidan Camp, entering near the Prime Minister’s Cabin.
Upon leaving the Brown House at Rapidan Camp, we caught the trail heading past the Creel Cabin. Crossing the fire road, we picked up the yellow-blazed Mill Prong Trail which gradually ascends most of the way. At 5.5 miles, you will cross Mill Prong (which may require you to wade across the water after heavy rainfall) and reach Big Rock Falls on the other side. At 5.9 miles, you reach a junction with the Mill Prong Horse Trail. Continue straight instead of taking this trail, but the blazes change to blue as it is no longer a horse trail. The trail crosses Mill Prong again and then you will have a gradual climb back up. At 7.3 miles, you reach the Appalachian Trail junction again. Take a right and in a short distance you’ll reach the parking lot.
Pretty pink trillium Below: Wild geranium (I think?); Ragwort; Adam finishes out the loop.
Last year, I brought a few of my co-workers down to the Rapidan camp for a team-building retreat. I felt that if it was good enough for the President, it should be good enough for us. When we arrived, a volunteer who stayed at the Creel Cabin, gave us a tour of the Brown House, where President Hoover stayed. We learned a lot about Hoover, the problems he faced during his presidency, and his relationship to Franklin D. Roosevelt. After the tour, we did some team-building and communication exercises to learn more about how to work best with each other. While we were in the middle of making some breakthroughs, a small snake fell down off the roof just a few feet from where we were working. One of my co-workers, who is not a hiker by any definition, jumped out of her seat and was constantly looking around for other animals. After we made our way back up, we were talking along the way. I heard some people say, “Adam, look out”. I nearly walked right into a mama bear with three cubs. The family of bears quickly took off up the hill. I had told my co-workers that I’m usually pretty good at finding bears and we may see some. They were thrilled to see the cubs, as a few of them had never seen a bear cub before.
Along with the possibilities of seeing bears, you can usually find this trail to be an excellent trail for birding. The Laurel Prong and Mill Prong trails were filled with beautiful songs as we hiked along. A couple that was hiking near us also recognized the song of a blackburnian warbler.
If you’re up for a longer hike to the Rapidan Camp, I would suggest this route. The views from near Hazeltop summit were expansive, you get to see a nice waterfall, hear the songs of birds, and learn about the history of one of our Presidents and how it helped create a national park in Virginia. This hike does have it all!
Difficulty – 3. This hike is not steep or difficult, but some hiking novices might find the 7+ mile distance a little challenging.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trails were in great shape, despite being underwater in several place. We didn’t see any blowdowns or sloppy areas.
Waterfalls/streams – 4. Big Rock Falls, the Rapidan River, Mill Prong and Laurel Prong are all lovely and offer lots of water scenery along this hike!
Wildlife – 4. We didn’t see much on this particular day beyond birds, but we’ve seen lots of deer and bears on past trips.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Trail directions are clearly marked at junctions with cement markers.
Solitude – 2. This is a popular hike, both as a day trip and a short overnight loop.
Directions to trailhead:
The hike starts at mile marker 53 on Skyline Drive. Park in the Milam Gap lot, then cross the drive. The trail picks up on the other side of the crosswalk.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
This 13.2 mile circuit can be done as a day-hike, but we recommend extending the beauty and wildness into an overnight backpacking loop. Take your time, and you’ll be treated to panoramic views, lovely mountain streams, demanding climbs and peaceful campsites.
Christine takes in a a view of The Priest from Three Ridges mountain. Below: Welcome to the Three Ridges Wilderness; Over half of the circuit follows the Appalachian Trail; Nothing beats a campfire in the evening.
We had long been planning a three-day backpacking trip across Mt. Rogers, but as the day of the trip drew closer, we started seeing the term ‘Appalachian soaker’ thrown around in weather forecasts. We’re fine with passing showers and fleeting thunderstorms, but we didn’t want to get pinned down on Mt. Rogers on a wet and stormy night.
Fortunately, the weather in central Virginia was far more favorable, so we ditched our Mt. Rogers plan, and decided to hit another backpacking circuit on our list – Three Ridges. This route, which makes use of the Appalachian Trail and the Mau-Har Trail, is known as one of Virginia’s most rugged hikes. Everything we read about the circuit in advance of our trip emphasized the hike’s strenuous nature. With roughly 6,800 feet of elevation change, you’re almost never walking on flat trail. It’s a constant onslaught of heart-pounding climbs and knee-grinding descents. But along with the challenging terrain, you get spectacular views, beautiful streams and lovely campsites.
We started out early Saturday morning. The first stop was fuel… for ourselves. We had a huge breakfast at The Chuckwagon in Harrisonburg. If you have a chance, stop by and indulge in one of their homemade 4-inch biscuits (Adam’s favorite is ‘The Round-Up’) or a stack of their amazingly fluffy pancakes. (Sadly… Chuckwagon closed in January 2013) With full stomachs, we made our way to Reed’s Gap at mile marker 13.7 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
When we got to the parking area, the lot was already jam-packed, mostly with heavy-duty construction vehicles left idle for the weekend. Just as we were about to give up and find a parking spot further down the parkway, one car pulled out and left an opening for us!
Adam makes the initial climb up Meadow Mountain. The climbing was occasionally rocky, but never terribly steep.
We started the Map My Hike app on Christine’s phone, hoisted our packs, and headed south along the Appalachian Trail. From the parking area, the trail hugs the edge of a meadow, which was full of blooming yellow ragweed and purple thistle. It was such perfect weather for backpacking – sunny skies, low humidity and a crisp breeze. The trail almost immediately began to climb uphill over Meadow Mountain. The climbing was steady, but never difficult, for about .8 of a mile.
At the top of the ridge, there was a small dry campsite with obstructed views. Department of the Interior boundary markers were all along the ridge. We spotted at least three or four right next to the trail. After walking briefly along level ridge, the trail descended to Maupin Field Shelter. The shelter site had tons of space for tents (many of the tent sites were flat, soft and grassy), a typical AT three-sided hut, a metal bear-hang post and a picnic table. The area also had an informational kiosk with trail notes and wilderness-usage policies. There was also a child’s orthodontic retainer tucked into a Ziploc and pinned to the board. We’re guessing there is now one retainer-less Boy Scout and a less than happy mother!
Christine climbs the stone steps up Bee Mountain.
After Maupin Field Shelter we began climbing again, over Bee Mountain. The climbing was slightly more strenuous, but definitely manageable. In several places, rock steps were set into the trail to make the climbing easier. Along the way, we started playing ‘Categories’. It’s pretty basic – each player designates a category, then players take turns naming items that fit within that category. For example, categories might include Movies Based on Comic Books or Items You Need on a Backpacking Trip. It’s pretty mindless, but it kills time. Whoever successfully names the last item for the given category wins the round. The best category of the day was Complaints Uttered When Hills Are Steep. We won’t share the specifics of our trail talk here, but it was pretty funny to reflect on this topic! Bee Mountain didn’t offer any views and was followed by a short descent before tackling the more serious climb up Three Ridges Mountain.
The climb up Three Ridges consisted of several steep pushes, with nice stops for views all along the way. The first view, Hanging Rock, was very impressive, so we decided to break for lunch and enjoy the amazing vista. As we ate our Panera bagels (Cherry-Vanilla with Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter for Christine and French Toast with Peanut Butter for Adam), we noticed two dogs fitted with radio collars – doubtlessly bear hunting dogs set loose in the woods for pre-season practice. Both dogs were female; both were emaciated and showed signs of over-breeding. We hate to cast aspersions or generalizations on any group of people, but we are not fans of hunters that use this type of technology to hunt bears. Both of the dogs were pretty persistent about trying to steal our food. The bolder dog, who was heavily perfumed by a skunk encounter, came within inches of snatching Christine’s bagel right out of her hand.
One of the bear hunting dogs we encountered seemed to be enjoying a view of the Priest from the Hanging Rock Overlook. Below: Adam climbing the first uphill section of Three Ridges Mountain; Southbounders (BeeSting, Fats and Happy) contemplate the Priest and their upcoming climb; The view from Hanging Rock.
While we sat at the overlook, we had a chance to chat with three Southbound AT hikers – Happy, Fats and BeeSting. All three had started in Pennsylvania in August and were making their way toward Georgia. Happy was already there when we arrived, so we got to talk with him for a good bit while he waited for his companions to show up. He was from Las Vegas and on his first long-distance hike. He told tales of his shoes breaking down on the Pennsylvania rocks, getting caught in a vicious cold-front driven storm on Bearfence Mountain, and his epic weight loss (40 pounds in less than a month!). He was a nice kid and we enjoyed talking to him and telling him about some of the things he has to look forward along the trail in Virginia – The Priest, Spy Rock, Cove Mountain, McAfee Knob the Grayson Highlands. He told us the friendliest place he’d stopped on the trail was the town of Waynesboro.
After a while, Fats and BeeSting came along. They were a young couple from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. We didn’t talk to them as much, because we wanted to press on and make our way to camp by mid-afternoon. Happy left a few minutes ahead of us, and we were sure we wouldn’t see him again. Thru-hikers are known for keeping a blistering pace!
Upon leaving the vista, there was quite a bit more uphill climbing before we finally reached the true summit/highpoint of Three Ridges Mountain. At the highpoint, we ran into a group of three women out on the same circuit we were hiking. We chatted briefly about the great weather before leaving them to enjoy their lunch.
Christine enjoys the view on a perfect late-summer day. Below: The actual high point of Three Ridges is in the trees; Adam walking through ferns along the trail.
After the high point, the long, seemingly endless descent to Harper’s Creek began. It wasn’t always super-steep. Sometimes it almost leveled off. As we were walking along, we saw a bear dash off through the brush. We were both glad that the bear hunting dogs hadn’t pestered the bear into a tree. A few steps later, we heard an exuberant voice shouting into the wind – ‘Woooooo!’ ‘Yeaaaaaah’! ‘Echo Echo Echo’ and ‘I’m on TOP of the WORLD’. As the voice drew nearer, we guessed it was Happy having a ‘mountain moment’. Sure enough, he called to us through the trees so we could share the nice view spot he had found a little ways off the trail.
We left the spot before he did, knowing that there would be more views along the way. One unnamed view on the left side of the trail was especially beautiful. We stopped for photos and a pack-less rest. A bit further along, we saw a huge flat, upright rock that looked just like a tombstone. Immediately past that, we noticed a faint trail that climbed up steeply through the woods to a jumble of rock. We guessed correctly that we had found Chimney Rock. It was a great place to sit, and every bit as scenic as the very first overlook on Three Ridges. We enjoyed looking down into the valley, dotted with homes, streams and a large Christmas tree farm. The Priest, one of Virginia’s most beautiful and distinct mountains, loomed impressively across the way.
Adam enjoys one of the many spectacular views from Three Ridges Mountain. This particular stop came at a rocky outcropping known as Chimney Rock. Below: Views, views and more views!
After Chimney Rock, the last real vista was a wide flat shelf of rock overlooking the scene below. After that, the downhill got pretty bad. It was the bone-jarring, steep, type of downhill that makes your knees beg for mercy! We both slipped a couple times on the descent. It was probably all the fallen acorns – if your boot hits them just right, they sort of function like tiny roller-skate wheels. Adam managed to hyperextend his knee on one slip, and hiked in a significant amount of pain the rest of the day. Christine hit a loose flat rock and rode it like a surfboard until she finally landed hard, but unharmed, on her rear end.
Honestly, the uphill on this hike is moderately hard, but the downhill is brutal. Anyone in reasonable condition should be able to handle the physical demands of the ascents along the trail, but if you have bad knees, the descents are nothing short of punishing. We both tried to keep our packs on the light side for this trip. Christine’s pack was 22 pounds and Adam’s was 29… but that was before water. After a dry week, we weren’t sure if Harpers Creek would be flowing, so we both carried quite a bit of extra water – 3.5 liters for Christine and 4 for Adam. We knew there was a chance we wouldn’t need it, but when it comes to water it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
The climb down from the summit of Three Ridges was grueling and rocky! Below: The trail went over many large boulders; It passed thick stands of rhododendron and mountain laurel; We were thrilled when the Harpers Creek shelter site came into view.
After over two miles of switchbacks, dangerous acorns and tricky rocks, the colorful domes of tents came into sight. We had reached Harpers Creek Shelter – our stop for the evening. We found the shelter itself empty, but most of the tent sites adjacent to the shelter had already been claimed by a large group of Boy Scouts from Fluvanna County.
We found a mostly flat and smooth tent site across the creek, about 50 yards south of the shelter. We figured it was a perfect spot – we were close to the shelter and could use it for a ‘kitchen’. Also, the privy was on our side of the stream, but far enough from the tent that it wouldn’t be annoying when people went to use it.
For the most part, Harpers Creek wasn’t flowing. There were several shallow pools in the streambed, which gave us plenty of access to water, but also provided a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. Christine immediately noticed bites forming welts on her legs, so she quickly changed out of her shorts and into long pants. She tried to change behind a large boulder, but she’s pretty sure the Boy Scouts saw her in her underpants, but hey… modesty sort of goes out the window in the backcountry.
Within twenty minutes, the tent was up, the sleeping pads were inflated, and sleeping bags were in place. We set aside all the food, cooking implements, water filter and bear bags to take over to the picnic table at the shelter. The Harpers Creek shelter was small and kind of dingy. There was no shelter log. Actually, the only thing in the shelter was a sodden pair of ‘tighty-whiteys’.
Adam set about collecting water. We recently picked up a very handy collapsible bucket made by Sea to Summit. It folds down to about the size of a deck of cards and weighs just a few ounces. But, it allows us to collect up to nine liters of water at once. Typically, we pump water through our Katadyn straight into the bucket. Then we cover the bucket with a bandanna and usually have plenty for dinner, breakfast and bottle refills.
While Adam filtered water, Christine worked on collecting wood for a campfire. It was already starting to get chilly, so it was a perfect night for a fire. As is the case at most shelters, good firewood is hard to find. There is always plenty of tinder/kindling, but the larger, long-burning pieces of wood are at a premium. In the backcountry, we only use downed wood that we can break by hand.
Our camp on Harpers Creek. Below: Setting up our ‘kitchen’ at the Harpers Creek shelter; On the menu for dinner; Adam feeds the fire.
Christine made a teepee-style campfire with larger pieces of wood on the outside, and a tinder-packed center. All of the wood collected from the forest floor was cold and damp, so the fire had a hard time catching at first. A little squirt of alcohol-based hand sanitizer took care of that problem, and within a few minutes a small fire had sprung to life.
With the campfire going, water collected and the campsite set, it was time for dinner! We keep saying we’re going to prepare our own fancy homemade backpacking meals, but when the time comes we always seem to find ourselves reaching for Mountain House or Backpacker’s Pantry. It’s just easier, and for the most part, the packaged food is really tasty (notable exception – Natural High’s Banana Cream Pie – worst dessert EVER.) Our menu for the evening included Chili Mac with Beef as the entrée and Cheesecake for dessert. Christine brought several sticks of cheddar cheese to mix into the chili and single-serving plastic bottles of Merlot. It was quite the feast!
After dinner, we put up our bear hang. Oddly, this shelter did not have a metal post like most AT shelters in this part of Virginia. We had to find a tree with a free branch. After the food was secured, we settled into our camp chairs and enjoyed the fire. Some people we’ve met along the trail think the camp chairs are a waste of pack space, but they fold down to about the size of a water bottle and weigh just about a pound. We find them well worth the extra weight for the back-resting comfort they provide. We might not carry them on a long multi-day trip when every bit of pack space counts, but for a weekend trip, we like having creature comforts.
Entertainment unfolds by the campfire. Below: Our tent at night.
As we sat by the fire, we watched a little piece of comedy unfold on the other side of the stream. A couple of the older Scouts had been assigned the task of hanging the group’s food. We watched as they missed getting the rock and rope over the tree branch, dozens and dozens of times. The boys took turns making fun of one another for their off aim. Eventually, they got the rope over a branch. They celebrated with a high-five and a ‘Woot!’. But, the branch snapped off the tree as soon as they tried to hoist the weight of many food bags. Eventually they went for help and settled on a less-than-perfect, but still functional tree. All in all, it took them over an hour to get their food hung.
Our campfire died around 9:00, so we headed back to the tent. Adam read by headlamp and Christine listened to a book on her iPod. For one of the first times ever, we both fell asleep quickly and slept soundly through the night. We were actually awoken by voices and headlamps at what seemed like the middle of the night. Christine rolled over and asked Adam ‘Is it around midnight and these kids are up late or is it morning already?’ It turned out that the Scouts were awake and cooking/packing up at 5:30 a.m. We lazed around in the tent for another hour until the sun came up.
The Scouts actually hiked out around 7:00, just as we were getting breakfast together. Usually, we’re the early risers and the first out of camp! We made maple-brown sugar oatmeal with freeze-dried bananas and coffee and hot chocolate for breakfast. We both ate two packs, knowing that we had a tough day of hiking on the Mau-Har Trail.
After a good night of sleep, Christine is ready to tackle day two! Below: Adam changes out of his Crocs and back into boots; The Appalachian Trail departing Harpers Creek.
After breakfast, we broke down camp. Adam’s hyperextended knee was still pretty sore, so Christine stowed some of his gear in her pack to make his load a little lighter. While she was transferring gear, she noticed that a mouse had chewed through the little mesh compartment on the hipbelt of Adam’s pack! The only thing in the compartment was a set of car keys, so we’re really not sure why it was appealing to a mouse. It reminded Adam of one of his favorite books as a kid – The Mouse and the Motorcycle. He thought this mouse was trying to make a sequel with their car.
We left Harpers Creek around 8:00. On our way out, we passed four or five other groups that had been tenting near the shelter. All told, there were probably somewhere between 25 and 30 people camped along the creek that night. Quite a tent city!
After leaving the shelter site, we followed the Appalachian Trail for almost a mile, largely uphill, to its junction with the Mau-Har Trail. The odd trail name is a combination of Maupin and Harpers – the names of the two shelters the trail runs between. The Mau-Har was designed by a man named Angelo Filippi. One funny review we read of the hike evidently thinks ‘designed’ is too kind a word for the trail. The review states:
“We started from Reeds Gap and heading down the Mau-Har, cussing Angelo Philippe [sic] the whole dang way. I swear he unfolded a map, put it on the ground, pulled out a piece of string, dropped the string onto the map and said “There! That is where the trail should go!” What a jerk!”
The start of the Mau-Har Trail. Below: The Mau-Har trail starts innocently enough; Then it starts to climb more steeply downhill; And then it gets even steeper than it already was!
To be fair, the trail was clearly designed to follow scenic Campbell Creek as closely as possible and following a creek that goes tumbling through a deep gorge is going to require some rugged climbing. The Mau-Har trail descended very steeply to the creek. Adam grimaced in pain from his knee injury on every downhill step. The weight of his pack, combined with the steep trail was almost more than he could bear. This was some of the gnarliest downhill we’ve ever done.
Eventually, we got to the spur trail that leads to a series of small waterfalls. Adam decided to stay put and rest his knee while Christine explored the falls. She took off with the camera, hoping to get a few documentary shots for the blog. A few minutes later, Adam decided to follow. He had heard there was a geocache hidden by the falls (known as “firedogs fishbowl”), but he had forgotten to input coordinates into his GPS. He looked for it, but without coordinates it was pretty close to impossible to find. The waterfalls were all very small due to low water flow. In spring, with snowmelt and heavier rain, the creek is probably spectacular!
Water volume in Campbell Creek was fairly low. Below: The section of the Mau-Har that follows Campbell Creek is very steep; Some sections require you to pull yourself over the rocks; Christine is happy for a more moderate grade.
From the waterfall spur trail to the Maupin Field shelter, the Mau-Har climbs very steeply uphill. At first, the trail is very rocky as it passes through the canyon. You wind your way between and over boulders. Sometimes you have to stow your trekking poles in one hand to pull yourself up over a big step. It reminded us very much of hiking the gorge at Little Devils Stairs. The terrain was very similar. After leaving the canyon, the trail becomes less rocky, but no less steep. A series of sweeping switchbacks carry you relentlessly uphill. Eventually the grade becomes more moderate in the last half mile before you arrive at the Maupin Field shelter.
Near the end of the climb, Adam announced that he was going to stop at the shelter and ‘eat every single bit of anything edible left in his snack bag’. Two packs of oatmeal, bananas and hot chocolate burn off pretty fast when the climbing is tough! He proceeded to eat a Luna Bar, ShotBlox, a bag of cashews and a bunch of mini candy bars. He reined himself in and skipped eating a dry packet of cocoa mix.
At Maupin Field, we read the shelter log. Entries talked about the skunky, food-nabbing bear dogs (someone had named them Bagels and Muffins). A southbounder left a warning to northbounders about 20-30 miles of dry hiking. Someone even left a really nice pair of ladies LaSportiva for someone to claim.
Adam relaxes at the Maupin Field Shelter. Below: One of the stream crossings near Maupin Field Shelter; Adam checks out the shelter log; The Mau-Har’s end point at the shelter.
The last 1.6 miles retraced our route from the morning before. We had a gradual climb up and over Meadow Mountain and then back to our car at Reeds Gap. We drove back toward home along the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping at Humpback Rocks to wash our hands with soap and running water. Our last stop was the Sonic in Waynesboro for more ‘refueling’. We definitely earned some tater tots and CreamSlushes!
Three Ridges turned out to be a great alternative to our planned Mt. Rogers trip! While the terrain was challenging, we think most people accustomed to backpacking/hiking would be up for the challenge and would enjoy the beautiful and wild scenery offered by this loop.
The one issue we would like to bring up is a discrepancy about the length of this hike. Most sources list the loop at 14.4 miles. Based on our information (maps, GPS, trailer marker posts), here is how we would break down the segment distances on the trail.
0.0 miles – Start from parking lot on Reeds Gap, heading south on the Appalachian Trail and begin your ascent. .8 miles – The trail reaches the first ridge and shortly begins to descend through some switchbacks 1.6 miles – Reach the junction with the Fire Road (which heads to Love Gap). Take a left to stay on the Appalachian Trail and pass a few side trails that lead to campsites at the Maupin Field Shelter. The trail begins to climb again. 2.0 miles – Reach the summit of Bee Mountain 3.7 miles – Reach some great views from Hanging Rock. Continue to climb further up through the woods. 4.2 miles – Reach the summit of Three Ridges 5.8 miles – Great viewpoint of the eastern ridge 5.9 miles – Reach the tombstone and take an immediate right up the path to reach Chimney Rock and the best views on the trail. Rejoin the trail and descend steeply. 7.5 miles – Arrive at Harpers Creek Shelter across the creek and your stay for the night. The next morning, cross back over the creek and continue on the Appalachian Trail. 7.6 miles – Cross Harpers Creek and the trail begins to ascend very steeply. 8.5 miles – Reach the junction with the blue-blazed Mau-Har trail. Turn right and follow the trail that parallels Campbell Creek. 10.0 miles – Reach a sign designating a short yellow-blazed trail to a few waterfalls. The waterfalls are only a few hundred feet off the Mau-Har trail. Retrace your steps and continue on the Mau-Har trail. 11.5 miles – Reach the Maupin Field Shelter. Continue straight past the shelter to rejoin the Appalachian Trail. 11.6 miles – Take a left on the Appalachian Trail to retrace your steps back to your vehicle. 13.2 miles – Return to the Reeds Gap parking lot.
Returning to Reeds Gap. At this point, Adam said he was 90% sure he was going to survive the trip. Below: Christine had a great time!
Trail Notes
Distance – 13.2 miles (Check out the stats from MapMyHike [Day One] [Day Two])*
Elevation Change – About 3900 feet
Difficulty – 5. This hike is no joke. The downhill areas are steepest on the Appalachian Trail coming down from Chimney Rock and the uphill on the Mau-Har trail is equally brutal.
Trail Conditions – 2.5. The trail starts off quite nicely, but once you reach Three Ridges, expect a rocky slide downhill and loose footing uphill for much of the hike. The Mau-Har Trail was pretty overgrown in places.
Views– 5. Absolutely amazing. Chimney Rock and Hanging Rock provide some of the nicest views.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. You’ll be near a stream most of the second day and there are a few small waterfalls. The water wasn’t flowing too strongly though.
Wildlife –3. We did see a bear. Oh yeah, and the mouse ate through part of Adam’s backpack, so there is some wildlife out there.
Ease to Navigate – 4. The trails were fairly well marked and signs were at the junctions.
Solitude – 2. This is a tough hike, but it is popular for backpackers, trail runners, and day visitors to the shelters.
Directions to trailhead: On Blue Ridge Parkway, south of Humpback Rocks. Park at mile marker 13.7 at Reeds Gap in the large lot. Head south on the Appalachian Trail, marked with white blazes on a tree near the left of the open field.
This 5.9 mile loop takes you over Cadillac and Dorr mountains – two of Acadia’s most prominent peaks. There is some very steep climbing along exposed granite on this hike, but the views are truly spectacular!
Cairns mark the trail along the ridgeline leading to the summit of Dorr. Cadillac Mountain is visible across the gorge. Below: Stone stairs on the North Ridge Trail; Adam climbs across bare granite, Trail names are marked at junctions; The trail was more forested after leaving Kebo Mountain.
Christine Says…
Tuesday morning started clear and sunny, so we decided to get an early start and tackle a loop hike that would take us across the summits of Cadillac, Dorr and Kebo mountains. After bagels, muffins, fruit and coffee (hooray for free hotel breakfasts!), we made the short drive from downtown Bar Harbor to the Cadillac North Ridge trailhead, which is located shortly after the Park Loop Road becomes one-way.
We’ve climbed the North Ridge Trail three or four times before, but this is the first time we combined it with other trails to create a loop. The North Ridge Trail is significantly shorter than the South Ridge, but still offers beautiful views of the ocean and offshore islands. When we arrived, we were able to get a parking spot at an overlook right across from the trailhead. Unless you get an early start, you’ll definitely want to use the Island Explorer bus to access this hike. It’s a popular route, and the overlook can only accommodate several cars.
Porcupine Islands are visible along the North Ridge Trail. Below: Adam at the trailhead at the beginning of our hike; Christine hikes across open granite; Cairns and the Porcupine Islands.
As we started hiking uphill, we passed a family of four that had hiked up in the dark to arrive at the summit in time for sunrise. They looked exhausted but told us it was well worth the early start. After that group, we really didn’t see anyone else until we arrived on the summit. Even though it was early, the day was already really hot and humid. Not even a hint of breeze was blowing. I’m not used to sweltering in Maine (even in the summer), but I was so hot! My head was pouring sweat which soon washed all the ‘waterproof sport’ sunscreen off my face. Sometimes sunscreen seems like a losing battle!
Occasionally, the trail would duck into a small copse of pine trees. Momentarily, the heat would abate and I would feel comfortable for a few minutes. But the shade never lasted, and I continued to march up the mountain, behind Adam. Finally, I had to stop and pull my shirt up and across my face to dry off the sweat. Adam looked back at me and I told him I was hotter than I’d ever been in my entire life. And honestly, that wasn’t much of an exaggeration!
Adam passes a precarious cairn as he nears the Cadillac Summit. Below: Lots of sweeping views and granite; The trail occasionally went into the shade; Big sky over Cadillac.
As we approached the summit, the trail followed closer to the auto road. We could see the roofs of passing cars and hear motorcycles rumbling nearby. Whenever the trail came close to the road, I noticed more trash littering the trail – bottle caps, candy wrappers, and so many cigarette butts. People driving up clearly throw stuff out their windows – how they can do that in Acadia is beyond me!
Soon, the parking lot at the summit of Cadillac came into view. It was still fairly early, so the summit wasn’t terribly crowded – one bus and a few dozen cars. We got cold drinks at the summit shop. Adam surprised me with a bandanna with a map of Mount Desert Island on it. He thought I could use it to mop sweat! I tied it onto the shoulder strap of my pack, and we headed off to explore the network of paved pathways around the summit.
We took a few photos and then worked on finding the Gorge Path. Basically, we just had to find cairns heading down Cadillac and in the general direction of Dorr Mountain. There were no signs or markers telling us we were going the right direction (all blazes in Acadia are blue and trail names are only identified at junctions). Pretty soon, we were all but certain that we were going the right way. The steep, boulder-strewn face of the mountain matched the description we had read of the Gorge Path. I put my trekking poles away, so I could have both hands free to climb. I also stowed my dSLR and got my inexpensive point-and-shoot out to document the climb down.
Christine enjoys the view from Cadillac Mountain. Below: Adam at the summit building; Crowds on the summit; Adam begins the climb down the Gorge Path.
The climb down went pretty quickly. Though, all the while we were looking at the face of Dorr. I asked Adam if we were going to be climbing up that cliff face. He said ‘I don’t see how the trail would go… but maybe?’. Around that time, we spotted two colorful specks making their way down the mountain – other hikers. They confirmed the trajectory of our upcoming climb.
At the junction in the saddle between Dorr and Cadillac, we took a break. I actually changed out of my heavy Oboz hiking boots and back into my Montrail trail runners. Initially, I thought the Oboz would be better on this ankle-turning terrain, but really they just made me feel clumsy and heavy-footed. I think I might have taken my final step (pun intended) in my transition to trail runners.
The climb up Dorr ended up being much easier than I expected. From the shoulder of Cadillac, it looked steep and slick and scary. But once we were actually there, the climbing was really fun! I enjoyed looked back at the tiny, ant-like people atop the Cadillac summit. Once we finished the initial climb up the face of Dorr, the walking was fairly gradual and moderate along a ridgeline. The summit was marked in traditional Acadia-fashion – with a large pile of stone with an elevation/summit marker in the middle. There were a few groups of hikers atop the summit of Dorr, but nowhere near the crowds on Cadillac.
Adam takes in the view from the Gorge Path.
There were several routes down Dorr, so Adam consulted out map and hiking guide to make sure we found the right one. On most Acadia hikes, you get views in nearly every direction, so we stopped frequently to admire the beauty around us. The climb down Dorr turned out to be tough – steep and knee-grinding. Granite is always jarring and unforgiving on your joints. I could see Adam starting to grimace in pain along the descent.
Once we were back in the woods and the views were gone, we still had a couple more miles to go, so we focused on covering the terrain as quickly as safety would allow. Most of the return arm of the loop was downhill, with one short uphill climb over the summit of Kebo mountain. Kebo is short and tree-covered, and offers no open views. After the summit of Kebo, the remainder of the hike passed through forest before eventually coming back out on the Park Loop Road. From the end of the trail, we still had about a mile of road walking to get back to our car.
The road was really crowded and the shoulder was narrow. I practically jogged to get the road-walking portion of the hike completed as quickly as possible. I got back to the car a little before Adam. I found a ranger writing parking tickets for all the cars that had overflowed the North Ridge parking area. There were probably about a dozen cars people had just left sitting in the middle of the road. Someone had parked on either side of our Subaru, allowing just inches in front and behind. It took me about ten minutes to rock the car out of the spot. By the time I got the car out, Adam was making the final uphill push along the road. I picked him up and we headed back into town to get a big lunch with my parents.
The Cadillac-Dorr loop was an ideal way to bag these two Acadia summits in a single hike! I think I still like the South Ridge Trail up Cadillac a little prettier, but this was a fantastic hike, too.
Adam Says…
When we were deciding which hikes that we would like to have accomplished for the week, we both knew we wanted to hike up Cadillac Mountain. On our last trip, we hiked up the south ridge of Cadillac Mountain. But our first time hiking up Cadillac Mountain was taking this route up the north ridge and we were excited to cover it on the blog. Christine has been mentioning the last few trips to Acadia that she wanted to hike up Dorr Mountain. My memory of hiking up Dorr Mountain (via the East Face Trail) included visions of hiking up seemingly endless rock stairs and I was not excited to do this again. So, I consulted my map and came up with a way that we could combine the two and also bag another peak, Kebo Mountain. The great thing about Acadia National Park is that so many of the trails intersect, so you can be quite creative with how you approach different hikes.
Adam climbs the steep, rocky face of Dorr Mountain. Below: Adam looks back at Cadillac; People look like tiny ants on Cadillac; Walking the ridge toward the summit of Dorr.
We started our hike from the Park Loop Road at the trail marker for the Cadillac North Ridge Trail. Climbing up a few quick steps, we started to ascend the granite path that makes up the entire park. In a short distance, the blue-blazed trail then turns right and you entire a wooded area of evergreens and birches. As you approach .6 miles, the trail begins to draw close to the Cadillac Summit Road and you may hear cars and motorcycles nearby but the road is not visible for much of the hike. The trail continues through the forested area, but occasionally will open up to some views. At 1.1 miles, you reach a section of over 100 steps built into the trail. Once you feel tired of the steps, the trail comes above the treeline and begins to open up to gorgeous views behind you. The trail becomes a little trickier at this point as you have to focus more on following the blue blazes marked on the rock or cairns that lead you along the trail. A few times, you will come closer to the road and may even see some cars parked at pullouts enjoying the views. Keep following the trail and you will reach the top of Cadillac Mountain (at a parking lot) at 2.2 miles.
Many of the summits of the mountains are marked by tall cairns and signs marking the summit. For Cadillac Mountain, the 1,532 foot summit is marked simply with a USGS summit marker, which is located behind the gift shop at the top. On a clear day, you will likely see a full parking lot and a ton of people climbing around the rocks of Cadillac Mountain taking photos. But, instead of driving up to the top, you have earned it by hiking up.
At the top of Cadillac Mountain, there is a .5 mile Cadillac Summit Trail which is a loop around the top of the mountain giving you great views along the way. We took this trail around for .3 miles and on the Northeast side you will begin to see some cairns that marks the Gorge Path. Follow this trail down the mountain which starts to quickly go steeply down the side of Cadillac Mountain. I would only recommend this trail if you feel like you have good balance and knees as you are climbing down a steep rocky path, often requiring you to crab crawl down the trail on all fours in some spots. It is called the Gorge Path for a definite reason and you will soon see that this path cuts sharply between Cadillac and Dorr Mountains. I kept trying to look ahead to see if the path leveled off to join Dorr Mountain, but you do have to go to the bottom of the gorge before you climb up on the other side. At 2.9 miles, just .4 miles and 500 feet down from the summit of Cadillac Mountain, you reach the bottom of the gorge and will see a sign marking the intersection of several trails. We went straight across to begin climbing up to the summit of Dorr Mountain. This part of the trail was not as bad as it appeared as we were descending Cadillac Mountain, but it does require some rock scrambling to make your way up. At 3.1 miles, we were finished with the scrambling and reached another intersection sign post. Heading to the right following the Dorr South Ridge Trail, we hiked another .1 mile, following cairns along the way, until we reached the summit post of Dorr Mountain at 1,270 feet.
Once you are finished enjoying the summit, we retraced our steps back to the intersection sign at the top of Dorr to follow the Dorr North Ridge Trail at 3.3 miles. This trail is extremely steep downhill, descending 900 feet over the next mile, but we were glad we were hiking down instead of up even though it is hard on the knees. At 4.2 miles, you come to an intersection with the Hemlock Trail, but stay straight. The trail then begins to go up and down as you crest some small hills until you make another climb up to Kebo Mountain. At 4.8 miles, you reach the summit also marked by a summit post, but there are not great views from here. Once we reached the summit, it was another downhill hike until we reached the Park Loop Road at 5.1 miles. Take a left here, ascending slightly up the road until you return to your vehicle at 5.9 miles.
The summit of Dorr Mountain. Below: Christine on the summit; Island view from the Dorr summit, Trail markers upon departing Dorr.
While I do think you earn some respect by hiking up Cadillac Mountain, I’m always impressed with the people that bike up the Cadillac Summit Road. While I was drinking a Gatorade while resting outside the gift shop, I struck up a conversation with a man in his upper 50s that had just biked up. When I asked him how long of a ride it was, he laughed and said that he just knew that it was 1150 feet up. As I researched later, it looks to be a 3.5 mile ride, but that is some decent elevation to gain in that distance on bike. I’m sure the ride down is more fun, but this could be tough on your brakes.
I did cover some of the interesting history behind Cadillac Mountain on our South Ridge post, so I thought it would be interesting to talk about the history behind the naming of Dorr Mountain. George Dorr was the man that is often credited as being the father of Acadia National Park. Hailing from Boston originally, he first came to visit Mount Desert Island in 1868. He decided to make his permanent home here on the island. He worked on convincing others that protecting this area was important and acquired much of the land through the Hancock County Trustees by purchasing it or receiving it in donations. While the trustees were being threatened with having their ownership revoked, Dorr worked with lobbying the government to help protect the land. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson created the 6,600 acre Sieur De Monts National Monument. In 1919, the area expanded to become Lafayette National Park, later changed to Acadia National Park in 1929. George Dorr became the first director of the National Monument and the director of Acadia National Park. He swam daily from his home on the coast, even chipping through the ice in the winters. He suffered a heart attack after a morning swim in 1934 and was told he had six months to live. But, he survived for 10 more years before dying on 8/5/44. Dorr Mountain was once known as Dry Mountain. George Dorr named the mountain Flying Squadron Mountain to honor French pilots from World War I.
Adam and views on the climb down Dorr Mountain. Below: The downhill climb was steep and rocky; The tree-covered summit of Kebo; The trail exits the forest on the Park Loop Road for the final mile back to the car.
As the photos clearly demonstrate, the views from both Cadillac and Dorr Mountains are truly breathtaking. I’m glad we took the path that we did to combine the summits of these three mountains. We often felt as people were climbing up Cadillac Mountain from the Gorge Path or climbing up Dorr Mountain from the North Ridge Trail, that we were taking this trail the easiest way possible. If you were to do this in reverse, you would be up for some brutal climbing. I do agree with Christine in that I prefer the south ridge overall as a way to just hike up Cadillac Mountain. Part of the reason for this is that the south ridge doesn’t get close to the park road and the other is that most of the views along the way are behind you. But this does give you a great opportunity to stop and enjoy the views frequently. However, I do think this is the best way to enjoy both Cadillac and Dorr Mountains and I will gladly do this again.
Difficulty – 3.5. The initial climb up Cadillac Mountain is steady, but gradual. The downhill climbing is actually the tougher part of this hike – it’s steep and across unforgiving granite.
Trail Conditions – 3. The trail is rooty, rocky and crosses a lot of bare granite. It’s very typical Acadia terrain.
Views– 5. There are spectacular views all along this hike.
Streams/Waterfalls –0. No streams or waterfalls.
Wildlife – 2. Other than occasional birds and chattering red squirrels, you won’t see much.
Ease to Navigate – 3. The cairns and blazes are pretty easy to follow. The only tricky spot is finding the Gorge Path at the summit of Cadillac.
Solitude – 1. The summit of Cadillac is crawling with tourists that have driven up the auto road. You’ll see fewer people on the trails, but Acadia is too small and popular to offer real solitude.
Directions to trailhead: From Bar Harbor, head west on US-233 for about a mile. Enter Acadia National Park on the left and take another left onto the Park Loop Road. Travel for about .5 mile and park on the left side of the road at a pullout. The trailhead is on the opposite side of the road from the pullout.
* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.
Virginia Trail Guide 
