After a great Neels Gap to Unico I was met with a car break in. I had left my car other times at Unico with no problem, but this time 5 cars were broken into by local people. We know this because they used the stolen cell phone to call friends. The White County Sheriff was aware of the people responsible. But little could be done.

Bummer.
I was thinking about parking at Dicks Creek Gap this weekend and doing some hiking. I was worried about break-ins before hearing this. I guess I'll have to find somewhere to hide my truck.

Leave nothing expensive in the vehicle, the doors unlocked, and if the car has a distributor, take off the coil wire and bring it with you, or for newer cars, take out the starter relay and put it in your backpack. Of course this won't stop vandalism, but they won't have to break windows to find out there's no stereo and the car won't start.

If I knew where the distributor or starter relay was, I might consider this :)

I was happy that they did not take the old car...I never leave things in the car but this time we were on vacation to helen after the trip...I would like to know how to leave a car and not have these problems..

I had two tires slashed there in 2001. I have parked there and many other trailheads over the years and that is the only time I have had a problem. The sheriff acted like they never had any problems there before, but I pointed out to him that I had seen a burnt-out spot where a car had been parked only a month earlier. I don't know what the solution is, but when I resumed my weekend backpacking trip I parked at Woody Gap and used a cab out of Helen to get dropped of at Unicoi Gap (didn't want to temp them with the same vehicle left there only weeks apart). These acts of vandalism are pretty random and if the local authorities don't particularly care, I don't think there is much hope that they will ever stop.

Let me get this straight, the cops know who did it but won't do anything about it. That sends a good message huh.

I'm sorry to hear about the break-ins. However, I've left my vehicle overnight at both Unicoi (most recently 4 weeks ago) and Dick's Creek (most recently 2 weeks ago) many times without any problems. Hopefully this was just a one-off thing...

What day of the week did you park there?
I'm wondering if the break-ins happen on the weekends.
I'm also wondering if it makes a difference what kind of vehicle it is. Are new cars more tempting to vandalize?

The event took place over a weekend..and several cars were involved...there was little I could have done to pervent this event other than not leave the car there. The area had been safe for a long time and this came as a suprise to the community. There were cars , suv, and trucks involved.

Speaking of break-ins and thefts, an SUV was stolen from Damascus this past weekend while parked at the FREE lot near where the trail comes out of the woods NOBO. Also an SUV parked at Va. 603/ Fox Creek was broken into and they attempted to hotwire it and caused a fire in the console.

Never surprised about break-ins and thefts. Ever since hearing about a car set on fire near Erwin ( 19/23 highway?) a few years back, I conclude there are losers anywhere.
It would be worth an overnight to me some time this summer to do a stake-out to see if any vandals show up in that Unicoi lot again. Again, there are probably alot of that type going down the highway that look for easy thefts. Be nice though if the penalty for such a crime made the vandals scared straight about doing it, like maybe beating the crap out of them with the cops standing right there not lifting a finger!

Has anyone heard anymore recent events about parking at Unicoi ?