Originally Posted by
ki0eh
I'm the maintainer for that section. As noted there is no water at Yellow Springs by the mailbox, and there is an old hole that you don't want to stumble into (sticks thrown on it, seem to become firewood and disappear).
The hollow a quarter-mile south of there on the A.T. will have water in it, early-season. In a normal summer, that will dry out. There is a very early seasonal spring about 1/2 way from the mailbox down into the hollow. I would skip that one, most likely a dog was in it 5 minutes before you came.
The Yellow Spring itself, is down the side trail (on the "east" side of the AT) about 1/3 of a mile, and then to the left in a side hollow without a well defined or marked path directly to the spring. It is yellow, naturally occurring acid drainage. You could bushwhack from the village but that's only for the novelty.
Trail-north on the A.T., from 1/3 of a mile to about a mile out, there is a succession of swampy spots, with a couple of relatively well defined clear springs on the right side of the trail, feeding the swamps.
Trail-north of the mailbox 2 miles, on the west is the side trail to "The General". Then, a quarter-mile out, next to an illegal campsite in a rhododendron glade, is a perennial stream (this year, it's often been high enough to hinder day-hikers going over to "The General"), possibly even more reliable than the Rausch Gap shelter spring.
2.3 miles give or take north of the mailbox, on Trail-east side is Cold Spring Trail, blue blazed. Don't get excited, the Cold Spring is a mile laterally and 700 ft elevation down, off-trail to the south between the old RR bed and the hunters' parking area. A very vague faded orange trail passes it.