View Full Version : Laurel Creek Shelter
Kerosene
09-05-2005, 20:00
Basic 6-person wooden shelter with picnic table. Surrounded by trees, so very little sunshine gets through. Water from nearby Laurel Creek (duh). Not sure about a privy.
BlackCloud
05-21-2007, 10:24
Although there's plenty of room for several tents near the shelter, the shelter itslef was a messy hole as of 05/20/2007.
Nice water source is very close by, right off the AT. They actually blue blazed a 10' trail.....
Good sized privy off to the right. Lots of good tenting spots and hammock trees.
Is this area a good place to take a couple of 7 year old girls on an easy backpack?
ChinMusic
04-20-2010, 16:22
Is this area a good place to take a couple of 7 year old girls on an easy backpack?
I would think it to be a good choice once thru-hiker season, NOBOs, has passed. You got easy access from the blue blaze trail or from Dennis Cove. You got the option of heading over Pond. You got the waterfall.
It's a nice place. I just don't think I would want to take little kids there during NOBO season......but that is just me.
edit: I had the shelters mixed up......sorry
Kerosene
04-20-2010, 19:18
I would think it to be a good choice once thru-hiker season, NOBOs, has passed. You got easy access from the blue blaze trail or from Dennis Cove. You got the option of heading over Pond. You got the waterfall.
It's a nice place. I just don't think I would want to take little kids there during NOBO season......but that is just me.ChinMusic, I think you're thinking about Laurel Fork Shelter, not Laurel Creek. Laurel Fork is near Dennis Cove, Tennessee, at about milepoint 406, while Laurel Creek is in Virginia, south of Catawba, at about milepoint 655.
If I recall, Laurel Creek Shelter would be pretty accessible for kids from one of the road crossings in Sinking Creek Valley, but outside of walking through pastureland to get to the woods, I don't recall any nearby viewpoints.
They're not old enough to care about viewpoints, mostly they like rocks in the trail. :D We thought the area was interesting because one girl is Laurel, the other is Kelly, and they have a sister who attends VT.
VTATHiker
04-22-2010, 20:47
You might consider hiking north from rt. 311 towards John Spring Shelter. That shelter is ~ 1 mi from the road and if it's crowded (it can be during NOBO season) then Catawba Mtn Shelter is ~ 1 mi farther along. It's only a 35 min drive from the VT campus too.
These are little girls we're talking about, so it may be more important to point out on the map, "Look, there's LAUREL Creek" since one is named Laurel, and to the other, "Look, this hill is KELLY Knob" since the other is named Kelly. We did have them on an 8 mile backpack in PA last year, over rocks, kinda toward the end of NOBO season, and they appreciated seeing (especially women) thrus but we tented apart and we tried to keep the encounters from being mutually bothersome.
I'm sure there are a whole lot more notably scenic spots we could be driving that far to from PA. And Kelly's always been disappointed there never seem to be Kelly bushes on a hike to look at, only laurel bushes.
In any case we (or, more specifically, I :) ) would be carrying a six-man tent so it may be more important to know if the tent sites in the general vicinity of the shelter are far enough upwind to be outside haze of pot smoke, or whatever - and how drivable/parkable the FR a couple miles away is (sorry, don't have my maps here).
Easy to park. They'll have to climb the stiles. The walk up to the shelter is pretty easy. The walk to Kelly's Knob can be difficult. I doubt you'll run into any dope smoker party types. It's too far from the road.
FarmerChef
11-12-2012, 16:29
Anyone know what the current condition of the shelter and tentsites is? I see that the last post in this forum was 2006 and I'm sure much has changed in the last 6 years. I'll be hiking in after dark and would appreciate any tips on finding tent sites and the privy. If the water source is Laurel Creek that should be easy enough as we'll cross it SOBO.
Berserker
11-19-2012, 13:39
I'm not sure if I'm replying to your questions too late or not, I was just there last September. The creek is the water source, and you will cross it right before you get to the shelter. There is a decent amount of room around the shelter for setting up several tents, but the one big issue with the whole area is that there are a lot of dead trees. My buddies and I tented there one night and had no issues, but then there was no wind that night. I wouldn't tent there if it is windy. Make sure to check out the trail log as there is a funny story in there from a hiker who was out there in the La Darecha wind event this past summer. As for the privy, if you are facing the shelter it is located about 50 yards (if that) straight to the right of the shelter.