PDA

View Full Version : Roan High Knob Shelter vs Overmountain Shelter



Ernest Snomin
05-29-2014, 14:45
I'm section hiking next month and would like to get some opinions on what people's thoughts are on Roan High Knob Shelter vs Overmountain Shelter. I can reach either on the same day of my trip. Which would you stay at? Which has a better view? Thanks for sharing!

Lone Wolf
05-29-2014, 14:51
i hate shelters and don't use them but if was to choose it would be Overmountain shelter hands down. awesome view from the barn

FarmerChef
05-29-2014, 14:53
Overmountain easy. The RHK shelter is dark and dingy. Overmountain is a bit drafty as all old barns go but LW is right, the view out the front is amazing.

TNhiker
05-29-2014, 15:02
if you have a tent, and have the energy---camp up at little hump mountain.........

get water at overmountain shelter area (trail for water is before you get to shelter)......

that will help you avoid the shelter and get some views.....

ive only been near overmountain shelter once and didnt stay there as (and this was not during thru hiker season), close to 30 people staying in the shelter......

or you can tent camp right outside of overmountain.......

Kerosene
05-29-2014, 17:20
I'll echo TNhiker's suggestions: (1) Tent on Little Hump, a mile or two after Overmountain; (2) Overmountain; (3) RHK Cabin. Even at 6,000+ feet, the enclosed RHK Cabin could get a bit stuffy on a hot day, but if it is really windy and rainy then you will know it from within the Overmountain barn (but you should be able to stay dry all the same).

fudgefoot
05-29-2014, 22:23
I would take Overmountain hands down over Roan High Knob. It is one of my favorite shelters on the AT. Set up your tent overlooking the valley for a great view.

ChinMusic
05-29-2014, 22:31
Overmountain for sure. Be leery of tenting on Little Hump if the weather is questionable at all.

The Ace
05-29-2014, 22:31
I would take Overmountain hands down over Roan High Knob.

I wish someone would take them; all of them; far, far away.

Ernest Snomin
05-29-2014, 22:42
I'm surprised no one has sad stay at Roan High Knob Shelter. I recall staying at the shelter on Mt Rogers and loved it. I'm guessing it's not an elevation thing. Sounds like there is NO view and the shelter is worn a bit. Am I wrong?

ChinMusic
05-29-2014, 22:53
I'm surprised no one has sad stay at Roan High Knob Shelter. I recall staying at the shelter on Mt Rogers and loved it. I'm guessing it's not an elevation thing. Sounds like there is NO view and the shelter is worn a bit. Am I wrong?

There is simply no redeeming qualities to RHK when compared to Overmountain. It really is an easy call.

Lone Wolf
05-29-2014, 22:54
I'm surprised no one has sad stay at Roan High Knob Shelter. I recall staying at the shelter on Mt Rogers and loved it. I'm guessing it's not an elevation thing. Sounds like there is NO view and the shelter is worn a bit. Am I wrong?

it's a dump

Papa D
05-30-2014, 00:43
Overmountain Shelter is a cool old barn - I think you'll like it.

Astro
05-30-2014, 00:50
Overmountain Shelter, it really an old barn utilized as a a shelter. Room to tent close by and still able be use the tables of the shelter (barn) and see the awesome view. I have fond memories of my stay there last summer (more the view, uniqueness of the barn, and people I met).

Studlintsean
05-30-2014, 00:59
I didn't read any of the responses but I did this hike 4 weeks ago. I stayed at Overmountain and pitched my tarp next to the barn and it was awesome. Great spring, great campsite, 3/4 of a ****ter. What more do you want?

Tennessee Viking
05-30-2014, 09:51
Most definitely the Barn. Better early morning views. Better tent sites.

Since Roan High Knob is so rocky and rooted, you have rude hikers that don't dig catholes.

Ernest Snomin
05-30-2014, 11:44
I think it's an obvious choice. Thanks everyone!!

ryanwflynn
05-30-2014, 14:43
Overlook for sure and if going north, Mount Laurel Hostel next night. One of the best breakfasts on the trail. Somebody left a fire going unattended from night before on hump Mtn. when I hiked on my thru. Not cool.

Gambit McCrae
05-30-2014, 14:55
RHK isnt a bad place, its very shire like up there. But no fire, its always been cold up there for me, and its kinda dark in the shelter. Overmountain is my choice.
This comes from 4 night son RHK, and 3 nights at Overmountain. 4 seperate trips

Astro
05-30-2014, 16:33
Overlook for sure and if going north, Mount Laurel Hostel next night. One of the best breakfasts on the trail. Somebody left a fire going unattended from night before on hump Mtn. when I hiked on my thru. Not cool.

Did you mean to say Mountain Harbour (instead of Laurel).

MuddyWaters
05-30-2014, 18:07
Id avoid the shelter, but overmountain wins anyway. If weather is good tent on a bald with 360 views and experience an awesome sunset and sunrise.

ChinMusic
05-30-2014, 18:23
While I have not seen the movie, I have read that the Overmountain Shelter is used in the 1989 movie "Winter People". Watch at your own risk.

Bati
05-30-2014, 20:47
There is simply no redeeming qualities to RHK when compared to Overmountain. It really is an easy call.

I have to disagree, since I believe shelters are best when you need them, not when the weather's pleasant. I stayed at Roan High knob and was VERY glad to have four walls. My biggest complaint was that there was so much snow and ice on the ground and the trail to the spring wasn't blazed. We got scared of falling while trying to find the spring and I ended up pumping from the snow melt trickling over the ice on the trail instead. Our fears were justified: the trail took a tricky turn not far past that shelter where at least 2 thru-hikers broke arms the day after I passed through. But you shouldn't have an bad weather issues in June, so enjoy camping out somewhere if the weather's nice.

ChinMusic
05-30-2014, 20:55
You do realize that Overmountain is a barn, right? It has PLENTY of shelter from Mother Nature.

GoodGerman
06-04-2014, 09:27
Overmountain is a barn with holes and cracks in the walls. Also it has a lot of nails sticking out of the ground and is mice infested.

The sleeping platforms in front of the shelter are pretty exposed too.

Nice area with pretty view. The barn isn't really that great though.

Sent from my GT-I8750 using Tapatalk

RED-DOG
06-04-2014, 09:52
I have never stayed at either but on both of NOBO's thru-hikes i camped at the little shelter thats between those two "i forgot it's name" it's a really great place to camp with an AWESOME water source, but no i don't think i would like sleeping in an old barn, i only been down to overmountain shelter once and i didn't like what i saw so i hiked on.

RED-DOG
06-04-2014, 09:55
I have never stayed at either but on both of NOBO's thru-hikes i camped at the little shelter thats between those two "i forgot it's name" it's a really great place to camp with an AWESOME water source, but no i don't think i would like sleeping in an old barn, i only been down to overmountain shelter once and i didn't like what i saw so i hiked on.
Stan Murray shelter is the name.

Old Hiker
06-04-2014, 10:21
Hiked by Overmountain - looked very pretty from the Trail, but too early to stop. I should have walked down to look - one of my 2016 things to do: slow down - check out stuff.

Roan High - steep, rocky trail going up, but was in a very nice, deep shaded grove - pine? hemlock? Most of the branches for several hundred meters around were snapped off up to head level, though. I just looked inside and tented outside, about 50 meters up the slope. Most of the uphill ground around the shelter was cleared off pretty well. No problem finding a clean place to tent. I recall it was cold, cold, COLD that night.

Regarding Little Hump - there were several tenting places at the base of Hump Mountain, plus a good water supply. Had several college students there when I hiked past. Got to talk with some Education majors, which was neat. They were getting college credit for hiking and camping !!

Traffic Jam
06-04-2014, 15:54
I stayed at Overmountain Shelter last week. It's a neat structure but it was crowded and noisy and I did not enjoy staying there. Fletcher, the ridge runner, did a great job educating some unseasoned hikers about cutting down trees for firewood and taking up all the space on the platforms. If you see Fletcher, take a few minutes to talk to him, he's very knowledgeable about the wildlife and plants in the area.

SouthMark
06-04-2014, 22:56
Like most everyone else I would go with Overmountain Shelter hands down. Spent a wonderful night there in October in a storm. I was cozy and warm hanging in in my hammock in the loft. When I was last at Roan High Knob it was a low of 2 degrees, 4 ft drifts and 35-40 mph wind and I stayed outside. The shelter was dark, cold and drafty.
BTW, did you know that the barn, Overmountain Shelter, was used in a movie. A log cabin was built beside it but was removed after filming.

RangerZ
01-30-2019, 22:10
Overmountain by far. Except for the privy.
44564

RHK was in the right place on a cold rainy day for a rest and warm lunch. But it's a dump.

My trail notes say that I was cold and wet, almost hypothermic. Lunch, etc helped and I hiked the seven miles to Overmountain. I thought about staying at RHK but just couldn't, it would not have been healthy.

Nathan428
01-30-2019, 23:36
Overmountain was beautiful, and it was fun to camp in the upstairs portion of the barn. But it was crowded as hell, and from my one night's experience, crowded with some rude and entitled campers.

Gambit McCrae
01-31-2019, 09:17
Overmountain was beautiful, and it was fun to camp in the upstairs portion of the barn. But it was crowded as hell, and from my one night's experience, crowded with some rude and entitled campers.

I do the Carvers to 19E section once a year, used to do it twice a year. There are many ways to skin a cat but this is my rendition these days...

Friday night hike sobo up to roan high knob
Saturday backtrack back down past the car for some breakfast beers and start heading over to the balds
Saturday night camp at Doll flats, usually some campers there but not near the amount as the Barn.
sunday sleep in, quick jaunt down to 19E

I have stayed at the barn I believe 5 nights, and have really enjoyed staying at Doll Flatts :)

Tennessee Viking
01-31-2019, 18:36
The Barn
Long valley views, old barn converted shelter, view Yellow Mtn Bald, on-site privy, large sleeping areas, lots of camping, .5 to nearest trailhead, a bit drafty, mice, idiots poop around the shelter because they can't wait for the privy, water near shelter or down road

Roan High
In the treeline, no views, 4 wall shelter, no privy - idiots poop around the rocky areas instead of cat-holing in the woods, create place in blizzard on Roan Highlands, water source behind shelter, not much camping

If you want to camp on the Balds, then the Grassy Ridge site.

full conditions
02-01-2019, 13:05
The Barn
Long valley views, old barn converted shelter, view Yellow Mtn Bald, on-site privy, large sleeping areas, lots of camping, .5 to nearest trailhead, a bit drafty, mice, idiots poop around the shelter because they can't wait for the privy, water near shelter or down road

Roan High
In the treeline, no views, 4 wall shelter, no privy - idiots poop around the rocky areas instead of cat-holing in the woods, create place in blizzard on Roan Highlands, water source behind shelter, not much camping

If you want to camp on the Balds, then the Grassy Ridge site.
Sorry to hear that the RHK shelter is falling on hard times - I stopped in on my first thru in '76 and it was a falling down wreck. Came back with my wife in the early '80's during peak rhododendron flowering season to find it fully restored and we had the place to ourselves for the afternoon and night - deep, dark, quiet spruce-fir forest less than a quarter mile from overflowing parking lots and milling throngs.

bus
02-25-2019, 20:38
The Barn


If you want to camp on the Balds, then the Grassy Ridge site.

Is the Grassy Ridge camping site near the Cornelius Peake plaque ?

Hoping to do some of the balds this spring and summer with my eight-year-old son.

devoidapop
02-25-2019, 21:13
The Barn


If you want to camp on the Balds, then the Grassy Ridge site.

Is the Grassy Ridge camping site near the Cornelius Peake plaque ?

Hoping to do some of the balds this spring and summer with my eight-year-old son.

If the weather looks rough, and it can be rough on Grassy Ridge, it's an easy hike to the Stan Murray shelter and a much more protected campsite and you have a 3 sided shelter if you really need it.

SawnieRobertson
02-25-2019, 21:43
it's a dump

But at least it is well known as a dump.

TNhiker
02-25-2019, 22:06
[QUOTE]Is the Grassy Ridge camping site near the Cornelius Peake plaque ? [/QUOTE




if one takes the grassy ridge split from the AT-----it dead ends in a little field area...

can camp there..

and there's a spring a touch to the north i believe.....its downhill a little bit...

Emerson Bigills
02-25-2019, 22:52
As the majority have said, OM shelter is a better spot to stay at. More scenic and lower elevation, more protected. Having said that, on my 2017 thru, I had vowed not to get stuck spending the night at the Roan High shelter. As luck with have it, it snowed for several days well beforehand, but had warmed up and snow north of Erwin was starting to dissipate. I decided to stretch some miles and relented to stay on Roan because all seemed well. About at the 5000 ft mark, probably not far from Ashe Gap, the trail started collecting snow and within a few hundred yards, the snow melt had refrozen and was a solid sheet of ice for the entire way up to the summit/shelter. It took me about 1.5 hours to make it and I was so relieved to see the old fire warden's cabin in the dark. There was another thru already in there. To close the story, by the end of the night there were 15 people that had crammed into the two storied shelter, including a group of spring break college students from FL, who were still in good spirits, but shocked. Temps were down into the low 20's and the wind howled as usual.

Roan Mtn is always a beast. Never underestimate it.

ldsailor
02-26-2019, 12:45
If you stay at Overmountain, either be sure to get a spot in the loft or pitch a tent. I stayed there a couple of years ago and couldn't get into the loft. It was full, so I stayed on the lower open platform. That night a cloud bank moved in and soaked everything. It didn't rain, but the moisture in the cloud covered the building and did its thing. After that I found out, that cloud banks moving in over the shelter is not uncommon.

Geez, I got sucked into another 5 year old thread. I got to start watching those OP dates.