Damascus area advise

[FreddieFox]

Planning a hike for six on AT and/ or Damascus area trail. Wishing for a 23-28 ml loop. Any suggestions?

[Siestita]

For good trailway and great scenery, simply park your vehicle at the backpacker lot near Massie Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park. From there do an "out and back" trip to Whitetop Mountain on the AT , about 23 miles total. The views are great, and slightly different, both going out and returning.

Or, to vary the return trip a bit, at Elk Garden and/or Deep Gap switch from the AT to a slightly lower elevation parallel path, the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail. Mt. Rogers (Virginia's highest mountain, but in the woods, without a view) and White Top (open, scenic, and also accessible by road) are the area's highest spots.

Or, a slightly shorter alternative could go something like this: Massie Gap to northbound AT (take access trail from backpacker parking lot)-AT northbound to Pine Mountain (via Wise Shelter and also Scales)-Pine Mountain Trail to rejoin AT at Rhododendron Gap--AT southbound to Deep Gap--Deep Gap to Massie Gap, via the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail. That loop is perhaps 20 miles long.

Camping is no longer permitted right at Deep Gap, but there are good camp sites nearby. About a hundred and fifty yards southbound from Deep Gap an unmarked side trail leads uphill from the AT to those camp sites. Separately, a good spring is located 10 minutes down hill from Deep Gap, accessed via a side trail)

The balds of the Crest Zone (Grayson Highlands S.P., Scales, Rhododendron Gap, etc.) are deliberately kept open, and thus remain very scenic, through grazing by free roaming ponies and also in some places by cattle. Some trail segments have a western look.

Areas that have been granted "Wilderness" designation are separated from the open balds by fences. Those protected wilderness tracts have, in the natural course of things, become forested.

Some of the horse trails are a bit rocky and thus hard on one's feet, but they frequently compensate with good views. It's necessary, of course, to occasionally move politely off of those trails to allow horses and riders to pass by. The horse trail from Scales up to Rhododendron Gap is very scenic, offering more open views than the parallel Pine Mountain trail has. That Pine Mountain foot trail ascends through forest within a wilderness tract.

[FreddieFox]

Thank you! So much helpful information! I so want everyone on this trip to have a good experience and there are great options here! Thank you, thank you.