Rueben the Cobbler
12-12-2014, 21:40
I am planning to hike the Rogers Ridge Trail in Johnson County TN. It's a 6.2 mi. Hike to the balds but is also only 0.5 mi. From TN-VA-NC tri-corner. I would like to continue past that on a road that eventually comes out at Whitetop, VA but I do not know how much is private property. Has anyone hiked this section?..... Or hiked through a different trail past tri-corner ?
Check with Mount Rogers Outfitters or Sundog in Damascus they can tell you where the trails are in there. I have gone in from the Pond Mountain side but not the Rogers Ridge Trail.
Alleghanian Orogeny
12-13-2014, 08:17
With the addition, in recent years, of Pond Mountain, NC within NC's state-owned lands, I believe the trail off of the end of the road which approaches from the VA side is now public land. The NC side is managed by the Wildlife Commission as game lands, so access during hunting season requires caution, but to the best of my knowledge one can drive the Virginia county road from Whitetop Station (Route 755) where the Creeper Trail begins), follow it into NC, then enter the Pond Mountain tract. If that's correct, then one can road-walk to Whitetop Station, thence to Whitetop Gap (@US 58), thence to the Whitetop community just east of the gap. I believe the Pond Mountain tract includes Glenn Knob (aka Glenn Bald, Glenn Mountain) and the ridgeline connecting it to the northeast end of Rogers Ridge within a couple hundred yards of the Tri-Corner monument. Be aware you can make a loop or otherwise complete a one-way by hiking up the Gentry Creek Falls trail, passing above the falls, then switchbacking up to Rogers Ridge, which runs parallel to Gentry Creek for all of its length. The Gentry Creek Trailhead is just past the Rogers Ridge trailhead. Gentry Creek can be a preferred route when lots of horsemen are using the Rogers Ridge Trail, which I believe is a designated horse trail under the Cherokee NF trail system use system. AO