Section hike in Virginia (camping areas)

[711]

Hello guys/gals,

I'm doing a section hike in Virginia(Virginia Triple Crown) in August for 5 days doing 12-14 miles/day 60 total with a few other people. I'm starting at Rocky Gap(VA601) and ending at Daleville(US220). Since the shelters don't fit within our daily mileage plan, I was wondering about camping(with water nearby) between Sarver and Niday shelter like around the 682 mile mark by the Eastern Continental Divide area. I was also wondering about the camping by the dragons tooth and tinker cliffs area since I've read there is camping areas there. Also wondered about the Hay Rock area if there is camping areas there. If there are any "Don't miss sites" along this stretch, let me know. I'm trying to solidify my itinerary. Thanks for your input.

711
(Larry)

[Slo-go'en]

Camping is not allowed on Tinker cliffs and would be a really bad place to be if a thunderstorm rolls in. You will not find water except at the shelters on that section or the occasional stream crossing. For the most part, you are hiking a narrow, rocky ridge line. I would suggest you plan on staying at the shelter sites. Finding tent sites off the trail for several people along that section probably isn't going to be practical.

There is no water or anywhere to camp near Dragons tooth. Your best bet is to go out to the first road crossing and head to the Catawaba general store (a short 0.3) where you can camp behind the store. You can also get dinner and breakfast there.

[mtntopper]

Hello guys/gals,

I'm doing a section hike in Virginia(Virginia Triple Crown) in August for 5 days doing 12-14 miles/day 60 total with a few other people. I'm starting at Rocky Gap(VA601) and ending at Daleville(US220). Since the shelters don't fit within our daily mileage plan, I was wondering about camping(with water nearby) between Sarver and Niday shelter like around the 682 mile mark by the Eastern Continental Divide area. I was also wondering about the camping by the dragons tooth and tinker cliffs area since I've read there is camping areas there. Also wondered about the Hay Rock area if there is camping areas there. If there are any "Don't miss sites" along this stretch, let me know. I'm trying to solidify my itinerary. Thanks for your input.

711
(Larry)
There is no water at Eastern Continental Divide......Camping is not allowed at Dragons Tooth, MacAfee Knob, or Tinker Cliffs. Ridge runners are out patrolling those areas. There is water at Campbell Shelter and the adjoining pig farm campsite
There is water at Lamberts Meadow Shelter and the campsite there. Nidays shelter and campsite has water. There is no camping at Hayrock......There is no water available along the AT traveling north after you leave Lamberts Meadow area until about 1/2 mile before you reach Daleville........Dragons Tooth, MacAfee Knob and Tinker cliffs are very sensitive areas thus the no camping rules. A new task force is also out and about doing LNT education along these areas as well.

Usually there is trail magic along these areas. People provide/stash jugs of water at the road crossing look for them. Do try to arrange to stop in at The Homeplace restaurant. Some say this is the best home cooked food along the whole AT. They are open Thursday thru Sunday. There is a blue blaze trail from the AT that goes there or simply catch a ride from route 311 road crossing. Once you cross onto park service property you will see many unauthorized campsites........please don't use them. Our trail club tears down and brushes over them every weekend only to find more the following weekend. The section of trail that you are doing is real nice and heavily used, expect plenty of company, however August is not the best time to see it. Late Sept. or October would be better IMO.....Climb to the top of Dragons Tooth and enjoy the view. Have fun on your trip.

[711]

Sorry I haven't responded to either post guys. Thanks for the info. My group is excited to head out and we do so on August 12th and start hiking on the 13th. Any update on water situation from Rocky Gap to Daleville just under 60 miles? Thanks again for your input, it is much appreciated.

[Odd Man Out]

I hiked much of that section last summer:

5.4 miles in, just before you cross VA 42, you will cross a creek by a beaver dam. Pretty spot, but wait to fill you water since this creek flows through cow pastures. In just a mile later (by the VA630 crossing), there is a nice mountain stream (Sinking Creek) that looks much more inviting. I made the mistake of filling up at VA 42 and then decided to dump that water and fill up again at Sinking Creek. How much water you take up Sinking Creek Mtn depends on where you want to stop for the night. I carried as much water as I could (despite the weight) because I planned on dry camping on the top of Sinking Creek Mtn, which turned out to be the best camp site of my whole hike.

In less than 1/2 mile from the creek you get to the Kieffer Oak - the biggest oak in the southern AT. It is a popular camping spot. There were some car campers setting up there when I passed. You will probably want to go further.

9.4 miles from your starting point you will get to Sarver Hallow Shelter. This may not be far enough for you to go the first day. Plus this shelter is 0.3 miles and quite a few feet below the ridge, so getting there adds a bit of elevation gain/loss and mileage to the hike. I chose to skip that and keep going. However it would be a 15.4 mile day to get to Niday Shelter down the other side of the mountain. There are plenty of dry camping sites on the ridge between Sarver Hallow and the point where the trail drops off the mountain. parts of that ridge are wide and flat. Other parts are narrow and rocky. You can easily camp in the wide flat spots. I happen to find a little spot just big enough for a tent in one of the rocky ridges. I could see the sun go down on one side of the tent and rise on the other side. It was great. Take care on this section. There are a few places where the trail can be hard to follow in the rocks. In one place, there is an obvious trail that goes left when the real trail goes right through a narrow gap in the rocks. There is a blaze painted high on the rocks. I missed it twice and ended up in a dead end in the woods and had to backtrack. You can't get too lost. The ridge is narrow and the wrong trail dead-ends after only about 20 yards.

The guide marks a creek (Cabin Branch) part way down the mountain before Niday. I don't recall if it had water of if there were camping options there.

Assuming you camp up on Sinking Creek Mountain the first night, the end of your second day will be somewhere near Pickle Branch Shelter (25.5 miles total from the start point). This is another one of those shelters that is a bit off and below the trail. Another option would be to camp by VA 620 at Trout Creek (this is where I camped). This is a little used road so it's not like you will be camping in a crowded area. There is a large camp site by the road and the stream has good water.

My 2015 Thru Hikers Companion does not list a camping restriction at Dragon's Tooth, but others say there is. I do know that I saw several groups camping at Lost Spectacles Gap, just 1.0 mile down from Dragon's Tooth. By the way, that will be the toughest mile of the trip. It's quite a scramble.

The guide says the restricted camping section starts at VA 624 (the road crossing after Dragon's Tooth). I stayed at 4 Pines Hostel 0.4 miles to the right on VA 624. My knee was gimpy at that point and needed a short mile day (~8 miles from Trout Creek). Assuming you will want to push further, the next legal camp site will be 6.9 miles further at Johns Spring Shelter. I have been told that the spring at this shelter is not very reliable. Maybe someone has an update on water status here. Local trail angels often leave a water cache at the road crossing (VA 311) 1 mile before the shelter.

My gimpy knee prevented me from getting past McAfee knob, but about 1/2 way between Johns Spring Shelter and US 220 is Lambert Meadow Shelter and Campsite. This is often reported as being a nice camp site with reliable water.

So you could do:
Rocky Gap to Sinking Creek Mtn (12 mi)
To Trout Creek (12.3 mi)
To Johns Spring Shelter (14.8 mi)
To Lambert Meadow Camp (9.7 mi)
To US 220 (9.1 mi)

This gives you a tough day on day 3. Maybe someone has a better idea. With no legal camping between VA 624 and Johns Spring, it hard to break it up evenly.

[Deer Hunter]

Camping is not allowed on Tinker cliffs and would be a really bad place to be if a thunderstorm rolls in. You will not find water except at the shelters on that section or the occasional stream crossing. For the most part, you are hiking a narrow, rocky ridge line. I would suggest you plan on staying at the shelter sites. Finding tent sites off the trail for several people along that section probably isn't going to be practical.

There is no water or anywhere to camp near Dragons tooth. Your best bet is to go out to the first road crossing and head to the Catawaba general store (a short 0.3) where you can camp behind the store. You can also get dinner and breakfast there.

The store didn't look like it was still open when I went by it earlier in the year. Maybe it was just closed that day.