South bound hike in NC

[vucatsengr]

Hello all, new here and tried searching, but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Little backstory: I live in southern NJ. My six year old son and I are interested I hiking the JMT in 4 years, when he's 10 along with my nephew, who will be 18. Kid loves to be outdoors and we've done some hikes, but nothing overnight. To get a feel for whether this is going to be doable, I thought a few days out would fun for us.

We have a friend who lives in Charlotte, so the idea is that we would drive down and somewhere around the VA/NC border, my wife would drop us off and a few days later pick us up, maybe 40-50 miles down the trail. Meanwhile, she would take our daughter to visit the friend.


I’m looking for suggestions for a 40-50 mile hike southbound in NC. Something we could do in 4-5 days.

Thanks all!

[bigcranky]

If you're going to be around the VA/TN border, the best hike is from VA 603 Fox Creek trailhead sobo to Damascus. It's ~43 miles and is an excellent hike. It's not that far off the interstate for your wife.

[map man]

From Sam's Gap (I26) to Hot Springs is 44 miles. When your wife and daughter pick you up at the end of your hike you all might enjoy a little time in one of my favorite small towns anywhere -- Hot Springs.

My vote for most scenic hike in that part of the AT would be the 42.5 miles from US19E to Indian Grave Gap (TN395) -- it covers the Roan Highlands.

Ten miles a day seems like a lot for a six year old on his first backpacking trip but since your wife can pick you up anywhere you can always see how things are going and bite off less -- the best way to turn a kid off of hiking is a forced march type trip where you are trying to get in as many miles as you can, so be flexible.

And I hope the two of you have a wonderful experience.

[saltysack]

If you're going to be around the VA/TN border, the best hike is from VA 603 Fox Creek trailhead sobo to Damascus. It's ~43 miles and is an excellent hike. It's not that far off the interstate for your wife.

Best section in the south imo....great section with ponies and balds.....


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[Slo-go'en]

The time of year will be a big influencing factor for deciding where to go. This fall, next spring or next summer? Late spring is the best time - not too cold and yet not too hot. Lots of wild flowers, trees and bushes. Damascus south to Hampton, TN is a nice easy stretch which straddles the VA/TN boarder. Going north from Damascus threw the Grayson highlands is more scenic, but a bit more difficult.

[bigcranky]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the trail is not really anywhere near Charlotte, nor is it on the way -- dropping you at Damascus or Hot Springs or wherever is going to leave her a long and roundabout journey to the Queen City and back. Many hours out of the way.

If you could hike in Central Virginia, the trail parallels I-81 for a long stretch, with easy access from the interstate at many points long the way. You could, for example, hike from around Newport, VA, northbound to Daleville, which if I recall correctly is about 50 miles. You get Dragon's Tooth and MacAfeee Knob along the way, two classic trail locations. Or you could hike from Waynesboro southbound through some very big mountains with great views.

This isn't any farther from Charlotte in terms of driving time, but it's a lot less out of the way for her. It's a straight shot down I-81 to I-77 to Charlotte. Heck, it might be closer in driving time.

Wear blaze orange. Don't underestimate the trail. Once you pick a section, ask here on WB for a recent water report. Fall is generally more dry, though some places have had plenty of rain.

[Mr. Bumpy]

If you are looking at late fall-early spring consider King's Mountain very close to Charlotte. There is an 18 mile backpack loop that the state and federal parks share. You can extend the miles by using the Ridgeline trail (about 10 miles) which connects Crowders Mountain SP to the King's Mountain loop. We do this every winter between Christmas and New Years, and I can't say enough good about this little used but well maintained trail network, but I would not consider it at all from late spring through the summer.

[Tennessee Viking]

If you friendr is in Charlotte and you are coming from NJ, you might want to think about the SC's Foothills Trail or NC's Mountains to Sea Trail (parkway trail). If you want to go with the AT, I would suggest sticking around the I-81 corridor. Or I-40 or I-26 crossing to Hot Springs.

[vucatsengr]

All, thanks for the input.


From Sam's Gap (I26) to Hot Springs is 44 miles. When your wife and daughter pick you up at the end of your hike you all might enjoy a little time in one of my favorite small towns anywhere -- Hot Springs.

My vote for most scenic hike in that part of the AT would be the 42.5 miles from US19E to Indian Grave Gap (TN395) -- it covers the Roan Highlands.

Ten miles a day seems like a lot for a six year old on his first backpacking trip but since your wife can pick you up anywhere you can always see how things are going and bite off less -- the best way to turn a kid off of hiking is a forced march type trip where you are trying to get in as many miles as you can, so be flexible.

And I hope the two of you have a wonderful experience.

He'll be seven by trip time. As my brother-in-law says, he doesn't have a battery, he has a power cord. However, I'll keep our plans flexible so as to not do more than he can handle.


Another thing to keep in mind is that the trail is not really anywhere near Charlotte, nor is it on the way -- dropping you at Damascus or Hot Springs or wherever is going to leave her a long and roundabout journey to the Queen City and back. Many hours out of the way.

If you could hike in Central Virginia, the trail parallels I-81 for a long stretch, with easy access from the interstate at many points long the way. You could, for example, hike from around Newport, VA, northbound to Daleville, which if I recall correctly is about 50 miles. You get Dragon's Tooth and MacAfeee Knob along the way, two classic trail locations. Or you could hike from Waynesboro southbound through some very big mountains with great views.

This isn't any farther from Charlotte in terms of driving time, but it's a lot less out of the way for her. It's a straight shot down I-81 to I-77 to Charlotte. Heck, it might be closer in driving time.

Wear blaze orange. Don't underestimate the trail. Once you pick a section, ask here on WB for a recent water report. Fall is generally more dry, though some places have had plenty of rain.

Can you explain the part about wearing orange?

If I were to follow map man's suggestion of 19E to TN395, we could conceivably drive from home to somewhere like Elk Park, NC which is about the same drive time as to Gastonia, NC (the town the friend actually lives in, bit west of Charlotte.) That would leave about a two hour drive to Gastonia in the morning after dropping us off. Coming to get us at TN395 would be a bit farther, about 2.5 hours.

However, one of the other reasons I wanted to do this part of the AT was to be able to take the kids on a drive home up the Blue Ridge Parkway. My wife and I drove home from a visit there when she was pregnant with our son and we'd like to be able to do it again.

I will bring up the extra drive time with her, but I'm pretty sure she's going to be ok with it.

[Tennessee Viking]

As of right now, TN/NC are in hunting season. It would be advised to wear blaze orange.

If you go with Indian Grave to 19E, meet your friend at Mountain Harbour B&B at the 19E crossing or somewhere like Boone or surrounding areas if you are needing a hotel. Drop a car at MtnHarbour, and then shuttle to Indian Grave.

Then its just a short drive to Pineola or Linville (the closest parkway points to the AT).

The NC MST runs along several sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway around Asheville and Boone areas. However, camping is very limited north of Grandfather Mtn. You would be day hiking and getting picked up at a crossing at the end each day or find a friendly landowner. Trail guides @ http://www.ncmst.org/the-trail/trailguide/

[bigcranky]

Hunting season if you go now through the end of the year.

[vucatsengr]

Hunting season if you go now through the end of the year.

Gotcha. I thought I had added it to the OP, but we'll be going next summer. Sometime between late June and mid August. We don't want him to miss school.