Art Loeb Trail Shuttle

[Hikingmaddie]

hey there!

I got a group of 4 people looking to hike the Art Loeb veterans day weekend. Is there anyone out there willing to shuttle us from the north end to the south early on Friday, November 10? The shuttles listed online seem outrageous in price... as students we don't quite have the budget for 125+ shuttles. any leads appreciated, thanks!!

-maddie

[Gambit McCrae]

It is an hour and a half shuttle ride thru the mountains. $125 is a very fair price. If you would like to eliminate the shuttle price, and not miss much of anything at all, I would park on Black Balsam RD off of the BRP and hike toward the northern terminus Until you get to cold mountain base tenting site.

$125/4= $31.25....Doesn't sound too outrageous to me. We split it 3 ways when we did the trip this February and thought that that was fair.

[Hikingmaddie]

We aren't nearby to the trail, so it gets expensive with our already existing travel fees. at 125 a shuttle we'd be better off driving two cars for the gas price. Appreciate the advice though!

[Mr. Bumpy]

Man. That is a long drive just to shuttle yourselves, plus it seems silly. There is no easy way to make that shuttle trip. You will be wasting daylight hours to do it during a time of the year that you can't afford to waste daylight.

You are in school? You might call up Brevard College. They have an active outdoor club that might be able to give you a hook up. There is a climbing gym in Brevard too. Rock Gym? The Bicycle Hub is there too and they might be able to help.

[Hikingmaddie]

thank you for the info! We could not find a shuttler besides the pura vida and the asheville airport shuttle. Harry (asheville airport) shuttled us all and was great. It was a cold weekend out on the trail but we enjoyed it. Can definitely see why so many people get lost, the trail has some very tricky portions with its lack of blazing. Definitely suggest the GAIA app with the GPS tracks - it saved us when we took a wrong turn at the Camp Daniel Boone - Cold Mountain turn off! Hope to return to the Art Loeb under less of a time constraint, and when its warmer again :)

[Gambit McCrae]

thank you for the info! We could not find a shuttler besides the pura vida and the asheville airport shuttle. Harry (asheville airport) shuttled us all and was great. It was a cold weekend out on the trail but we enjoyed it. Can definitely see why so many people get lost, the trail has some very tricky portions with its lack of blazing. Definitely suggest the GAIA app with the GPS tracks - it saved us when we took a wrong turn at the Camp Daniel Boone - Cold Mountain turn off! Hope to return to the Art Loeb under less of a time constraint, and when its warmer again :)

Curious as to the shuttle cost if you don't mind sharing?

[scrabbler]

If you would like to eliminate the shuttle price, and not miss much of anything at all, I would park on Black Balsam RD off of the BRP and hike toward the northern terminus Until you get to cold mountain base tenting site.

How much parking is available? Did you mean this as an out-and-back hike? If so, I'd recommend also going to the peak of Cold Mountain. There's a water source along the trail, the the view at the top is pretty much worth it. Some campsites along the trail too that for some reason dont seem mentioned much.

[Gambit McCrae]

How much parking is available? Did you mean this as an out-and-back hike? If so, I'd recommend also going to the peak of Cold Mountain. There's a water source along the trail, the the view at the top is pretty much worth it. Some campsites along the trail too that for some reason dont seem mentioned much.


Yes an out and back. I do not know how much parking is at this spot but it is a central spot for several trails including the MST. I walked right past the side trail to top of cold mountain, now I wish I had gone to the top. Good reason to do the trail again.

I do not think these sites you speak of are mentioned because they really encourage folks to stay at the shelters....LNT practices

[Mr. Bumpy]

There is a lot of parking at Black Balsam but the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed a lot of the year. You have to check with the parkway offices for closure times. There is year round parking at the boy scout camp where the terminus of ALT is and there is another nicer trail that goes up to shining rock allowing for a loop. Parking there is secure. There is year round parking on 276 at the Big East Fork, Shining Creek, and Old Butt. Loops or out and back from there. Parking on 276 maybe not as secure as at camp daniel boone but it is mostly good.

[scrabbler]

Ive done from Camp Daniel Boone to Shining Rock, that's actually a nice loop using the Little East Fork trail to get back to Camp Daniel Boone from Shining Rock. Is there another loop(s) that I could do to cover the southern sections that I havent done yet?

[Mr. Bumpy]

Ive done from Camp Daniel Boone to Shining Rock, that's actually a nice loop using the Little East Fork trail to get back to Camp Daniel Boone from Shining Rock. Is there another loop(s) that I could do to cover the southern sections that I havent done yet?

Not from Daniel Boone, the west side of the ridge, but there are several options for one or even two nights if you used the Big East Fork parking area on 276 - this is the east side of the ridge.

[Hikingmaddie]

dont mind! The cost was 150$. We ended up having 5 people total so per person it was 30$. The time loss would have been substantial if we drove two cars so in that regard it was worth it.