View Full Version : Road to Whigg Meadow
Does anyone know right off hand how to access the road that goes up to Whigg Meadow on the BMT?
Is it not on the Nat Geo maps? (mines not in front of me, but Im going to have a look when I get home!)
SGT Rock
05-11-2008, 18:12
Walter would know best. I'll try to find my map.
But as I recall, that road is gated, and the gate was locked last time I went there.
Tipi Walter
05-11-2008, 18:34
They only keep it gated in the dead of winter, the time the Rock hiked thru. And only the last 1/2 mile is gated(or maybe at the bottom too, never checked it out). The rest of the year the road is open and dead ends at the top very close to the open meadow.
The way to reach it is to go up the Tellico River road and turn left onto the North River dirt road(21) and climb it until you see the turnoff junction with the Whiggs Meadow road(61 and 61B)and turn right. Personally, I think they ought to close the Whiggs road and let people get to it from Mud Gap and the Skyway(1.5 mile hike and up 500 feet), but the forest service wants to maintain this road and keep it open so who knows why.
In the winter camping on the Whigg is fine and solitary but in the summer(esp weekends), the rolling couch potatoes like to invade and they do manage to stumble a few hundred feet out of their cars to survey the bald. In other words, you never know who you'll see when camping up there in the summer.
Thanks folks. I couldn't find my map last night. It does show a gate. I was seeking a way up there to finish my trip but Tipi is probably right. Best just to go back to Mud Gap. And yes, you could tell the locals had been partying up there.
Ramble~On
05-12-2008, 23:34
They only keep it gated in the dead of winter, the time the Rock hiked thru. And only the last 1/2 mile is gated(or maybe at the bottom too, never checked it out). The rest of the year the road is open and dead ends at the top very close to the open meadow.
The way to reach it is to go up the Tellico River road and turn left onto the North River dirt road(21) and climb it until you see the turnoff junction with the Whiggs Meadow road(61 and 61B)and turn right. Personally, I think they ought to close the Whiggs road and let people get to it from Mud Gap and the Skyway(1.5 mile hike and up 500 feet), but the forest service wants to maintain this road and keep it open so who knows why.
In the winter camping on the Whigg is fine and solitary but in the summer(esp weekends), the rolling couch potatoes like to invade and they do manage to stumble a few hundred feet out of their cars to survey the bald. In other words, you never know who you'll see when camping up there in the summer.
There are a lot of write ups about the meadow and pond..it's a popular picnic spot a short walk off the Cherohala Skyway. I didn't know the access road was used for anything other than FS mowing...I agree with Tipi and I'd like to see the road closed..if you want to see it....walk.
Maybe with the fossil fuels being gobbled up at the rate they are and the climbing costs...maybe the "long drivers in the country" will have to stay home.
From Mud Gap, the walk is 1.5 miles. and it is alllll up hill. The kiosk sign says 'an easy walk..." not under a full pack!
The dirt road Eman is looking for ends right at the base of the meadow/hill. It was obvious that vehicles do get up there (someone did donuts at the top of the hill in the grass...) And theres a couple large fire rings with trash that would most likely be left by car people, not hikers. I think the local kids use it for a party spot.
Ron Haven
05-14-2008, 00:54
There are a lot of write ups about the meadow and pond..it's a popular picnic spot a short walk off the Cherohala Skyway. I didn't know the access road was used for anything other than FS mowing...I agree with Tipi and I'd like to see the road closed..if you want to see it....walk.
Maybe with the fossil fuels being gobbled up at the rate they are and the climbing costs...maybe the "long drivers in the country" will have to stay home.Spiritwind are you and Popcorn going to Trail Days this year?
Tipi Walter
08-27-2008, 17:50
From Mud Gap, the walk is 1.5 miles. and it is alllll up hill. The kiosk sign says 'an easy walk..." not under a full pack!
The dirt road Eman is looking for ends right at the base of the meadow/hill. It was obvious that vehicles do get up there (someone did donuts at the top of the hill in the grass...) And theres a couple large fire rings with trash that would most likely be left by car people, not hikers. I think the local kids use it for a party spot.
That little dirt track leading from the gravel deadend to the top of the meadow is 99% always closed and the donuts you see atop the bald are most probably made by forest rangers in their jeeps. One time I was camping up there on a foggy wet morning when a woman ranger unlocked the gate("Closed To Vehicles"), and drove past my tent to park next to a blueberry bush and pick berries. Donuts and blueberries, always a great combination. Wheeled donuts in the grass, that is. Ha Ha Ha. Didn't have the common decency to park and walk a few hundred feet.
Another time I saw some local yokel with his girlfriend in a big white pickup truck try to jump the rock boulders blocking the meadow entrance by the gate and he got badly wedged and illegally wedged over a rock. When the rangers got there we talked and one of them mentioned finding a "questionable substance" in the guy's truck. Oops. Seized his truck. Immediate payback is gratifying. Never underestimate the blind urge to keep rolling as expressed by the Rolling Couch Potatoes, etc.
This past Saturday, I tried to drive my rent-a-car over a small tree that had fallen across the FS road on the way to Whigg Meadow. The car got hung up, and I nearly drove off the road down a steep embankment trying to back off it. After about 30 embarrassing minutes, I figured out what to do, and got the car over the tree. At the Whigg, there was a bunch of guys holding a bachelor party, and one of 'em had a very sharp axe - which I borrowed and chopped the tree out of the road.
You live - you learn. :o
Tipi Walter
08-27-2008, 18:04
This past Saturday, I tried to drive my rent-a-car over a small tree that had fallen across the FS road on the way to Whigg Meadow. The car got hung up, and I nearly drove off the road down a steep embankment trying to back off it. After about 30 embarrassing minutes, I figured out what to do, and got the car over the tree. At the Whigg, there was a bunch of guys holding a bachelor party, and one of 'em had a very sharp axe - which I borrowed and chopped the tree out of the road.
You live - you learn. :o
Good post. There are some STEEP falloffs along that stretch of road. One time I was walking down it in the winter and it was a sheet of ice and I fell like a sac of feed. BTW, check out my recent BMT post about an upcoming trip.
BTW, check out my recent BMT post about an upcoming trip.
Saw that Walter. I'm leading a hike on the Jeffrey Hell Trail - South Fork of Citico Creek to the BMT on Saturday the 13th. The day before I'll be bushwhacking to an old growth stand in the Citico Creek Wilderness.
I appreciate the heads up however!