View Full Version : Davenport Gap to Hot Springs
My wife and I are doing Davenport Gap to Hot Springs this April. We have for day for the 37 miles. I was wondering which way is it best hiked? North to South or South to North? Thanks for you help.
Blissful
12-01-2010, 10:02
Either way is nice. I thought it easier southbound but it may be because I was in better shape :)
:) In true Whiteblaze fashion I'm going to vote for the other way - Northbound.
I don't remember anything difficult except the climb up Snowbird Mt. which you'll do first thing. I do remember walking into Hot Springs NOBO thinking that I'd hate to be coming the other way.
Blissful was a hiking machine when she got there. :)
SouthMark
12-01-2010, 11:03
As Blissful said either way is nice. I too thought it easier southbound. Snowbird is a tough climb NOBO and almost right at the start.
CrumbSnatcher
12-01-2010, 11:21
both ways are nice, but i would IMO rather finish up in hot springs. good way to wind down hanging out in hot springs for a day or even a few hours. you can walk right into town and take care of the food mood you will most likely be in. and might be easier leaving your car in town? either way i hope you have a great hike
StorminMormon
12-01-2010, 12:31
Just hiked this two weeks ago. I'm not going to lie, the hike from I-40 to the top of Snowbird Mountain was tough. Just don't be in a rush and get an early start...you'll get there. If you head NOBO then the worst is over after the first day. After that...MUCH easier, and I have to agree, it's nicer to walk into Hot Springs then heading out from there and stopping in the "middle of nowhere" (i.e., Davenport Gap).
Cookerhiker
12-01-2010, 13:13
I hiked it southbound as part of a long section-hike (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=84052) Allen Gap to Winding Stair Gap. So it was on only my 3rd day and thus I wasn't in the best of shape yet although I had been working out.
I remember the ascent out of Hot Springs being not as difficult as I had expected. Sure statistically, the trail ascends over 3,000' but I thought the trail was very well-graded and I made it 15 miles in rainy weather to Roaring Fork Shelter even with a late start after indulging in Elmer's breakfast.
Re. Snowbird, I remember thinking wow, this is underrated. Everyone talks about Max Patch which is higher but I was quite impressed with Snowbird and wondered why it didn't garner the publicity & reputation of Max Patch. According to my journal: "..The ascent up Snowbird went up and up and up – over 1,400’. At 4,260, it’s not as high as Max Patch but the climb from the north is more arduous [than Max Patch]...."
Don't remember much about the descent from Snowbird into Davenport and there's not much in my journal but I'll take the word of those who said northbound is more difficult. OTOH, hiking into Hot Springs is nice too. Overall it's a great stretch and you can't go wrong either way.
Kerosene
12-01-2010, 21:38
If you end in Hot Springs then you can get a nice meal and/or a few beers at the Iron Horse Station on the north side of town just before the French Broad (by the railroad tracks, of course).
Did this two weeks ago Northbound. Same trip. Choose this direction to have Bluff Mtn shuttle us down and we left our car at the trailhead parking lot in Hot Springs.
It will be great either way. I do wish that we had planned to sleep/camp up or near the mountain tops rather than in the gaps near the shelters. Stays light that much later and gets light that much earlier (dry out tent a little extra in the AM from the condensation in the cold).