View Full Version : Favorite Trail Names, I mean names of trails
Looking over some of my maps today I saw a few of my favorite trail names, not to be confused with trail names, uh...I mean... you know what I mean. I thought I'd share a few.
Chunky Gal Trail- N.C.- Runs from the AT to US64 in the Standing Indian region.
Old Butt Knob Trail- N.C.- Connects the Art Loeb Trail at Shining Rock with the Big East Fork parking area on US276. (Crosses over one of my favorite Mountain names- Dog Loser Knob.)
Boogerman Trail- N.C.- Located in the Cataloochee Area of the Smokys.
Junnywhank Falls Trail- N.C.- Located in the Deep Creek Area of the Smokys.
Sweat Heifer Trail- N.C.- Connects the AT 1.7 miles North of Newfound Gap and the Kephart Prong Shelter and Trail.
If I think of others I'll post them. I'd like to see how many other interesting names we come up with.:banana
Profanity Trail -Vermont, a VERY steep side trail up Mt. Mansfield
Donut Hole Trail, Thunderswamp Trail - Pa.
grrickar
01-17-2005, 19:18
I recall seeing Smackass Gap on an AT map once. Anyone know it's whereabouts?
When I passed Swinging Lick Gap in '96 or '97 I noticed that someone had used a knife to change the L to a D. I thought it was funny and I usually don't applaud vandalism but it was begging to be done. It was probably Lone Wolf! ;)
Dances with Mice
01-17-2005, 20:50
On the Benton Mac / Duncan Ridge Trails, about 5 miles north of the AT at Long Creek Falls, the trail(s) pass through Bryson Gap (not named for THAT Bryson) which is between Big John Dick Mountain and Little John Dick Mountain.
Don't usually see so many mountains with both first and last names! I mean, it's not Fred Springer Mountain or John Long Falls...
Sleepy the Arab
01-17-2005, 21:16
I recall (at least) one fellow at Rice Field Shelter chortling over the "Flat Peter Trail."
walkin' wally
01-18-2005, 08:33
The Freezeout Trail - in Baxter Park
Screw Auger Falls Trail - near Gulf Hagas, Maine
Pinch 'Em Tight Trail in the Red River Gorge area of the Daniel Boone National Forest, near Slade, KY.
Ramble~On
01-18-2005, 13:05
"Stiff Knee" "Tear Britches" "Hangover" "Naked Ground" "Jeffrey Hell"
Tha Wookie
01-18-2005, 13:22
Damnation Creek Trail, Redwood NP
Footslogger
01-18-2005, 14:16
How about "Dismal Creek" or "Dismal Falls" in Virginia. Hit it on a bad weather day and the name seems very appropriate.
'Slogger
AT 2003
grrickar
01-18-2005, 18:31
There is a Dismals Canyon in North Alabama. It's actually a nice area, so not sure where the name came from.
Kerosene
01-18-2005, 19:05
Agony Grind southbound from NY-17.
halibut15
01-18-2005, 19:12
I recall seeing Smackass Gap on an AT map once. Anyone know it's whereabouts?
Smackass Gap is somewhere west of Winding Stair Gap on US 64 in North Carolina, I think between there and Hayesville. :bse
halibut15
01-18-2005, 19:15
Pickens Nose Trail in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness is always a nice one.
zephyr1034
01-18-2005, 21:36
Not a trail, but central Virginia has a Purgatory Mountain. It's near the Priest, the Friar and others in the "Religious Range." I guess the area was settled by Catholics.
Then there is always Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky...... ;)
http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/parks/bigbone.htm
Happy Hikin
steve hiker
01-19-2005, 06:30
This is not the name of a trail but a bend in the Mississippi River. When I was younger I worked on towboats pushing grain barges from New Orleans to the upper Mississippi around St. Louis. Just north of Baton Rouge the river makes a sharp bend, the inside of which is known as Free N!99er Point. It is where freed slaves settled some years ago.
While I was on the river the Coast Guard or whoever changed the name on official maps, but that didn't make any difference to the river pilots. It continued to be in radio transmissions and otherwise, and always will be until the river washes it away, Free N!g9er Point.
zephyr1034
01-20-2005, 02:38
[QUOTE=steve hiker]This is not the name of a trail but a bend in the Mississippi River. When I was younger I worked on towboats pushing grain barges from New Orleans to the upper Mississippi around St. Louis. Just north of Baton Rouge the river makes a sharp bend, the inside of which is known as Free N!99er Point. It is where freed slaves settled some years ago.
================================================== ===========
In the early sixties, one of the side creeks feeding into White Oak Run was labeled ****** Run on a park publication. A publication put out by the United States Government, no less. A few years later, it had become Negro Run. On recent maps, the stream is nameless.
While deplorable, things like this are an undeniable part of American history.
Bmillonduhat
01-20-2005, 21:06
Caldwell Fork Trail...a.k.a. The Boogerman Loop in N.C.
SavageLlama
01-20-2005, 21:44
Agony Grind - name of a wicked steep descent (when going northbound, obviously a climb for SOBOs) on the AT near Harriman State Park in NY.
Anybody have any to add? It's been a while.:sun
Quiet Chuck
09-01-2007, 21:19
Tumbledown trail. Somewere in ME
Is it just me, or are names of trails in the southern Appalachians more colorful than the names of trails in the west?
Is it just me, or are names of trails in the southern Appalachians more colorful than the names of trails in the west?
Er..no. :)
Sangre De Christos? (Blood of Christ mountains )
Rio de las Animas Perdidas? ("The River of Lost Souls" in the San Juans)
(I love the above..sounds like something out of an Indiana Jones movie!)
Temple Pass ?(Wind River Range)
Jackass Pass? (Wind River Range)
etc..etc.
There are some boring names in both places (How many Deep Gaps and Brushy Mtns are there on the AT ?!??!!?!? And god knows how many "Bridal Veil Falls" there are out West !!!! )
Jester2000
11-17-2009, 20:17
While on the Long Trail Funkee and I passed a sign for the Babcock Extension Trail. We stopped for a photo and made it funnier by covering the "Bab" part with a hand.
Point taken, Mags. BTW, good things were said of you at the BMTA annual meeting in Coker Creek TN last weekend.
alphawolfe
11-17-2009, 20:47
Just got back from Utah a few weeks ago and I hiked up and over a saddle just to the north of Sadies Nipple (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lon=-111.4121151&lat=37.9166535&datum=nad83). I was wondering how it got its name and later someone informed me that 'Sadie' was apparently named after a farmers milk cow many years ago. Kinda ruined it for me :)
Jack Tarlin
11-17-2009, 21:33
All sorts of good place names on the A.T. tho topping "Chunky Gal Trail" would probably be hard.
Stayed one night at "Jenny's Knob" shelter with a young lady named Jennifer; that was pretty amusing.
Swinging Lick Gap has been mentioned, likewise Big Butt Mountain, etc.
One memorable might in Tennessee I almost died of the cold camped out on a place called "Frozen Knob".
And yes, it was.
BTW, good things were said of you at the BMTA annual meeting in Coker Creek TN last weekend.
Lies. All lies. ;)
Ox97GaMe
11-17-2009, 22:39
I liked the Peek-a-Boo trail in Canyonlands National Park. It went out to Charlie Bunyon's Potty.
There is the Desolation Trail in the Whites.
Ox97GaMe
11-17-2009, 22:41
This got me to also thinking about trail blazing. Ive seen rectanglar blazes of white, blue, yellow, brown, gray, orange, red, and pink. Ive seen diamond shaped blazes, and round blazes.
The most unusual one I saw was on the Sheltowee Trail. Their blazes are yellowish/brown turtles.
Anyone seen any other unusual blazing?
The Dead Woman Hollow trail is a pretty steep little side trail in PA just south of Pine Grove Furnace.
On Peters Mountain (PA) just trail-north of the eponymous shelter the A.T. encounters the Victoria Trail. Just south (Trail-east) of the A.T. is an overlook from the said Victoria Trail. Since it's not obvious from the A.T. treadway and not marked, it is "Victoria's Secret."
The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area boasts the Maude's Crack, No Business, Shot Off Cliff, Hippy Cave, Parch Corn, and Dump Trails.
BTW, if you didn't already know, place names containing "lick" refer to clearings or water sources that attract wildlife for water, salt, or ash.
Funkmeister
11-18-2009, 18:09
I recall Mt Chocura in NH having a path named the "Fool Killer" trail.
Jester2000
11-18-2009, 18:31
Highcock Knob.
shades of death trail... which is only about a mile long, though a field and has an elevation gain of about 40 feet. not sure who named it but it sure let me down
Chaco Taco
11-18-2009, 19:19
This isnt atrail but a creek on the AT METALLICA CREEK:banana
Wampahoofus trail, on the forehead of Mount Mansfield. A few miles south on the LT from it's junction with the aforementioned Profanity Trail.
A plus... the trail's as fun as it's name.