Tapoco Lodge is re-opening and is now TRAIL FRIENDLY!

[SGT Rock]

Friends and neighbors, good news!

Let me back up a bit first and give you some background. Tapoco Lodge has been around since the 1920's and very historical. When Earl Schaffer made his long walk the Lodge was up and running on the original AT and he even mentions walking past it on his way up to Deals Gap. When the BMT opened that section in 2005 it was only 0.5 miles from the BMT and was a good spot for BMT hikers to get a room and some food. The Lodge was closed in 2010 just as I was starting to print my BMT Thru-Hikers Guide which was a darn shame.

But that year it was bought by a businessman from the local area who had gone off to Florida and made his fortune. His vision was a swank mountain retreat for high classed big money spenders and I was warned that they did not include hikers in that list of VIPs. Darn hiker trash! In 2011 I decided to ignore the warning and give the new owner a shot. We went to the restaurant and were enjoying an expensive pizza when a man that introduced himself as the new manager asked me what I thought of the new place and the service. We told him we enjoyed it very much, then I introduced myself as a guidebook writer for one of our nations premier long trails and that this trail came very close to his establishment. I asked him if I could get some information about the Lodge under it's new business plan and include it in the next edition of my guidebook...

And here is the truth I swear: That man looked at my wife and I like a bag of crap someone had lit and thrown on his doorstep. He didn't speak another word, just turned his back and walked away. All I could think was "good luck with this enterprise pal, you will be out of business in a coupe of years with an attitude like that". Turns out it was about 3 years, so I was close. In the intervening years we rerouted the trail so it actually goes right in front of the Lodge now too, so it was a shame that it was a place forlorn to hikers.

So this December the business goes up for auction. I assumed with all the money the last owner dumped into it that we were looking at someone with deep pockets and a similar business plan. I just sort of wrote off the idea of ever getting back in there for hikers. I didn't hear what it sold for, but it did go. Then just a couple of weeks ago I get an e-mail from Dick Evans (Beowulf on the forum) that there is a possibility that we might be approved a reroute of the BMT that would avoid the crossing of Slickrock Creek and would include some of the best hiking in the Wilderness with Bob Bald, Naked Ground, Haoe, the Hangover, etc. At that point I said "if only the Lodge were in the hands of hiker friendly people I'd love to come right off Yellowhammer Gap and go down that old road into their place and cross the street right to our new section". Last week I got another email from him saying the new owners are going to be interested in the "Adventure Traveler" (i.e. bikers, hikers, backpackers, kayakers, etc) and want to talk with us about hikers, their new business plan, and CONNECTING THAT OLD ROAD TO YELLOWHAMMER GAP!

Today I got off work at 0600 after pulling a 12 hour shift and met with the new owners, the manager, the PR rep, and members of the BMTA; and it was a great meeting! I am so excited that I can hardly stand it. Here are some high points:

1. They are opening 11 lodge rooms and 8 cabins with a total of 20 cabin rooms (you share cabins). Rooms start at $100 which is steep. But they said if you put 2, 3, or 4 or whatever number in a room, the price would be the same. So if 4 hikers split a room it wouldn't be that bad.

2. Though they don't have anything now, they were open to the idea of a bunkhouse/hostel sort of place for hikers. I saw a couple of storage buildings that were nice and looked like they hadn't actually been used for much of anything in a while. I think there may be potential here.

3. Showers.

4. No guest laundry now, but they were open to the idea of offering that by putting in machines or possibly with a laundry service for guests.

5. They are going to have a make your own pancake bar for breakfasts. Right on the river!

6. They are going to have a burger, pizza, etc restaurant downstairs so you can get a meal most any time they are open. Also right on the river.

7. They are going to open the dinning room for meals and have a real Chef.

8. They are opening that trail to the gap. I walked up and saw the workers brush cutting and sawing out blow downs. There is about 1/2 mile that needs some sidehill work and it still needs blazing, but it was about 1/2 mile from being open enough to hike when I left today. I'll add that the manager (who is also the son of the new owner) isn't a newb on this. He is a professional trail maintainer for the GSMNP and talks the talk. He had two guys from work that are off now due to the season working with him to open that trail and a network of local trails that are tied into the NFS trails in the Nantahala NF which abuts them on all sides. The NFS rep has worked with them to get this open too!

9. They plan to be open 11 months of the year! January is the only real down month they plan to have. They are planning to only be open on the weekends February and March, but they will still have their property opened to hikers all year round!

10. Mail Drops!

11. Open to the idea of getting someone in the local area for shuttles around the local area. That may mean runs into Robbinsville for supplies.

12. They want to be in the guidebook. But more than that they want to have their own guidebook for the area so guests can have hiking options laid out for them when they get there. They may even employ some of us who already write for the BMTA to create this for them. I don't feel I am the right person for what they want, but our section guide authors are and I have all the trail data they need to offer.

13. They are interested in having a beer fest style fund raiser to help us with the costs of our trail signs necessary for the relocation when it gets approved. I'm in, maybe some of you would join us!

14. The manager and the PR rep are practically my neighbors here in the Walland area. We even know some of the same people.

15. A bar!

I'm leaving some other stuff out until it gets approved. You may have already guessed what that could be. I hope to be a very busy guidebook author come this next years update. I'm sure there is also some things I am omitting by accident, but it is all very good news. I'll also say that maybe this is karma, the last owner sunk a lot of cash into the Lodge getting it very nice, and now the new owner got the benefit of all that at auction prices. So we had to put up with a few years of no service but get a super nice lodge and hiker destination RIGHT ON THE BMT!

[July]

Great news! Thanks for the update Sgt Rock, looking forward to a future lodge visit.

[blackwater slim]

Walked past it back in October with all the expected thoughts of "what a great place that could be". All the above is good news for the BMT and trekking in general for the area. Sounds great. And thanks for all you do, Sgt. Rock.

[mrcoffeect]

That has to be karma at work. The trail might not give what you want, But when its right it will provide for your needs.

[gubbool]

A quick look to see if I could find what the auction price revealed ...

Tapoco, NC – On November 7, 2014, J.P. King Auction Company auctioned the Historic Tapoco Lodge , originally the town of Tapoco nestled on the renowned Tail of the Dragon mountain pass in North Carolina for $2.563 million.

“This is the largest real estate sale of this type in Graham County of which I am aware,” remarked Mack Tallant, Partner, Tallant Law Office, P.A. Tallant is a leading real estate attorney in Graham County and has been involved with the historic lodge property for many years.

http://www.jpking.com/index.asp?r=3888&p=News&story=J.P.%20King%20Auctio n%20Company%20Announces%20Historic%20Tapoco%20Lodg e%20%20and%20Two%20Waterfront%20North%20Carolina%2 0Properties%20Auction%20for%20%20more%20than%20$4% 20Million


And the search revealed that the folks in the various Miatas clubs had the same feeling about the place as did Sgt Rock.

...and I noticed that Sgt Rock didn't post the gps coords for me to add it and the patch to my map.

edited to add...

Sgt Rock might tell the owners that they need to announce their opening by joining and posting something on the Miatas forum http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=557895

[SGT Rock]

I'm sure that their PR person will do exactly that. She's a pistol.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

[Tipi Walter]

Thanks for the input, Rock. If they decide to open up the new trail option, would it be a permanent BMT re-route, avoiding Fodderstack/Farr Gap/Stiffknee/Slickrock Creek?


I hiked the new re-route (Yellow Creek Mt) last year and passed by Tapoco lodge as above. It's right across from the Meadow Branch YCMT trailhead.


Here's Yellowhammer Gap and the mysterious Belding trail which I believe runs behind Tapoco Lodge and comes out in what used to be a protected watershed, or at least used to have a metal sign saying such in the gap itself.

[TNhiker]

I stayed there when it was under the old owners and it was very cool....

sadly I didn't get there til after dark as I was driving after work and then didn't tour the facilities the next day...

but it when I saw it closed and the price they were asking---holy cow...

and i thought it was a shame as there's all the history behind it and the dams and the whole area..

ever since then, within the last few years mainly, virtually every weekend is pass it and the gate was shut...

Couldn't understand how they kept in business...

glad to hear the change (and to be honest--100 bucks in that area isn't that bad) but I wonder if they will do enough business..

i think once they get back to the biker and car club crowd (which was a huge chunk of their business when I stayed there)---they may have a chance....

after it closed---I stayed once at another biker resort thing in a cabin just to get closer to trailhead in morning...


glad to hear that they'll welcome us hiker trash.....

and curious about this reroute especially since I was on the BMT (fodderstack) this weekend.....

does this mean cutting the fodderstack stiffknee way?

and take the trail over to bobs and the hangover area down the big fat gap and then over to yellowhammer gap and down that way to lodge?

i had alway wondered about that other trail at yellowhammer gap but heard stories about trespassing etc etc......


and I don't have a map in front of me---but there's also another trail that comes from that area through the lodge property and crossed big fat gap road and goes up to one of the hunting shelters.......

two years ago, it seemed like someone was flagging and clearing that trail out for some reason....


anyways---glad to hear lodge is getting outta the hoity toity crowd and back to us regular folks....


if you need some company for scouting the route---I may be game.....

[TNhiker]

Looks like me and tipi crisscrosses our messages but yeah, the belding trail is what I'm referring to----looking at the map, it seems to come down yellowhammer branch and then takes a right at the end of the road in the lodges property and heads over to big fat gap road, crosses it and goes over to deer creek hunter lodge and then out somewhere after that (that's where my map ends).......

I hope that even if the BMT wouldnt use that chunk going over to big fat (and it wouldn't make sense to) that at least the owners could open this trail back up.........

[SGT Rock]

Thanks for the input, Rock. If they decide to open up the new trail option, would it be a permanent BMT re-route, avoiding Fodderstack/Farr Gap/Stiffknee/Slickrock Creek?

That is what I would like to see. I think that the slope of Ike Branch is unsustainable, as it is I've had to rebuild side hill a couple of times on that section. If the trail gets too much foot traffic in wet weather it could lead to more erosion. I think there is a good possibility of a reroute happening.

Here's Yellowhammer Gap and the mysterious Belding trail which I believe runs behind Tapoco Lodge and comes out in what used to be a protected watershed, or at least used to have a metal sign saying such in the gap itself.

The Belding Trail is supposed to come out where that suspension bridge crosses the river on US129. There is also a trail in the area that isn't on all maps called the Bear Creek Loop Trail. It is actually what the trail that goes down to Tapoco Lodge from Yellowhammer Gap is supposed to be a part of.

My opinion on the BMT reroute (and this is my personal opinion not the BMTA position) is that it should go to Bob Bald from Cold Spring Gap and stay on the ridge through Stratton Bald, Naked Ground, Haoe, and then go down the Hangover Lead Trail, that would make the Hangover a short side trip. This would add the Bob as a great location on the trail and include it and Naked ground as good potential campsites as well as the Hangover of course. Then past the start of the Hangover Lead there is that great spot on the side of the trail I call "The Lunch Spot" which is my favorite break spot. From that point I would follow Hangover Lead to Big Fat Gap and then out Windy Gap Trail. I know that staying on Hangover Lead all the way to Yellowhammer Gap seems the logical route, but I think that Windy Gap trail has a few good campsites and views that the north half of Hangover Lead does not. Then once you get down to 44 (Nichols Cove Trail) follow it to the Grave where there is that as a point of historical interest and a good campsite not to far from there. From there take Yellowhammer Gap Trail to Yellowhammer Gap and then take what I am currently referring to as the Tapoco Lodge Trail to US 129. This route of Windy-Nichols-Yellowhammer Trails would make the trail 1.7 miles longer than going straight down Hangover Lead but I think it would be less steep (that north end of Hangover is STEEP) and it would offer more camping, water, and historical points of interest over doing the shorter route. I intend to list this in the 2016-17 guide as the high water alternate route if the BMTA does move on this. But I think they will likely do something like this route. It would cut about 5 miles off the BMT from it's current length if it does follow the path I'm proposing.

There are a couple of potential campsites down this trail from Yellowhammer Gap. You might be interested in checking this trail out as 0.3 miles down it from the gap is a good sized spring and a flat sort of area that could be a good potential campsite. If that doesn't work out then 0.2 miles past that there is the intersection of this side creek and Yellowhammer Creek at another good flat area that could be a good potential campsite. The benefit to long distance hikers is they could camp here prior to going into the Lodge the next morning. They could walk into the lodge and get some breakfast and a mail drop, then do some laundry and shower (if they work that out for customers who don't stay) before getting some lunch and moving on up the trail.

I haven't been out on Nichols Cove-Yellowhammer tails in some time, last time I was there some blow downs needed cleared and I didn't have any tools with me for that. I assume since this new route would omit my current section that I would probably want to take over Big Fat Gap down to the Lodge as my section to maintain. Walter, have you been that way recently and if so how is it looking?

[TNhiker]

I do like that your reroute suggestion goes down windy gap instead of the hangover lead north----that one was real steep coming outta yellowhammer gap and makes more sense with the campsites down in the Nichols cove area....

im really surprised that tipi hasn't suggested the reroute go down the Nutbuster section of Slickrock creek.

[SGT Rock]

I did have some thru-hikers trying to use my current high water route and got misplaced. They were complaining about how ridiculously hard it was swinging from tree to tree and it still ended up on a creek anyway. After some investigation I discovered that they ended up going down the nutbuster.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

[Tipi Walter]

I haven't been out on Nichols Cove-Yellowhammer tails in some time, last time I was there some blow downs needed cleared and I didn't have any tools with me for that. I assume since this new route would omit my current section that I would probably want to take over Big Fat Gap down to the Lodge as my section to maintain. Walter, have you been that way recently and if so how is it looking?

Everything has changed in the last year due to some tremendously bad weather with high winds and ice storms. And the dead hemlocks are really starting to shed their wood as trunks and branches fall.

The last time I backpacked the Yellowhammer/Nichols was May 2014 and they were okay then but I gotta say, coming up Ike Branch/BMT from Calderwood Lake/Slickrock Creek trail shoved me into the WORST BLOWDOWN I'VE EVER SEEN because you know how steep a small section of Ike Branch can be and right there in the worst part of the trail was the BEAST which took me 40 minutes to get thru. Past it the trail climbs and parallels little Ike Creek and finally levels off into a nice campsite where I was camping once when you and your son passed thru years ago.

I do like that your reroute suggestion goes down windy gap instead of the hangover lead north----that one was real steep coming outta yellowhammer gap and makes more sense with the campsites down in the Nichols cove area....

im really surprised that tipi hasn't suggested the reroute go down the Nutbuster section of Slickrock creek.

There are tradeoff with both routes, the regualr Farr Gap route and the new reroute. Steepness is all relative as yes Stiffknee has a steep section (and the problematic Slickrock crossing) but then Hangover Lead South from Hangover Mt to Big Fat Gap has some rugged sections as well, though nothing like the Nutbuster. Tread erosion could happen on Hangover Lead South too, especially on the ridge slog down past the "cave". But THANK A MERCIFUL GOD that the re-route will not include the Hangover Lead North option. That trail has one of the worst straight ups-and-downs of any trail in the area, including Jacobs Ladder on the AT by Stecoah Gap.

Speaking of which, I remember seeing Momma Goose and Jet Lag and others pulling Rock's earlier Bob re-route and I gave them CAREFUL DIRECTIONS on the Bob to pass thru Naked Ground and get to the Hangover AND THEN turn left down to Big Fat Gap on the Hangover Lead South Trail. Well, they did not. Instead they turned left in Naked Ground and took the Nutbuster down. Have they been heard from since???

[SGT Rock]

Everything has changed in the last year due to some tremendously bad weather with high winds and ice storms. And the dead hemlocks are really starting to shed their wood as trunks and branches fall.

The last time I backpacked the Yellowhammer/Nichols was May 2014 and they were okay then but I gotta say, coming up Ike Branch/BMT from Calderwood Lake/Slickrock Creek trail shoved me into the WORST BLOWDOWN I'VE EVER SEEN because you know how steep a small section of Ike Branch can be and right there in the worst part of the trail was the BEAST which took me 40 minutes to get thru. Past it the trail climbs and parallels little Ike Creek and finally levels off into a nice campsite where I was camping once when you and your son passed thru years ago.

I hiked through those in November with my work buddy Juan. They were no joke. Since then Jeremy from the Forest Service went up there with Dick Evans and cleared all the way to Yellowhammer Gap on the Ike Branch Trail. It should be open as of December.

There are tradeoff with both routes, the regualr Farr Gap route and the new reroute. Steepness is all relative as yes Stiffknee has a steep section (and the problematic Slickrock crossing) but then Hangover Lead South from Hangover Mt to Big Fat Gap has some rugged sections as well, though nothing like the Nutbuster. Tread erosion could happen on Hangover Lead South too, especially on the ridge slog down past the "cave". But THANK A MERCIFUL GOD that the re-route will not include the Hangover Lead North option. That trail has one of the worst straight ups-and-downs of any trail in the area, including Jacobs Ladder on the AT by Stecoah Gap.

You paint that picture better than I did to the board. But I think we have them seriously considering the Windy Ga-Nichols Cove-Yellowhammer option.

speaking of which, I remember seeing Momma Goose and Jet Lag and others pulling Rock's earlier Bob re-route and I gave them CAREFUL DIRECTIONS on the Bob to pass thru Naked Ground and get to the Hangover AND THEN turn left down to Big Fat Gap on the Hangover Lead South Trail. Well, they did not. Instead they turned left in Naked Ground and took the Nutbuster down. Have they been heard from since???

Yes, Dick Evans and I met them at Fontana Village after that adventure. Since then I've been in contact with Momma Goose about bringing some veterans from "Walking off the War" on the BMT next year. I hope we can make that happen as I believe in that cause very strongly. It closely resembles an idea I floated out there in 2009 and I am pleased as punch that someone has taken that sort of idea and made something positive out of it.

[TNhiker]

But THANK A MERCIFUL GOD that the re-route will not include the Hangover Lead North option. That trail has one of the worst straight ups-and-downs of any trail in the area, including Jacobs Ladder on the AT by Stecoah Gap

i haven't done Jacobs ladder yet but was real surprised how steep hangover north was......

I did it that time when I first met ya when you were down camping just below the cemetery......

nothing i had read about that trail mentioned exactly how this pull would be........

[SGT Rock]

I hate Jacobs Ladder. But I think you are right, Hangover north might be worse.

[TNhiker]

looks like i need to do jacobs ladder to compare the two...........

[SGT Rock]

Not really.