Back at the end of November, I went hiking in Roan Mountain State Park. Though there are a lot of good trails in the park, I chose the Forest Road Trail. The trail-head is right across the road from the Visitors Center. The week prior, I had hiked the Cloudland Trail and up to the old Peg Leg Mine – see previous articles for details.
I didn't really plan how far I would go - the entire trail from start to finish is about three miles long. I hiked about half of it - from the trailhead to the place where the path turns back and crosses the highway right before a narrow but well-kept bridge over Doe River. The trail was challenging - lots of ups and downs. It made me wish I'd had those hiking poles I mentioned a couple of weeks ago!
The blazes that mark this path are bright purple and easy to see, although there are a few spots where it takes a bit of time to find the next blaze. It is worth taking the time to make sure you stay on-path - even though the highway is always on your left, you can't always see or hear it, and it isn't worth the risk of getting lost to save a few minutes. There are some other spots where the trail is extremely steep - much easier to climb up than pick your way down. The deep leaves hide knotted tree roots and stones, so be careful walking.
Near the intersection with the highway, the track branches north-west, toward the Miller Homestead and Chestnut Ridge. This is a trail for experienced hikers (according to the sign). I will hike it in the future, but I definitely want to have hiking poles first.
I think this was the one of my favorite hikes. Portions of the trail were challenging and gave me a great work-out. The weather was good, but if there were snow on the trail, I’d rethink this hike – too much steep uphill/downhill for easy snow-hiking. On December 26th I’m planning to hike the rest of this trail, so stay tuned!
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