The loop around Trout Lake

Difficulty: This is a very easy hike. The trail is in good condition. Most is gravel; some is on the paved driveway. It’s almost entirely level, with a very slight grade at one point, and a very short but quite sharp grade up at another. It’s about a mile. Excellent choice for people watching their knees or at the very beginning of a walking regiment. Wheelchair use is a possibility [see below].

Dog walkers: easy trail for older dogs [well, any dogs]. Lots of interesting smells, which, if they’re not on a lease which they are required to be, they may run off thru the rhodos to chase, and get seriously lost.

From Trout Lake parking area [Trailhead 1], take the access trail that’s at the far end of the parking area. Turn left at the bottom [you can turn any way you’d like; my directions are for turning left]. You’ll find yourself entering a small hemlock forest. The remaining hemlocks are virgin, never timbered. To your right is Trout Lake.

Wildlife: As you walk along the trail, you’ll notice trees gnawed by beaver. You’ll also see small paths heading to your left or down to the lake. Deer use the paths, as do the beaver and fisherpeople.

That is, the beaver come up from the lake, cross the trail, and head up into the woods, looking for delicious young and tender trees. My supervisor from my rangering days with the NPS, Gene Redmon, predicts that one day the Park lakes will look like someone dropped a bomb, as more and more of the trees are gnawed and felled by beaver.

Best time to see the beaver: very early morning or very late in the day. You can see their lodge this winter.

In about 5 minutes you’ll come to a small cascading waterfall on your left, at a small footbridge. It’s always lovely but for me is loveliest during June when rhododendrons bloom.

The trail forks past the waterfall. [Section B heads up the mountain.]

Bear to the right. You’ll hear the creek to your right that flows from the waterfall into the lake. You may spot the waterfowl in here, such as the Canada geese performing their morning ablutions.

Also, a [wild] mother duck raised 5 [last time I saw them] ducklings on the lake this last year.

The fowl tend to hang around the dam area. Early in the morning they head up to the side of the lake just below the waterfall. You’ll see them, tails up, head down, feeding there. They also like to sit on a long log that’s partially submerged.

Many wildflowers line the trail throughout the season [April through November], such as this wood sorrel.

In about 5 minutes you’ll emerge from the woods. A mother snapping turtle laid her eggs to your right, just after you cross the footbridge. I was surprised she chose such an exposed spot. I believe the eggs didn’t survive the many dogs passing this way.

The lake will be on your right. You’ll notice a square structure with wire mesh around it. It allows the overflow water to pass through the dam and down to your left. The mother duck and her babies used this structure to hide when they were young enough to swim through.

Most of the walk around Trout Lake is wooded. The dam is kept clear of trees or undergrowth so this is the spot to get the largest panorama view of the lake. Unlike Bass Lake, Mr. Cone kept Trout Lake wooded. Riding in a carriage, one caught a glimpse of it as one drove by: a lake settled in a Southern Appalachian hardwood forest.

In the Spring, the hillside flowing down to your left is resplendent in wildflowers. A small meadow, it’s a sea of buttercups before the NPS comes through and mows.

[If you park at Trailhead 2, this is the spot you’ll pick up the trail.]

Wild waterfowl use the lake on their yearly migrations, such as these Canada geese.

Bear to your right after the dam. A lot of folks choose this area to fish, especially with children. It’s also where Fish and Wildlife stock the lake.

Those are rhododendron petals flowing behind the duck on the lake. [You may recognize this picture. I’m using it a lot on postcards.]

Soon you’ll be back in the woods. Bear right at the next fork [the left fork will take you over Flannery Fork Road and up toward Moses Cone Manor house]. You’ll cross a small creek that often has new beaver dams both up and down creek. Soon you’ll come to the driveway that leads to Trout Lake parking area. Turn right.

If you enjoy beaver, keep your eyes glued to the right at the lakebed. The beaver have built several dams at this upper end of the lake. It almost looks like land. If you see fresh rhododendron leaves, you’ll know that part of the dam is being repaired.

Walk along the driveway until you reach the parking area, about 5-7 minutes. Watch for cars!

Rich Mountain, part Moses Cone park on the Blue Ridge Parkway, is comprised of several trails that inter-loop.

Directions: From Boone, take Hwy 321/221 toward Blowing Rock. Turn onto the Parkway. Look for mp 294 and turn left at the next entrance. Go about a city block and turn right on Shulls Mill Rd.

Directions: From Blowing Rock, take Hwy 221 from the stoplight in Blowing Rock that’s next to the Speckled Trout restaurant and the Timberlake Gallery. Go about a mile and turn right onto the turn for the Parkway and Shulls Mill Rd. Immediately make a left turn onto Shulls Mill Rd.

Directions: From Foscoe/Banner Elk/Valle Crucis: Take Hwy 105 to Shulls Mill Rd. Pass Hound Ears and continue on up Shulls Mill Rd. [You’ll come to Trailhead 4 first, on your right; then entrance 3, on your left. You’d make a sharp turn to your left to enter Trout Lake parking area, Trailhead 1; or, turn left on Flannery Fork to get to Trailhead 2 at Trout Lake dam.]

You’ll drive underneath the Parkway. Immediately after the underpass, Flannery Fork [gravel] turns to the right. Shulls Mill bears to the left. [Trailhead 1] Between those [straight ahead] lies the driveway that leads to Trout Lake Parking area.

Trailhead/parking is at several locations:

[Trailhead 1] Trout Lake Parking area.

[Trailhead 2] Turn right and drive about a mile. There’s room for about 4 cars to pull to the left side of the road, next to Trout Lake dam.

[Trailhead 3] Drive straight ahead about ½ mile. There’s room for about 4 cars to park on the right. This is the exit drive from Trout Lake parking area. Also, there’s a gate at the trailhead.

[Trailhead 4] Drive straight ahead about 2 miles. There’s room for about 2 cars to park on the left. This is in a sharp curve and nothing marks this location. You would park and walk back up Shulls Mill about a block, cross the road, and climb up wooden steps, one of the trailheads to the Mountains-to-
Sea Trail. It leads to, then joins, Rich Mountain Trail]. Until it joins the carriage trails, it’s a small footpath through the woods and entirely uphill.

Character of the Rich Mountain inter-looping trails:

Moses Cone designed these trails as part of his 25+ miles of carriage rides that wound around his estate. Mr. Cone wanted for himself and his visitors the chance to experience the southern Appalachian environment. He intended his carriage trail system to provide the opportunity. I’ll often touch on the many, many ways he designed the trails to highlight the environment.

The trails were designed for horse-drawn carriages, so none are steep. They are wide and graveled. They are ideal for groups and also for folks such as me who are watching after their knee joints and don’t do well with a lot of clambering up and down steep steps.

Today, walking, horsebackriding, horse-drawn carriages, and cross-country skiing are permitted on the trails. Bicycles are not allowed. Fishing is allowed on the lake but nothing else [no dog swimming or washing of dogs, no boats of any sort, no walking on ice, no swimming]. Pets must be on leashes. Stay on the trails and don’t pick the wildflowers. You’ll want to enjoy them there the next time you hike and so does everyone else. Remember, wildflowers are the stage in a plant’s life necessary before they transform into seeds. Forests don’t automatically regenerate once they’ve been plundered. If you have any doubt about that, look closely as you hike. You won’t find the expensive and showy wildflowers, such as the Showy Orchids or Yellow Ladyslippers, within sight of any of the readily accessible trails.

Wheelchair access: The NPS has not designed this area as wheel-chair accessible, but it is possible with proper caution. The loop around the lake is level; just a slight grade. The NPS no longer uses the very fine gravel of Mr. Cone’s choosing so it’s not quite as easy or comfortable as it would have been in his day, but it is possible. Park at Trailhead 1, Trout Lake Parking area. Go back down the driveway that leads into the parking area. This does mean you’d be in competition with cars so be careful. About 1/8 mile on your left will be a slope down off the driveway onto the trail that loops around the lake. It’s a short and gentle slope. Eventually the loop comes back up to the driveway. At that point there is be a short but [for a wheelchair] fairly steep rise up to the driveway, and then you’d be using the driveway for about ½ mile to get back to the parking area, so would be on the road. That might be too dangerous. The better choice would be to stay on the loop around the lake until you reach the dam, then turn around and come back. For a wheelchair bound person, this trail offers the chance to see waterfowl, beaver activity [sometimes a beaver], and a waterfall, as well as rhodos, wildflowers, virgin hemlocks, fungi, so it’s pretty special. The trails up to the Colt house site and the gazebo are possible too, for a motorized wheelchair or someone strong pushing a wheelchair, but it is a climb. A sole person in a motorized wheelchair would want to know that there are two weighted gates to be negotiated [the weight causes the gate to close; the gates are for enclosing cattle]. You’d also want to know that the trail from Trailhead 3 to the Colt house is steeper than the remainder of the carriage trails.

I’m going to divide the Rich Mountain trails into four sections:

1. The loop around Trout Lake
2. The climb up from the waterfall to the Colt house site
3. The climb up from Trailhead 3 to the Colt house site
4. The loop from the Colt house site up to the gazebo and back to the Colt house site

Each section will be covered in detail in an upcoming post.