WHERE THE NEW RIVER BEGINS
Great hike down to Laurel Falls today in the Pond Mountain Wilderness Area of the Cherokee National Forest in TN. It’s northwest of Mountain City and just a 1.5 hours from Creston. Beautiful drive too!
The hike is about 4.6 miles roundtrip to the falls, with more than 100 stone steps down. But worth the walk. Sun hits the water around noon if you are going swimming and it’s still cold!
We hadn’t been up Three Top Mountain since 2011 and this early summer adventure did not disappoint. Streams and small waterfalls were flowing, spotted newts busy in the mud and plants we’d never seen before. We even think we saw Long Hope Valley from the summit. The entire way to the top we saw no one and had the peak to ourselves for nearly an hour before a lone hiker and frontline nurse in the pandemic from Ohio shared the beauty with us.
Pictures tell the story.
If you’ve never hiked to Flat Top Tower on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you are missing some of the best 360° views in North Carolina. The 5-mile roundtrip hike takes you through meadows on the Carriage Trail from the Moses Cone mansion – called Flat Top Manor. At the top, you can climb the fire tower for those amazing views. The hike is considered moderately strenuous, but on the lower end of moderate – easy switch backs and rolling hills through the meadow. The manor and trails can be reached at milepost 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Blowing Rock, NC.
Thanks to the ongoing work of the Blue Ridge Conservancy (BRC), 1,000 more acres contiguous to Three Top Mountain in Creston is now protected.
Three Top Mountain is the home of many rare species of plants – some not found anywhere else on Earth. Six headwater streams will also be protected. Hidden waterfalls and nesting songbirds can also be found if you can hike to one of the three tops. The terrain is very rugged and steep with outcroppings of amphibolite rock.
Three Top Mountain is located in Ashe and Watauga counties. BRC will begin to transfer most of the land to the NC Wild Resources Commission. The property will be manage the land as part of Three Top Mountain Game Lands.
Paige McClanahan from the NYT recently travelled to Boone and the wonderful surroundings of northwestern NC. In 1.5 days she visited all kinds of places. Read about her travels and be inspired to spend a few falls days out here!
We saw these horses at Spirit Winds Ranch on Buffalo Road coming back from Waterfall Farm where we bought the only syrup made in NC.
A beautiful June day hiking Elk Knob with Finley! The flame azaleas were in full bloom at the top of the mountain. We met plenty of hikers and dogs on the trail – it’s a great hike – slow incline – to the top and back is less than two hours. 30 minutes from Creston and shorter to Boone.
On a trip to Grayson Highlands to see the wild ponies recently, we came upon a new cidery – Molly Chomper with a great outdoor bocce court. We highly recommend both – it’s 20 minutes from Long Hope Valley.
Brian’s still working on his bocce skills.
Friends staying at our cabin recently shared this awesome view of the valley and surrounding mountains using a drone. Check it out here!
The New River, which flows northward through Ashe County, is featured in this article about the role river recreation plays in our economy in NC. Considered the oldest river in the country and the second oldest in the world (the Nile is the oldest), we’ve paddled and floated both forks in Ashe County.
You can read or listen to the story here.
Brian and pup Finley enjoy a float down the New River in Todd recently.
