I'm backpacking Mt. Rogers / Grayson Highlands for the first time, planning 3 days/2 nights generally following trails along these red arrows. I friend recommended I start on the Lewis Fork Trail off Rt. 603 and I'm not clear if there is trailhead parking there or if I need to park about a mile West and walk up the road to reach the trailhead?
Some previous map recon had me considering driving to Scales campground to start. How is the road leading to Scales? I saw a comment somewhere suggesting it was heavily rutted and took a couple hours. I do have 4 wheel drive but mostly thinking about the extra commute time. The thing I liked about this was it looked like I might get to spend more time up in the higher/open terrain which is what I am really looking forward to.
Regarding water - a previous thread here says there there is a water source at (36.668693, -81.511431) and then at Thomas Knob Shelter. If true these 2 sources fit my itinerary pretty good.
Also a previous thread mentioned a Crest Trail Loop that I'd love to hear more about. In AllTrails they show Crest Trail as a bicycling trail and I was wondering if instead I should consider hiking along PIne Mountain Trail that parallels Crest Trail.
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