Info requested about Mt Rogers

[Streetgang]

I was planning on heading to Dolly Sods in WVa this weekend but the weather is going to be pretty bad with rain and low ceilings, putting us in the clouds all weekend long.

We're looking at heading a bit further to Mt Rogers NRA. The weather there should be considerably better and I hear its great from my son who's hiked the AT.
Having never been there we're looking for a bit of gouge. We're 3 guys with bad knees and want to find a good area to hit some dispered camping Friday and Saturday nights after Thursday night in a NF style campsite. (I know the NF campgrounds are closed thanks to the DC crowd.)

Any suggestions for a moderate weekend jaunt?
Thanks in advance.

[ShortTripHome]

It will be a drive, but i suggest you park at Massey Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park and take the wilburn ridge trail up to the main junction where the state park ends/Mt Rodgers recreation area begins and take either the Rhododendron Gap trail (least strenuous & most direct, but hard to follow at times) OR the A.T. (rocky, and leisurely) to the spring near the intersection of the Rhodo. Gap trail and Scales trail.

The areas near the spring and directly west of the spring are the best campsites in the whole area (IMO) and is a great base camp for exploring the surrounding areas including Thomas knob, cabin ridge, rhododendron gap, Wilburn ridge. hanging some hammocks are definitely doable and the camping is great--just get an early start claim your site. there is no need to do a loop hike and worry about miles--set up base camp and explore and soak in the area for a few days.

I also highly recommend purchasing the national geographic map of the mount rodgers recreation area. the spring i described above should be easily found in the magnified onset map of the grayson highlands area. this map is essential to me when i seek out adventure down there.

I wish you good weather and happy hiking!


i know the area well, feel free to PM me with any questions or campsite/water suggestions.

[TallPaul]

Good advice above. Here's a video of a loop that goes past the Wise shelter, then on to Scales and back to Massey Gap.

[autolox]

National Geographic map #786

[Early Bird]

I'll be there this weekend too with the Burnham Guides, staying in a cabin. Supposed to be peak foliage color!

[UncleClark]

I just got back from Mt. Rogers. I stayed at the campground at Grayson Highlands State Park. I started my hike at Massie Gap, up the Rhododendron Trail to the Appalachian Trail, then southbound to the Mt. Rogers Spur up to the summit. The campground is very nice if you want to stay there. For a small fee you can also come into the park and park your car at an overnite lot, then hike into the wilderness.

Here's a link to the pics and video I took. The weather was bad on the mountain this past Thursday when I hiked to the summit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCDD9iyZQ7E

[Streetgang]

Thanks all. We spent Thursday night at the state park campground then headed out up the AT spur trail. We did a clockwise loop around pine mountain to scales and back via the AT. Spent Friday night on Pine MT and the ceiling dropped making for a wet night. We finished a leisurely Saturday heading to scales then took the AT back to Wilburn Ridge and down to the park on the Rhododendron Trail. The place was really crowded despite the marginal weather so we decided to hit the road, spending Saturday night in a dispersed site just north of Grindstone where it began raining about an hour after we retired and ended just before dawn. My ground dweller buddies were sold on hanging and my new (to me) HG underquilt made life awesome.