21 Tanawha Trail to Rough Ridge (Milepost 302.8)
Quite possibly the Parkway’s easiest path to a spectacular view, here the Tanawha Trail traverses the alpine-appearing crest of a leading ridge to Grandfather Mountain.
Parkway milepost: 302.8
Distance: Entire section is 1.5 miles, but the closest view is only a 0.6-mile round-trip. Out-and-back hikes of 1.2 and about 2.0 miles lead to the peak of Rough Ridge.
Elevation gain: 540 feet from Wilson Creek Parking Area; 480 feet from Rough Ridge Parking Area
Maps: USGS Grandfather Mountain; Parkway map available online at www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/brochures.htm and in season at Linn Cove Visitor Center. The Grandfather Mountain hiking map shows the trail best and is available free at Grandfather Mountain entrance (south from Rough Ridge Overlook 2.3 miles to US 221 exit; right 1 mile to entrance).
Finding the trailhead: Park at either Wilson Creek Overlook (Milepost 303.6) or Rough Ridge Overlook (Milepost 302.8).
The Hike
The cliff-lined alpine crest of Rough Ridge offers startling vistas atop a stone face visible to Parkway motorists. From many places on this part of the Tanawha Trail, including boardwalks just 0.3 mile from the Rough Ridge Parking Area, the vista engulfs you.
As you’re standing on the boardwalks, Rough Ridge rises to the three loftiest summits of Grandfather Mountain—a rocky, dramatic climax at nearly 6,000 feet. The Wilson Creek drainage drops like an expansive chute past the Linn Cove Viaduct and Parkway snaking to the south. Far below, across the rippling corduroy of Pisgah National Forest, the land descends to the edge of the Piedmont. This nearly vertical-mile relief is the greatest rise of the Blue Ridge escarpment. Mount Mitchell lies on the southern horizon; Grandfather Mountain’s Pilot Knob is the rocky peak just to the north.
Standing here, it’s no wonder that the Tanawha Trail—the Cherokee word means “great hawk” or “eagle”—is the crowning achievement of the Blue Ridge Parkway trail network. The federal government spent almost $750,000 on the 13.5 miles of trail between Beacon Heights, near Linville, and Price Park Campground, near Blowing Rock. Hikers won’t fail to notice the trail’s intricate stone stairways, rock-paved treadways, and arching wood bridges (lowered here by helicopter). Like the building of the computer-designed span in the distance, the Linn Cove Viaduct, all of these efforts were made to minimize hiker damage to this scenic environment. This is the Grandfather Mountain “missing link” portion of the Parkway—the long-unfinished stretch of the road that opened on September 11, 1987.
From Rough Ridge
Rough Ridge is a scenic high point of this part of the Parkway, and the most direct route to the summit is from the parking area of the same name. Here the access trail ascends log steps to a junction. Take the Tanawha Trail left and immediately cross an arching wood bridge (near a no pets beyond this point sign). Beneath the bridge a cascade tumbles down and directly under the parking area.
Across the bridge, the often-soggy trail ascends through evergreens, climbs a flight of stone steps, and then levels across a rocky shelf amid blueberry bushes and galax. The trail turns a corner, passes a distinctive stack rock formation on the right, and reaches 200 feet of ascending boardwalk designed to keep hikers from trampling the low vegetation that now surrounds you.
From this boardwalk—just 0.3 mile round-trip from the parking area—the view is remarkably similar to that found on the summit (another 0.3 mile ahead up rocky but nicely graded switchbacks). At the top, cable-defined pathways keep people on the paths amid fragile Allegheny sand myrtle and turkey beard. Unfortunately, dogs that are allowed off-leash don’t stay within the barriers, so the Park Service prohibits all dogs on this trail.
Either location is a nice spot to watch a sunset and get back to your car quickly. On a crystal-clear fall day, with electric foliage below, a summit dusting of snow and racing clouds . . . you get the picture.
Key Points
0.3Boardwalk views.
0.6Views from the summit of Rough Ridge.
From Wilson Creek Overlook
Wilson Creek Overlook is also a good start for an out-and-back hike to Rough Ridge. This approach is often less populated than the trail from Rough Ridge Parking Area.
Starting at Wilson Creek, take the side trail under the Parkway 0.1 mile to a junction with the Tanawha Trail and go right. Cross Wilson Creek (hence the name of the entire watershed above and below the mountain). The trail drops to within sight of the road and then slips below the prow of an outcrop at 0.2 mile. Then comes a largely gradual and meandering climb across an ecosystem that recommends this Tanawha Trail hike—rock-garden boulder fields strewn with spring wildflowers and towering trees. After climbing through mixed evergreens to a saddle, stone steps artfully surmount the crag-capped summit of Rough Ridge, just under 1.0 mile from the Wilson Creek Parking Area (about 2.0 miles round-trip). From the summit to the Rough Ridge Parking Area, it’s another 0.6 mile, for a slightly less than 1.5-mile total hike.
An end-to-end hike would require leaving a car at both parking areas. If that’s not possible, consider walking between the trailheads. The roadside walk is only 0.8 mile, and it’s recommended by spectacular views that motorists often only glimpse as they whiz by. That makes for a 2.4-mile hike.