Summer 2019 - Stone Mountain S.P., Elkin N.Carolina

Photo link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UDmvTNazzovrFQ1A7

Saturday September 28^th – Tuesday October 1^st 

Stone Mountain State Park, Elkin, N. Carolina

Upon arriving at this state park, we quickly located our campsite. The campground is well designed and spacious. Our site was perfect for our camper and vehicles. This park is in north central N. Carolina, near the town of Elkin. We came to this park for the exceptional hiking. Rock climbing is also a favorite activity in this park. The main trail heads up to the mountain summit, with other connecting trails to more open summit rock (bald). Kurt wanted to hike to the summit of Stone Mountain, which he did and took some nice pictures of the views. He hiked the complete loop, which took him back down to the View side of the trail. Here you could look up and see the rock face of the mountain and walk through the historic homestead in that valley. He also hiked past the Stone Mountain Falls on the way back.

Another day we took the dogs and hiked the lower trails around the mountain. We hiked the Wolf Rock and Cedar Rock trails, which wound around the side of the mountain. Along Wolf Rock we exited the forest and went out onto the bald area. The views were awesome and we all had a nice break there. The dogs loved running around the rock surface. From that trail we were able to see another view of the Stone Mountain rock face. On Cedar Rock trail we saw remnants of settler’s stone fences and some other old buildings along the way. Continuing on the trail, it took us back to the valley location of the historic homestead buildings. It was very educational to learn about the history of the early settlers there. It always amazes me what these early settlers had to go through to survive and make a home in these frontiers. 

One day my sister, Cindy, came over to visit for the day. She lives about 45 minute drive from this park, where she has hiked many times. It was wonderful to spend the day with her and we did drive to a couple of waterfall areas to take some pictures. It is a beautiful park. 

We had originally reserved 6 nights, but decided to cut it short by 2 nights. We had not been able to find a campsite to reserve after leaving Stone Mountain. After looking around I found a place where we had stayed before, Kerr Scott Lake near Wilkesboro N.C. This lake is an Army Corps Project and has two campgrounds where we were able to secure a first come first serve site. But we had to move to that campground that day. We paid for 9 nights. This recreation area has some great mountain biking trails, so we were excited to get a site there.

The trek southward continues! Looking forward to being back home.

Summer 2019 - Roanoke, Virginia

  Photo Link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1VoBM3JikwrWSrgk8

Friday September 20^th – Friday September 27^th

Explore Park, Roanoke, Virginia

Next we headed northeast along the Appalachian Mountain range to Roanoke, Virginia. We chose this location as we had read articles regarding the great mountain biking trails in the area. Explore Park campground was very new and nice. The shower house was the best we’ve ever seen! Very clean and modern, top quality shower/toilet rooms. Explore Park had advertised as having several miles of mountain biking and hiking trails within the park. After arriving, Kurt rode one of the trails and found them to be unusable! Apparently, this park was closed for a couple of years, then reopened as this new Explore Park. The trails were overgrown and not yet maintained. There was also a historic tavern on the property. The website advertised that the restaurant and tap room were in the building. Soon we discovered that the Tavern would not be open until October… The park has an “Adventure Plan” for future development. How disappointing! Nevertheless, there were two other mountain biking trail systems in the area. Mill Mountain Trails were just okay, very rough, rooty and rocky. There is an iconic lighted star at the top of the mountain. We did ride there, but decided to next go to Carvin’s Cove Recreation area, 23 miles from the campground. Here’s where the awesome trails were. We did ride there a couple of days and really enjoyed the well designed and maintained trails.

Our friends from Virginia, Chris and Bruce, visited us and stayed in a cabin at the campground. We had a great time hanging out, cooking out and driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was nice to see them again.

We did enjoy the camping here for eight days, but was disappointed that the Park was not fully developed. Unfortunately, this is not on our “go back” list.  Next, heading back south to N. Carolina to stay at Stone Mountain S.P. in north-central area.