Posted By auntie on November 20, 2020

8.2 miles; 965 feet total ascent; Asheville, NC

This was a great hike. Why? First, because it was a great day… cool, crisp, and sunny. Second, because it was long enough to satisfy me. Third, because good grief, the views from the highest points! Fourth, because I found a couple cool detour/shortcuts. And fifth, because according to another hiker I JUST MISSED seeing a momma bear with 3 cubs on the trail. This didn’t make me sad, especially. I was actually sort of relieved. Same way I felt when hiking in Florida in that I was kind of both hoping AND hoping NOT to see an alligator.

Mountain Biker Sculpture

This is a nifty little piece of art that I passed right at the beginning of the trail… on the “stick” part of the lollipop, so to speak. It’s labelled Trails End. It seemed to be on private property—there was a house there—but it was kind of in the middle of the Bent Creek Forest area, so… weird. But cool. And appropriate, as this whole Bent Creek network of trails seems to be primarily used by mountain bikers, tho today I saw quite a few hikers and runners as well.

Holly Berries

As I mentioned above, this loop is part of the Bent Creek Trail network, taking in parts of the Wolf Branch Trail, the Ingles Field Gap Trail, and North Boundary, Ledford, and Rice Pinnacle Roads. This time I parked at the Rice Pinnacle Trailhead, which, even at 8:45 AM was almost full, and most of the cars had bike racks attached. Also, not for anything, but at 8:45 am, it was still pretty cold—barely above freezing.

High Point

This was taken at the highest point on the hike at about the 4 1/2 mile mark looking west from North Boundary Road. I’m guessing those are the Great Smokey Mountains off on the horizon. After this, the rest of the trail was downhill. It was quite a climb up, but stretched out over 4+ miles it wasn’t bad at all.

Happy Log

Just past the highest point, at maybe the 5 or 5 1/4 mile point, I became aware of the need to find a Ladies Room. Not much further along I saw a side trail, and figured there might be a more private spot than the side of the road I was on, so I ambled on up. After finding the necessary, I looked at the trail I was on, and the gps map, and thought it looked as if it might go in the right direction, so I continued, rather than turning back. Like I said, I was on a forest road, and they’re not my favorite kinds of places to walk. This side trail obviously created and used by mountain bikers judging from the ramps up to and over logs, was just perfect. A bit of a climb up but nothing too strenuous, and yes, it did ultimately join back up with the road. I’ve marked it on the trail map, below. Very pleasant detour, and because it was a bit of a climb, some nice views to both the west and the east.

And because it worked out so well, I took what I judged to be another promising side trail later on in the hike which looked like it cut off a longish loop of road, which it did. Then I saw the Happy Log, and thought, “Yeah Log, me too.”

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about this hike from this excellent US Forest Service map (pdf file). As always, click the image above for details about this hike and to download the gps track.

Categories: North Carolina, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 7–10 miles, Asheville NC, NC, Pisgah NF