Old Dug Trail

File:Placeholder.jpg Trail Name Old Dug Trail Park Cherokee National Forest Nearest City Elizabethton State Tennessee Trail Marking None Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Medium Hiking Time 3 Hours0.188 Days <br />180 Min <br /> Distance: round-trip/trail only 4.2 Mi6.759 km <br /> / 2.1 Mi3.38 km <br /> Trail Type In-and-Out Climb/Descent Elevation 660 Feet201.168 Meters <br /> / High Point 2,960 Feet986.667 Yards <br />902.208 Meters <br /> Parking 36° 25' 24.00" N, 82° 10' 43.86" W Nearest Medical Elizabethton Trip Reports Click Here Loading map... {"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"270px","height":"180px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":8,"layers":[],"controls":["zoom"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":36.4233329999999995152393239550292491912841796875,"lon":-82.1788499999999970668795867823064327239990234375,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Trail Overview

A hike up the west side of Holston Mountain past an overlook.

How to get there

From Kingsport, TN:

1. Take I-26 south to Exit 24 for US-321 towards Elizabethton.
2. Continue through Elizabethton.
3. Take left (north) onto US-19E.
4. Turn right (east) onto Holston Mountain Road. Note that Google Maps (and any app which uses the same database, such as Waze) labels this street as "Flatwoods Road" while the green sign at US-19E reads "Holston Mountain Rd".
5. After a couple of miles up the hollow, the paved roadway splits with Big Creek Road (no sign) heading to the right. Note: As of September 2017, an orange diamond "Road Closed Ahead" is visible from the split. The USFS road is open to this trailhead.
6. Gravel parking lot is on left (north) side of the road. The unmarked trailhead is back south ~50 feet and proceeds up the east bank.

Big Creek Road is closed because a pair of large sinkholes are eating away at the narrow forest road. While some sources indicated Big Creek Road had a rough tread from the south, neither owner of a small pick-up or Nissan hatchback indicated they had problems reaching the parking lot. If coming from the north (Bluff City), the Big Creek Road is closed 0.33 mile away at a gravel parking area, thus a short walk on paved road is required to reach the trailhead.

Route Description

Miles	Feature	Elevation
0.0 miles	Parking Area	2,300 feet
0.4 miles	Intersection with FS road	2,366 feet
0.75 miles	Continue heading up	2,360 feet
1.4 miles	Overlook	2,960 feet
2.1 miles	Intersect with which trail?

Typical Conditions

The trail is a rutted and rocky logging road which winds up the mountain. It is not being actively maintained by the USFS. The is no sign at the trailhead nor any blazing, but the path is fairly obvious.

In September 2017, the trail appeared to have had some ATV use. Another hiker of the path indicated that it was her former neighbors who have moved out of the area.

Fees, Permits, etc.

Located in Cherokee National Forest. No fee to hike the trail.

Misc. Information

Cherokee National Forest allows hunting, thus wear blaze orange during all hunting seasons. In September 2017, one group tracking squirrels were met, while another pair reported chasing a bear cub up the mountain.

Maps

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