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Revision as of 21:34, 3 May 2020 by Tim (talk | contribs) (update major updates)
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Welcome to Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club's Trail WIKI

Our online repository for everything trail related within a reasonable distance from our club's center in Kingsport TN.

Find It. Hike It. Log It. Update It.
Use this site to find the trails and parks that interest you. Here are some ways to do that. Some tips before heading out. Log your hikes at this site. See ongoing totals, track the trails you have hiked, see what others are out there doing and the trail condition. Saw something not on this site? Did we get something wrong? Took a sweet photo that exemplifies the trail? This site can be updated by anyone.


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Currently there are 490 trails covering 1,031.8 miles documented on our wiki! Of those, 198 trails have their 499.9 miles detailed on dedicated pages.

Featured Trail

Rogers Ridge Balds View
Rogers Ridge Horse Trail is an in-and-out 6.87-mile ridgeline trail. It's a long hill climb trail for a day hike, but near the end, the 360° views of the surrounding ridgelines make it all worthwhile. A side benefit of this hike is being able to reach the Tri-State Corner Knob junction of TN-NC-VA. The trail begins in the Horse Ridge Scenic Area of the Cherokee National Forest past Damascus near Laurel Bloomery, TN. Horses are allowed, but on a recent October 2015 trip, there was little evidence of them. Although clearly marked at the trail head that ATV/ORV vehicles were not allowed, signs of their recent presence were along the entire trail.

The hike begins with an immediate creek crossing that has neither a bridge nor decent rocks to hop across; but this will be the last time you see water. Although guide books mention some campsites along the way with water access, we didn't see them. The trail wastes no time getting to the 3,201 feet of climbing, as it's nearly a consistent slope up to the summit. The trail itself is very well marked with yellow rectangle blazes, but several unmarked and well worn trails connect along the way. It may be that one of them connects to the Gentry Creek Falls trail that would make for a nice loop trail. The trail itself is wide with a clear "two-track" appearance and the occasional water-logged rut to walk around. While not noticed on the ascent, the descent can be challenging for the ankles, as there are several sections of loose rocks, fist-sized and smaller.

After hiking for 5.33 miles with glimpses through the trees of mountains and neighboring ridgelines, you finally enter a clearing to enjoy the views. The trail may "officially" end here as the previously well-blazed path now lacks markings, but you can continue on to enjoy the views. From here you can take a side trip to the south to get an early view of the surrounding ridgelines and valley including Grandfather Mountain. Continuing on the trail to the north, you reach another bald clearing that would be suitable for camping, especially for large groups. The only reservation I myself have about camping here is the apparent frequent use of ORVs here. From this higher elevation, there are views of Whitetop Mountain and Mt Rogers Mountain to the northeast. Throughout these bald clearings, blackberry bushes appear to be growing rampant. If you can tolerate the thorns, the blackberry picking in the summer must be unlimited!

In a bald clearing to the east towards the state line is the trail high point in the final bald clearing. Although various sources differ on the exact elevation, we measured by GPS at 4,900 feet. The ridgetop home seen to the south appears to have been severely vandalized. Although unfortunate for the owner, one can only hope that one day this majestic ridgeline and profile can be returned to its original natural glory. After the high point, the trail begins to descend for the first time, and ends at a trail/road. Turn left to continue the descent to find the Tri-State Corner Knob, the terminus (at least at one time) of this trail.

When visited in October of 2015, the hike was an enjoyable day of near complete solitude. The only encounter was a couple in a truck near the trail terminus. Unexpectedly we found the trees to be in the early stages of changing colors to the south and west, and found only bare trees to the north and east. Regardless, the day of fresh air, views, and exercise was more than enough to make this a great trail to visit, that you should consider as well.

  • Triangulation Disk at TN-VA-NC Corner

  • View of the trail

  • Whitetop and Mt Rogers

Contribute

Yes! We would love your help! No, you don't need to be a computer wizard to do it.

How can you help?

  • Send me an email to
    • Say you have found this site useful - really that's it, I/We love to find out it's useful to others!
    • Request information that would help to plan for a hike
    • Provide information that we have missing that you know about
  • Edit a page
    • It's easy! It's just text
    • It's foolproof! All edits are saved, you cannot mess it up (permanently)
    • Just hit 'Edit' on the upper right and just start writing. More experienced editors will likely come along and apply any needed tweaks
    • We'd rather have information added that messes up a page than to have no contribution at all

Recent major updates - May 2020

  • Trail and Park page conversion underway - this will be a slow process
  • Hike Logs are nearly fully functional - log your hikes and see your history on the site
  • Trail and Park lists are now possible - tag your pages as you please and (eventually) see those lists
  • Other possibilities going forward
    • Logging maintenance needs including pins of exact locations and status
    • Rating trails
  • Content
    • A lot of parks are being added due to ease of using forms and adding trail stubs.
    • Now we just need to get out to them and detail those trails!
    • Crossed over 400 trails referenced - Over 900 miles of trail documented
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