Straight Fork Ridge


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Trail Name	Straight Fork Ridge
Nearest City	Gate City
State	Virginia
Trail Marking	{{{Marking}}}
Trail Use/Features
Difficulty Rating	Difficult
Hiking Time	44 Hours <br />0.25 Days <br />240 Min <br />
Distance, round-trip	3.63.6 mi <br />5.794 km <br />
Climb/Descent Elevation	1,3001,300 Feet <br />396.24 Meters <br /> / {{{Elevation Loss}}}"{{{Elevation Loss}}}" is not a number.
High Point	"" is not a number.
Nearest Medical	Kingsport
Trip Reports	Click Here

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Trail Overview

Devils Fork Creek with several fords, interesting Devils Bathtub pool, sandstone cliffs with coal seams

How to get there

From Gate City, VA

Turn on VA 72 and proceed north through Ft. Blackmore for 11.2 miles.
Turn left onto VA 619 and proceed on it; cross Stoney Creek and swing right with VA 619.
After 4.3 miles on Va. 619, in the National Forest, turn left past Devil Fork Fishing/Hunting Club (sign) onto a gravel road.
After ¼ mile on the gravel road, turn left on a narrow right-of-way between a garage and small white house to a parking area in about 0.25 miles at trailhead.

Route Description

Hike up Devil Fork from parking area and loop up on mountain and back. There are several fords. There is an interesting pool just downstream from the Devil’s Bathtub. On trail above the pool, a sign points downstream to the actual Devils Bathtub pool. To make a longer hike, continue upstream, then follow trail up right side of mountain. This eventually levels out and circles back to the old road leading back to the parking area.

Typical Conditions

Per another trail review site, "Although the trail follows yellow blazes for its entire 7 miles, poor maintenance means it is often difficult to find the blazes-and the path, which, in several places, scrambles over large rocks or up very steep cliff faces."

Fees, Permits, etc.

No fee or permit to visit

After the Hike

Misc. Information

See also the excellent write-up in [Explore Scott County] website.

No facilities at the parking lot. Bring your own water.

Maps

A trail map is provided on the Explore Scott County website.

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="36.83" lon="-82.649" type="terrain" zoom="13" width="725" scale="yes" icons="http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/marker{label}.png"> http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/Devils_Bathtub_Trail.kml

(C) 36.81337,-82.64956 Devil's Bathtub (A) 36.8185,-82.6266 Parking (G) 36.81945,-82.62895 Trailhead - first yellow blaze (G) 36.84433, -82.65903 Trailhead at FS Road 237/Big Cherry Road </googlemap>

Note: Google Maps does show the path on its views as "Devils Fork Loop Trail".

Photos