Iron Mountain Trail - North

File:Placeholder.JPG Trail Name Iron Mountain Trail - North Nearest City Damascus State Virginia Trail Marking {{{Marking}}} Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Difficult Hiking Time 18+"+" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property. Distance, round-trip 2424 mi <br />38.624 km <br /> Climb/Descent Elevation 600-700"-700" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property. / {{{Elevation Loss}}}"{{{Elevation Loss}}}" is not a number. High Point 4,6264,626 Feet <br />1,542 Yards <br />1,410.005 Meters <br /> Nearest Medical Abingdon, VA 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":36.47274919795771808139761560596525669097900390625,"lon":-81.9486516618309650539231370203197002410888671875,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Trail Overview

What is now the Iron Mountain Trail (IMT) was the route for Appalachain Trail until 1972 when a major relocation moved the AT over to the Grayson Highlands. Today, IMT offers a more secluded experience with spectacular overlooks. For this trail wiki, the trail is being listed as two major sections with the city of Damascus as the dividing point.

North of Damascus, the Iron Mountain Trail is multi-use, thus appears to be very popular with mountain bike riders as a technical challenge.

How to get there

Southern access is from Beartree Recreation Area, such as Lum Trail, which begins at the Chimpmunk Loop of the camground. (Note: Campground gate only open 7AM to 10PM mid-March to December 1st.)

From Damascus, VA:

1. Head east out of town on US-58 for just under eight miles.
2. Turn left/north onto Beartree Gap Road and drive around three miles to campground.
3. Parking areas at each trailhead.

GPS address for Bear Tree Recreation Area is 20993 Beartree Gap Road, Damascus, VA 24236.

Typical Conditions

Iron Mountain Trail in Virginia is located in Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.

Fees, Permits, etc.

No permits for hiking, horeseback riding, or backpacking, unless you are using a fee area to gain access to the Iron Mountain Trail. If so, day use fees run $3 per vehicle.

Maps

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="36.63977" lon="-81.75339" type="terrain" zoom="11" width="725" scale="yes" icons="http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/marker{label}.png"> http://tehcc.org/clubwiki/kml/Iron Mountain Trail_North.kml

(G) trailhead (G) access point (G) access point (G) access point (G) Damascus trailhead (F) 36.637777, -81.713251 Saunders Shelter (F) 36.663040, -81.707572 Sandy Flats Shelter (A) Parking (A) AT </googlemap>

Photos

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