Mountain Farm Trail
Posted by Chris | Filed under Blue Ridge Parkway
Description: An eye opening glimpse into the rustic lives led by nineteenth-century Appalachian mountaineers who lived near what is now the Parkway.
Total Distance: 0.5 miles
Location/Directions:
Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 5.8
Difficulty: Easy (wheelchair accessible)
Elevation Gain:
Negligible
Maps:
Parkway handout map, available at visitor center; USGC Sherando
Finding the Trail:
Park at the visitor center and take the paved sidewalk south (left when facing the building.
The Hike: This nice and easy hike is highlighted by the seasonal programs and the costumed interpreters which give great insight into the lives of the Appalachian mountaineers. The 1890s farm found on the Mountain Farm Trail is not the original but was recreated in 1950 with building structures from the time period. The authentic setting is explored through the easy trail.
Pick up a copy of the trails interpretive map at the visitor center and take the paved sidewalk that becomes a gravel lane. On the left, you first reach a cabin and chicken house and then a “gear loft” where the family stored their supplies and equipment. Past the structures, and across the paved lave, a contorted barn is surrounded by a stone walled pigpen. Next, a springhouse channels cold water through a sheltered food storage structure. Beyond that is a gate, pass through and you are in “Coiner’s deadening’,” grass covered meadows under the towering crag of Humpback Rocks. Here mountaineers cleared fields the slow way – by girdling the trees to kill them and planting crops between the leafless giants. You can walk beyond the gate, gradually rising to the height of land in Humpback Gap, where the trailhead parking for Humpback Rocks Trail is located on the opposite side of the Parkway. Retrace your steps, or park at Humpback Rocks trailhead and take both trails from one central spot.
If you do hike the Humpback Rocks trail, short and steep, it lifts hikers to truly aw inspiring vistas that stretch north and south along the Blue Ridge, east to the Piedmont and west into the Shenandoah Valley. It is a 1.0-mile climb on a blue-blazed trail that has a partially gravel surface and resting benches along the way because it is strenuous.
