Location: Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area
Start Time: 9 am
Est End Time: 3 pm
Difficulty: 11+ Very Strenuous
Leader: Travis Bordley, our Roan Ecologist
Our challenge hike starts at Hampton Creek Cove and journeys 4.1 miles and 1,850 feet of elevation on the Overmountain Victory Trail, through pastured farm roads and wooded footpaths to Yellow Mountain Gap on the Appalachian Trail. After a short stretch on the Appalachian Trail, we will leave trails behind and bushwack to our DeYoung property and eventually back to our cars. Once we leave the Appalachian trail, our hike will be extremely steep downhill with no guiding path. At the DeYoung Property, an open pasture will greet us with incredible mountain views. We will then travel down the pasture to a paved road leading us back to our cars. The total hike is about 6.5 miles with lots of elevation gain.
We will be hiking on The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail from our cars to Yellow Mountain Gap. This trail commemorates the “Overmountain Men” who fought the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780 during the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson deemed the Overmountain Men the “turn of the tide” in the American Revolution.