Roan Mountain Peaks

For Memorial Day Weekend, Sandy and I headed to Roan Mountain for a weekend of hiking and waterfalls. We left Friday after work and drove to Roan Mountain to our home for the weekend – Roan Mountain Bed & Breakfast. I had initially planned to camp at Roan Mountain State Park, but it was full for the holiday weekend, so we ended up here. It turned out to be a great stay and the innkeepers, Ann and Steve, were great hosts. Saturday morning, we had a delicious breakfast and then headed up the mountain. The parking at Carver’s Gap was already full at 8 in the morning, so we continued on towards the Rhododendron Gardens. After paying the day-use fee, we parked at the trailhead for Cloudland Trail (#1000). In a short ways along this trail, we cut across the parking lot and made a quick loop through the Rhododendron Gardens on Roan Mountain Garden Trail (#1002). This is the largest natural rhododendron garden in the world, but unfortunately, we were a little early for the blooms.

It wouldn't be until mid-June before the rhododendron reach peak bloom. We got back on Cloudland Trail and hiked past the bus parking to the overlook at Roan High Bluff. At 6267 feet above sea level, this is the second highest peak on the Roan Mountain Massif.

The actual summit is off-limits to protect sensitive wildlife, but near the summit is a wooden overlook. We had great views looking north into Tennessee from here.

After enjoying the view, we headed back. Right before the parking lot, was another overlook with views looking north into Tennessee.

Back at the car, we got on the Appalachian Trail heading northbound towards Carver’s Gap. About half way, we took the spur up to Roan High Knob Shelter, where some campers were breaking down their gear.

We continued just a short ways past the shelter to the summit of Roan High Knob. This is the highest point of the mountain at 6285 feet.

Although it’s the highest, the summit is forested so no views up here, just a big pile of rocks. We headed back down to the AT and then down to Carver’s Gap. There were many switchbacks heading down and we knew this would be a strenuous hike back up. At Carver’s Gap, we crossed the street and continued on the AT heading up Round Bald.

This part of the AT is one of the most popular along the entire 2000-mile trail. The balds on Roan Mountain provide spectacular, unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains and so lots of people come here to hike, especially on a holiday weekend.

We stopped briefly at the summit of Round Bald to enjoy the views then continued on to Jane Bald.

We then hiked to a split and turned right to follow a spur trail to the summit of Grassy Ridge Bald. This is the final peak on Roan Mountain above 6000 feet. We stopped here for lunch and to enjoy the wonderful views.

In the distance we could see the Black Mountains towering on the horizon. It was crowded up here, so we didn’t stay long. After lunch, we hiked back to the AT and headed southbound across Jane Bald and Round Bald to Carver’s Gap.

Climbing back up Roan High Knob was a little strenuous, but with numerous switchbacks, it wasn’t too bad.

Once past the shelter, it was all downhill back to the car.

Near the site of the old Cloudland Hotel, there were lots of beautiful wildflowers blooming, including a sea of lovely little bluets.

Back at the car, we headed down the mountain and followed US-19 E to Elizabethton. Sandy wanted to do a little antique shopping after our hike. After browsing for an hour or so, we had dinner and then headed back to the B&B.