Kevin Myatt | The Roanoke Times

With hundreds of blooms on each plant, multiplied by many thousands of plants, there are literally millions of mountain laurel blossoms along the Hoop Hole Trail.

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• Location: Hoop Hole is a National Recreation Trail in the Jefferson National Forest on Virginia 615 between Oriskany and Eagle Rock. From U.S. 220 going west from Roanoke, turn left on Virginia 615 (signs mark it as road to Oriskany and Roaring Run). Stay on 615 for eight miles, passing the Roaring Run turnoff, to the trailhead on the right.
• Length: A double loop, giving the hiker a choice of 4- and 9-mile loops.
• Elevation: From 1,320 feet at the trailhead to 3,700 feet atop Pine Mountain, the high point of the 9-mile loop. The 4-mile loop tops out at 2,030 feet.
• Gottasee factor (scenery, scale 0 to 4): of 3.5 for 9-mile loop, 3 for 4-mile loop: The full loop provides a spectacularly remote and rugged hike that includes lush, cascading stream settings, a wide variety of flora and fauna, magnificent bluffs and rock formations, and breathtaking views of multiple mountain ridges, especially in leaf-off. The 4-mile loop provides similar highlights except there are few vistas.
• Gottabreathe factor (difficulty, scale 0 to 4): 3 for 9-mile loop, 2 for 4-mile loop: The lower loop climbs only 700 feet in two miles, and does so gradually while following stream ravines and then a more level forested ridgeline. Adding the 5 miles of the upper loop gives this hike a different physical character: an additional 1,700 feet of climbing through some moderately steep grades, rocky footing, and, frequently, a difficult-to-follow trail that will leave you scratched and sore as it plows through overgrown brush or nearly disappears in an open forest.

Mountain laurel blooms by the millions decorated the forest. A glance could yield thousands of white and pink blossom clusters worthy of a bride's bouquet. Wood thrushes serenaded me with their sweet, chime-like "eee-o-lay" calls. A wild turkey clumsily flopped into the air overhead. Water splashed playfully around boulders, dancing through a cool and misty bluff-lined, rhododendron-shaded gorge.

I also got lost once, wandering around for 20 minutes on a ridgetop clearing trying to figure out where the trail went. My legs were scratched all over from scraping against brush growing across the narrow and at times poorly defined upper portion of the trail. And I saw two big black snakes, one almost right in front of me.

The sum total: A fabulous hike with beauty and adventure.

The Hoop Hole loop trail between Oriskany and Eagle Rock is a little slice of Eden, and one of my favorite area hikes. I've hiked the whole 9-mile loop twice since the start of the year and I've lost count of how many times I've done the lower 4-mile loop. I'll return again and again, I am sure.

Two loops are better than one

The twin loop or "figure-8" feature is part of what makes Hoop Hole so attractive. If you're up for a long, physically challenging dayhike or an overnight stay, the 9-mile loop is ideal. If you're out for just a moderate dayhike that will take a couple of hours, the 4-mile loop is perfect. The trail is constructed in such a way that, if you do the 9-mile loop, you do all the 4-mile loop, too, except for about 1/8 of a mile between where the upper portion of the loop leaves and re-enters the lower loop.

Those looking for any kind of "hole" will be left hollow. This trail is a climber whether you go 4 or 9 miles, reaching its highest points near the middle of each loop before descending back to the trailhead. According to Randy Johnson's "Hiking Virginia," a Falcon Books guide, the phrase "Hoop Hole" is a corruption of the "hoop poles" which were cut in area mills to make barrel staves.

Broadly categorized, there are 3 types of hikes here in the Appalachians: Stream hikes, ridgeline hikes, and pleasant forest strolls. The lower loop is primarily a stream hike, as it visits Hipes Branch and Stony Run., bridging the two over a fairly level forested saddle at about 2,000 feet. Hipes Branch and Stony Run are almost identical, including the bluffs they have carved in the mountainside, the ever-present and ever-refreshing cascades and small waterfalls, and that the trail crosses each stream repeatedly (four times over Hipes, eight over Stony Run). The one glaring difference is that Hipes Branch is thickly shrouded with rhododendron while Stony Run has almost no rhododendron.

The 5-mile upper loop, however, fits in the ridgeline category. It ascends Pine Mountain, a segment of the lengthy Rich Patch Mountain ridge, on moderately steep trail that switchbacks some, crosses drainage gullies (including the upper part of the Hipes Branch drainage), and scrambles over rock fields as it climbs 1,700 feet from where it leaves the lower trail (and therefore, 2,400 feet from the trailhead). A quarter-mile level stretch up top offers views off both sides of the mountain, then all too soon, it descends steeply for a couple of miles back to the lower loop.

Hikers will also notice a sharp difference in the maintenance level of each loop. The lower loop is beat out pretty well and always easy to follow. The upper loop, however, is grown up with brush over much of its course, and in other places, is discernible only by following the yellow blazes as it traverses open forest and/or rock fields with little or no visible trail tread. The upper trail also has two or three spots where the blazes themselves will throw you for a loop -- quite literally. More on that later.

The lovely lower loop

From the trailhead, the trail passes a signboard and crosses a small stream, which is Stony Run. Doesn't look like much here, although it is a pleasant little brook, but it does some big things up in its gorge, as you'll see. About 50 yards past this introduction to Stony Run, the trail forks. In keeping with tradition, I will guide you clockwise on the trail, so take a left. (I've hiked the lower loop both directions and like it about the same both ways.)

For a while, the trail enters that "pleasant forest stroll" category, staying mostly level. As it begins angling upward, the trail follows an old roadbed through a huge patch of mountain laurel. Get used to this: Mountain laurel is thick on much of the loops. Eventually, a ravine begins opening up to the left, and gushing water tickles the ears. This is Hipes Branch. For a while, you follow along above the creek with a view down into the rhododendron-shaded valley, but slowly, the trail drops to meet the creek.

The trail is rocky and muddy in spots as it weaves back and forth across Hipes branch for about three-quarters of a mile. It's a clear stream, and you can see some little fishies if you look close. This place is so cool, man -- the valley walls, rhododendron and trees cloak the sun and the tumbling stream produces a slight breeze. Sitting on a rock with your bare feet in the water and your eyes admiring the sheer rock bluffs guarding this neat little valley would be a great way to "waste" a summer afternoon. After the fourth creek crossing, the trail bends left through a rhododendron thicket up and away from the creek.

You meander through another pleasant forest area here on a level bench between the two creek drainages. At one place, there are several iron fragments on a rock, a sign of the mining and milling that once occurred in this area. There's another mountain laurel thicket, even more dense than the first. Amid this thicket is a trail junction. Clearly marked by a sign on a tree, the upper loop takes off hereto the left. Stay straight ahead for the lower loop. (A description of the upper loop is below.)

Staying on the lower loop, the trail descends rapidly through a nice forest into another ravine, where you cross a small stream, a tributary to Stony Run. Not long after crossing this creek, there is yet another trail junction. This is where the upper loop re-enters the lower loop. This one-eighth mile descent is what you miss by doing the upper loop. It was in this one-eighth mile, however, on one of my lower loop hikes that I got a good look at a scarlet tanager, the only bird you'll ever see in the United States that has a solid red body and black wings.

There are eight crossings of Stony Run between here and the trailhead, counting the one already crosssed once between the signboard and the trail split. (Curiously, the map on the signboard shows only three). The trail rises above the creek to a sign on a tree that marks one mile to the trailhead. Notice below the nice waterfalls in Stony Run. At another spot, the trail again branches. It doesn't matter here which way you go, because the trails reconnect after a few hundred yards. After the fusion, the trail continues straight ahead, getting flatter as it continues paralleling the creek, before reaching the trail split again. At this point, go left back across Stony Run to the parking lot.

The tough upper loop

The upper loop is not for the faint of heart or those decidedly against rubbing themselves up against nature. For those who like solitude and some challenge, though, it's a wonderland.

After leaving the lower loop in the mountain laurel patch, the upper loop immediately begins doing what it will do a lot of in the next couple of miles: climbing. It also begins doing what it will do throughout much of its five miles back to the re-entry point -- almost disappearing into the brush. Long pants are recommended through here, advice I didn't heed.

Some views appear to the left as it climbs steadily, never too steeply, for nearly a mile before reaching a ravine that opens vistas behind you toward several ridgelines. (This is where I saw the turkey.) It's difficult to follow in spots as it crosses a slight stream, an upper portion of our friend Hipes Branch, then enters an open forest, switch backs a couple of times and climbs at a moderately steep angle between two ravines. The trail is hard to see, especially in winter when there is no color difference between ground and grass, as it traverses a rock field. Keep an eye out for the yellow blazes, including two yellow arrows on a large rock. The top one applies to those going clockwise, as I'm describing.

The biggest trouble I had in following the trail occurred after this boulder field as it reached a "false summit," a sort of semi-clearing on a saddle, the first spot where you have views off both sides of the mountain. This was part of my confusion, as I thought I had achieved the top of Pine Mountain. I don't know what in the yellow blazes they were trying to do here, but the yellow marked trees only spun me around in a circle. I tried to go up to the ridge on the right on some tiny animal paths that I thought might be the trail only to find I was in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to go. It took me 20 minutes of spinning around before I found the trail -- it actually is down to the left here. My clue was some sawed fallen trees I spotted there (somebody had done maintenance here sometime). You can save yourself time and trouble by looking across the clearing and seeing a tree straight ahead with a yellow mark on it, then from there, walking left until you see the clearly visible and marked trail. Ignore any and all trail markers to the right.

After negotiating this confusing spot, the trail clings to a steep mountainside for about a half mile, climbing gradually, then more steeply. You will see some huge bluffs rising above you here. Unfortunately, the trail doesn't visit this spot, but it is a magnificent sight. More and more vistas also appear through here between and over trees. At one spot, I counted eight different ridgelines, one after the other toward the horizon.

Finally, it reaches the real ridgeline, the summit of Pine Mountain. This is a wonderful area. The ridge, about 3,700 feet in elevation, drops off on both sides as the trail stays mostly level through here for about an eighth -mile, and especially in winter when there are no leaves, views of mountains west and east appear. The trail works around to the right of a knob, which is actually the high point here, then begins a rocky descent.

It's downhill almost all the way from here, except for one brief climb up to a knob. Much of the rest of the upper loop also involves either scraping through overgrown brush or struggling to locate the trail through open areas. After the knob, there is a place where there are yellow blazed trees in both directions. Follow the ones to the right. The mountain laurel is beautiful through this area, though, if it is blooming, and that offers some consolation for the way it is attacking your legs. There are also more nice views between the trees from time to time. I even spotted Sharp Top, about 30 miles away.

After much descent, the trail reaches a junction. Going left, which would appear to be the "straight ahead" route, would take you 2 1/2 miles on the Iron Ore Trail to Roaring Run. Follow the yellow blazes to the right to finish the loop -- the blazes are red to the left.

The trail becomes fairly level through here, with some ups and downs as it crosses small streams and drainages. There are a few bluffs, with one nice small overhang almost right on the trail. When you start seeing a lot of fallen trees and begin descending through them, over a mile after the trail junction, you know that re-entry to the lower loop is near. Suddenly, there it is, marked by a sign nailed to a tree. Go left here and return to the trailhead in just under two miles.

Nearby hikes

Roaring Run, a more well-known cascading stream and waterfall area, is just four miles away. Going back on 615 toward Eagle Rock, turn left on 621 (right if you're coming in from Eagle Rock; there's a store at the intersection), and signs point the way to the trailhead. This is a fairly easy (1.5 gottabreathe rating) short loop hike of about a mile and half that follows a stream and visits the remains of an old iron furnace.

Going south on 615 will take you toward Craig Creek and Fenwick Mines.