Kevin Myatt | The Roanoke Times
Two hikers make their way up the Appalachian Trail across the granite-studded grassy bald of Cold Mountain.
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- Location: Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area, located in Amherst County, off U.S. Highway 60 just east of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The route is clearly marked from U.S. 60 by signs with the words "Mount Pleasant, Hiking Trails." Best way to get there from Roanoke is I-81 north to U.S. 60 exit at Buena Vista (55 miles from I-81-581 interchange), east on U.S 60 up and over the mountains to 4 miles east of the parkway crossing. Turn left on Virginia 634 for 1.7 miles, then right on State Road 755. Follow this road (which will become Forest Road 48 where state maintenance ends) for 3 miles. It will first pass the Appalachian Trail crossing, an optional place to start hiking, then a half-mile further, a short road to the right leads to a trailhead where the Old Hotel and Henry Lanum trails both begin.
- Length: The Henry Lanum Trail and the Old Hotel Trail-Appalachian Trails are each 6 miles. (Henry Lanum is really 5 miles as a loop, but adding in the half-mile back and forth to Mount Pleasant makes it 6). These loops can be combined for a 12-mile double loop.
- Elevation: Mostly between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. Trailhead is at 3,400. Highest point on Mount Pleasant is 4,071 feet.
- Gottasee factor (scenery, scale 0 to 4): 3.5. If you like solitude and love areas that feel wild, your heart will soar at Mount Pleasant. The namesake mountain and the bald atop Cold Mountain provide can't-miss vistas that, on the clearest days, span 4 of Virginia's geographic areas. (The Blue Ridge, Piedmont, Shenandoah Valley, and Alleghenies.) At this elevation, the views can become smothered in clouds rather quickly, but the up-close features like rock formations, wildflowers and eerily twisted trees are also a treat for the eyes.
- Gottabreathe factor (difficulty, scale 0 to 4): 3: There are some tough climbs along the way, but it never stays steep for very long. Interspersed with these ascents are many pleasant level areas and descents, plenty of time to catch one's breath. The elevation is high enough that you may breathe a little harder in the somewhat-thinner air, but that's not a big problem, either. Hikers of average ability should have little trouble here.
With "Pleasant" and "Scenic" as two of its middle names, it had a lot to live up to.
It has. Over and over again.
The Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area is a rather grandiose name for an often-overlooked chunk of rugged real estate in Amherst County east of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
"National scenic area" is a not-too-common designation for protected national forest land that is somewhat less restrictive than the more familiar "wilderness area." In this case, about the only significant difference is that a road cuts through the middle of the scenic area, whereas vehicles are forbidden in a wilderness area. This road, (Virginia 755/Forest Road 48), provides the access to the Appalachian Trail crossing at Hog Camp Gap and the joint trailhead for the Henry Lanum and Old Hotel trails a half-mile further. (See information at left for directions on how to get to the trailhead.)
The Henry Lanum Trail is a five-mile loop hike that winds through an enchanted forest of gnarled trees and knobby boulders. It cuts through bluffs, follows ridgelines, and dives through a creek drainage. It summits Pompey Mountain, elevation 4,032 feet, and connects to a half-mile spur that visits the scenic area's 4,071-foot namesake massif, Mount Pleasant.
The Old Hotel Trail climbs a mountain, doing so through grassy meadows and open forests that provide spectacular views across rolling waves of Blue Ridge Mountains. It connects to the Appalachian Trail to form a six-mile loop that traverses Cold Mountain (4,022 feet), which features a mountaintop meadow that will bring alive the best Julie Andrews in the most coarse outdoorsman (or the best John Denver in the most coarse outdoorswoman). On the clearest days, the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the Piedmont to the east open up in full grandeur, with the Blue Ridge Mountains standing at attention north and south to both horizons and the Alleghenies marking the line between Virginias far to the west. And those who have camped there rave about the star-splattered night sky.
With terrain commonly exceeding 3,000 and sometimes 4,000 feet, this is land that marches to its own drummer in Virginia's parade of seasons. The names Mount Pleasant and Cold Mountain can be equally appropriate: A hot summer day in the valley can be quite pleasant on the mount, but a mild winter day can bite with the most unpleasantly frosty nip on the blustery ridgetops. Hiking here in late August, I saw three seasons intermingled -- wildflowers still in bloom from the late-arriving spring, a few leaves changing colors to meet the rapidly approaching fall, amid the usual mature greenery of summer. I've been up there for an invasion of mountain-shrouding clouds infused with the smell of sea salt marching in on a stiff east breeze; ragged, random chunks of fog swirling through the valleys and the mountainsides far below me with no particular place to go; and that classic crystal clear day with no clouds, no haze and no worries.
Following the Henry Lanum Trail, named for the late Natural Bridge Appalachian Club member who designed this twin peaks trail, is pretty easy. It leaves the trailhead to the left on a wide, gradually climbing, well-blazed path. (The old road directly in front of the small parking lot is where the Henry Lanum Trail finishes up; to the right is the Old Hotel Trail.)
As is true along almost the entire Blue Ridge, the forest on the Henry Lanum Trail is mostly regenerated woodlands after massive logging in the 1800s and early 1900s. But just a few feet onto the trail, it has that wild feel, with a forest of hardwood trees battered and twisted by decades of wind and ice. For the first 2-1/2 miles, the trail works its way through these craggy trees and many large rock formations as it alternates ascents with level sections on its way to the top of Pompey Mountain. There is at least one short side trail to a rocky overlook to the left as the trail crosses Pompey Mountain, which is more of a forested hump than an easily defined peak.
Once the trail begins descending Pompey Mountain, the full mass of Mount Pleasant looms impressively ahead. The trail drops down to an open area that has obviously become a backcountry campsite (a short trail leads to a spring only a few feet onto the nearby Mount Pleasant spur). It's just past this area that the trail forks, almost exactly at the halfway mark of the Henry Lanum loop. As marked by the sign, the left fork is the half-mile spur trail to Mount Pleasant, while Mr. Lanum's trail continues right.
Mount Pleasant is proof by itself that God knows how to build a mountaintop better than man knows how to develop one. The nearly 4,100-foot peak comes complete with two rocky overlooks, one on the east side and one on the west, so a camper could have ringside seats for both sunrise and sunset. The spur trail, which switchbacks through a rock garden of moss and rhododendron, reaches the summit at a saddle between these two promontories, and a sign points the way to the east and west overlooks. Do sit a spell.
Back on the Henry Lanum Trail, once past the Mount Pleasant spur, begins a descent through lots of rocks. And I mean lots and lots and lots of rocks of all shapes and sizes, on the trail and on both sides. Views toward Cold Mountain and its bald spot on top appear to the left, and, amid this mostly hardwood forest, a few tall pine trees stand out along the ridge side. The trail eventually reaches North Fork, a tumbling mountain stream, crosses it, then shortly joins an old road. The trail finishes its last mile or so on this road.
The first question that must be answered about the Old Hotel Trail is "Where is the old hotel?" The best answer I could find with brief research was in Allen de Hart's "The Trail of Virginia: Hiking the Old Dominion:" "The Old Hotel Trail received its name from a Richerson family whose large home was the scene of social events and a hospitable respite for overnight guests." (p. 132)
No "old hotel" can be found along this path today, but there are many "hospitable respites" along the way. From the trailhead, the Old Hotel Trail climbs steadily through open forests and grassy meadows for a mile and a half until it comes to a large open area with an impressively huge white oak tree with a prolific array of branches. I'm a big-time tree-hugger when it comes to large oaks, mainly because the yard where I grew up featured two Southern red oaks of size similar to this behemoth. According to de Hart, this clearing is near, but not precisely at, the site of the Richerson house.
The trail undulates through a mixed forest for another mile and half on the foot of Cole Mountain until it crosses Little Cove Creek. It continues past the Cow Camp Gap Shelter, visible to the right across the creek, and makes an abrupt and steep half-mile rise to join the Appalachian Trail. A right turn here leads us toward the highlight of this loop, the bald atop Cold Mountain, but not before some more calf-burning climbs over the next mile, interspersed with some jaw-dropping overlooks.
Now, before you get the wrong ideas: This Cold Mountain is not the namesake of the Civil War novel by Charles Frazier -- that Cold Mountain is in North Carolina. At least one forest service document I have seen refers to this as Cole Mountain, but Cold Mountain appears to be the more widely used name. And the 'bald' up top is not a natural bald such as can be found in the Smokies; this was cleared by settlers and simply has not been reclaimed by trees. That does not keep the views from being any less spectacular. It's one of the few places you can have a nearly 360-degree view of the surrounding Virginia landscape. Spend plenty of time up here and sing "Sound of Music" or "Country Roads" (just say "Western Virginia" instead of "West Virginia") as loud as you can.
After about a half-mile of this open ridgetop, the inevitable descent must begin. The AT will cross an old road a couple of times; the road will actually take you to exactly the same place the trail will, which is the forest road. Once back on the forest road, it is a half-mile up the road to the right back to the trailhead.
All too soon, it ends, but the pleasant memories will bring you back.
