Location: The trailhead is almost exactly halfway between Catawba and Daleville on Virginia 779. Take Virginia 311 from I-81 at Salem, go 8 miles west to Catawba, turn right on 779 at Catawba, then travel 8.3 miles to trailhead, located on the right just past a bridge and turn in the road. Or, go 1.5 miles on U.S. 220 North from I-81 near Hollins to Daleville and turn left 8.4 miles to the trailhead, on the left. Virginia 779 is also marked as Catawba Road and Bikecentennial bike route 76. Length: 5.6 miles (2.8 miles one way and backtrack) Elevation range: From 1,300 feet near the trailhead and creek crossings to just a hair under 3,000 feet at the cliffs. Gottasee factor of 3 (Scenery, scale 0 to 4) Bluff top views are the most prominent feature, but there are also nice creek drainages, intriguing rock formations, and lovely forests on the way. Even the part of the trail that goes through a cow pasture includes pleasant rushing streams and scenic views up toward surrounding ridges. Gottabreathe factor of 3.5 (Difficulty, scale 0 to 4) Some tough, steep stretches as it rises 1,700 feet in elevation. It’s a little easier than it was before -- it switchbacks more now -- but there are still some ankle-grinding, breath-stealing slopes. Andy Layne Trail signpost The white marks on this rock are trail blazes for the Appalachian Trail, which hugs the sheer cliff in several places at Tinker Cliffs. Eons of water and wind have created many cracks and gaps in the rock at Tinker Cliffs, including this natural bridge formation. If it had eyes, this lonely pine tree on the Tinker Cliffs would be treated to a panorama below that changes constantly with the seasons.

March 2000 The Andy Layne Trail: A new path to an old favorite, Tinker Cliffs (Map below) By KEVIN MYATT ROANOKE.COM COLUMNIST The trail has changed; the destination has not. The scenery is different, but still beautiful. The climb is easier, but still tough. Earlier this month, the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club dedicated the Andy Layne Trail, leading from Virginia 779 to the Appalachian Trail at Scorched Earth Gap, a short distance from Tinker Cliffs. I will leave it to others to describe Andy Layne, a first class outdoorsman who died in 1991 after nearly eight decades of a very full and active life. He committed many hours and many years to the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club long before this writer ever set foot in these parts. The signboard a few hundred feet from the parking area tells some about who Andy Layne was and what he meant to so many. (For more information on Andy Layne, click here to a recent roanoke.com article by Bill Cochran and to the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club.) I paid my tribute to the late Mr. Layne on a mild but breezy early spring day. As I started, the top of Tinker Mountain was white-capped from a wet snow that hit the higher elevations two days earlier; but by the time I finished, it was only white-speckled up there after a day of 60-degree sunshine. The calendar said spring but the foliage, or lack of it, and the ankle-deep slushy snowpack up top said winter. The chilly wind fought the warm sunshine for seasonal control. Last year on this site, I described a route to Tinker Cliffs from the same trailhead utilizing the Catawba Valley Trail. That route, actually the old Appalachian Trail in the 1980s when it was rerouted around McAfee Knob because of property disputes, crossed a long stretch of cow pasture before finally attacking the 1,700-foot climb directly -- and painfully. The new route includes less cow pie dodging in the valley and only brief stretches of lung-stretching and knee-buckling amid a kinder, gentler but still rugged ascent of Tinker Mountain. The Andy Layne Trail begins and ends at the same points as its predecessor, but in between shares the same route for only two short distances of a few hundred yards each. The first stretches from the trailhead over a wooded hill and the second a quarter-mile farther to cross two fence stiles and two creek bridges. After passing the sign board, crossing a fence, and traversing the first hill, the trail continues straight ahead instead of veering left onto a cedar-lined knoll as it did before. This can be confusing because there are still trail blazes to the left and an easily discernible beaten path. The old path, however, is blocked by limbs; continue straight ahead following the yellow blazes down through a meadow with scattered trees. The trail eventually parallels the Little Catawba Creek, turning left and following it downstream to rejoin the old trail just as it crosses another fence on a stile. Along the path of the old trail, the Andy Layne Trail crosses the fence, then a bridge over the Little Catawba Creek you have been following, then goes alongside another fence line until it crosses another stile to the right over it. The trail, as before, comes alongside Catawba Creek as it snuggles against some gorgeous bluffs, then passes through a cow pasture to a larger wooden bridge over the creek. It's after this bridge that the Andy Layne Trail makes a bold divergence from the old route, curving left up a hill toward a newly built stile over a barbed wire fence marked with no trespassing signs. The old route continued straight here, going through the cow pasture for a good distance. I could not even find the old route when I hiked recently, so this is less confusing than the other trail re-route. At several points along the way, signs will explain that the Roanoke Cement Co. has granted permission for trail users to cross its property. What this means is that as long as you stay on the yellow-blazed path, you may ignore the many no trespassing signs along the way: you, as an Andy Layne Trail hiker, are no longer considered a trespasser. It also explains that you may encounter people who by permission of the cement company have the right to hunt on the land. Please respect those rights and wear appropriate blaze colors in season. This is private property and we are guests. Let's be gracious ones. Once past the stile, the trail works gradually upward through dense forest, following the left side of a drainage. I'm quite sure that through most of the year this drainage is but a trickle or even dry, but when I hiked it after two days of rain and with snow continuing to melt into it from the higher elevations, it was a raging torrent. Eventually, the trail will come to an old road bed with gate across it and another no trespassing sign. The trail skirts around the gate, turns sharply left and follows the old roadbed uphill. The old roadbed after a short distance uphill curves right and an open view over the concrete plant opens up to the left. It's not the most beautiful thing you'll ever see on the trail, but it's hard to complain since it's the generosity of this company that has made this trail possible. The old roadbed steadily climbs upward until the trail, clearly marked, turns right off of it and re-enters the woods, actually going downhill for a short stretch. After this downhill respite, the trail makes two steep but not lengthy uphill climbs, the only part of the new route that resembles what the old trail did for the better part of a mile. These steep stretches -- particularly on the return trip downhill -- were especially tricky when I hiked it because of the mud. My feet nearly went out from under me several times. After the twin steep stretches, separated by a short level respite, the trail becomes more gradual in its ascent. The most significant difference in the new trail compared to the old occurs in the next half-mile or so of hiking. Instead of a direct assault on the mountain, the new route makes a series of switchbacks up the mountainside. When you see how the switchbacks are cut into such a steep mountainside you will gain a greater appreciation for not having to slug straight upward. The footing was tricky for me in some of the more deeply cut places because of mud and a fair amount of slushy snow still clinging to the trail. Watch your step. After the last switchback, the trail keeps gradually rising toward a drainage. To the right there is an impressively high and large deer stand (it looks more like a tree house) lodged in a tall tree on the side of the steep ridge. Eventually, the trail reaches the intersection with the AT at Scorched Earth Gap. It comes in at an angle to exactly the same spot the old trail also intersects -- the rounded "UFO rock" that marks the spot. There is some new signage here to make sure people are aware of the new route. From here, turn right on the AT and follow it for another quarter-mile of twists and turns and steady uphill climbing to achieve the Tinker Cliffs and the sweeping views over multiple Appalachian ridges and their associated valleys. It's a heavenly place to pay respects to Andy Layne, who must surely be resting high on a mountain with a similar view today.

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