Linville Gorge

danielsapp414

New Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Central, NC
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the linville gorge has beautiful scenery...especially along the river...and great 4 wheeling opportunities

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There are some areas on the lower end of the gorge that you can drive into, but I think most of those areas are contolled by hunt clubs (as is almost all land in WNC). But, 95% of the Linville Gorge is (and should be) protected under the Wilderness Act. You get caught trying to take a vehicle into the gorge's protected areas and ouch - I pity da fool!
 
i would check that info on who owns most of the private land in the lower part of the gorge, i'm not so sure its hunt clubs...and the only place that anyone can drive close to being into the lower end of the gorge is the road up to the top of shortoff
 
Most of the private land at the lower end of the gorge is leased out to hunt clubs who then have all the land posted. That road to the top of shortoff has been closed for years, it's for hikers and horses only. I can't even remember when it was open to vehicles.

The private land I'm referring to that's leased to hunt clubs is accessed via 126, you turn right on the gravel road just on the other side of the one lane bridge.
 
I'm not sure if there is any vehicle access to the gorge from the 181 side. There's the forest roads up to Table Rock, Hawksbill, etc. but I'm not sure if their are any (legal) trails.
 
gorge

The road to the top of Short Off has been closed for 30 years by the Forest Service(especially from the old Wof Pit road). All the private land up the river to the wilderness area is gated and closely watched. Once you pass the houses and the church rec area, you best be carefull.
 
Yeah, I was about to say that the road to the top of Shortoff has never been open to vehicles during my lifetime. My grandpa has plenty of stories about he and his brothers taking surplus Willis jeeps to the top. It was so steep they'd have to have people sit on the front bumper to keep the front tires planted! He has tons of stories about jeeping up to shortoff, jeeping all across Dogback Mountain, all out CC road (off of old 105). Those were the good ole days...
 
gorge area

Many years ago you could travel trails all through this area, from Linville Gorge to Hwy 181 and the east/north side of that highay also. Most of the roads were closed by the Forest Service in the mid 70's. The popularity of motorcycles and the inability of the riders of those vehicles to stay on the forest service roads was a large factor in the decision to close all the roads. There were not that many 4 wheel drive vehicles around to have an impact. Once they were able to get the closures, those gates have not swung open for public use again.
 
That's the way it goes. A couple of people who want to go out and 'raise hell' screw it up for everyone else. Once closures occur, it's near impossible to get them reopened. That's why it's so important to take care of what we still have and to fight like hell to make sure they're maintained and kept open!
 
LARRY SMITH said:
The road to the top of Short Off has been closed for 30 years by the Forest Service(especially from the old Wof Pit road). All the private land up the river to the wilderness area is gated and closely watched. Once you pass the houses and the church rec area, you best be carefull.
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No quiet, but close to that long. I used to take my first Jeep up there way back when I was 16.


Ok way way way back!
 
upnover said:
I used to take my first Jeep up there way back when I was 16.
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They had vehicles back then? :flipoff2:
 
yeah...i meant wolf pit rd. as the one going up shortoff, i know you can't go all the way to the top now...and i still don't think you have your info right on the hunt club land...i think its all usfs gameland and there is private property within that that is gated and not open to hunt clubs of any sort.
 
Us old farts in the Carolina Trailblazers rode the Shortoff area and the Dobson Knob area off the other side of the gorge for many years. Have ridden the trails from Dobson Knob Road (FR106) down to US221 before those were gated. Can't remember exactly when the Shortoff road was closed, but it was circa 1980 if I remember back to the last vehicle I had on a CTB trip there. According to the current maps, there are splotches of private land between the bottom of Shortoff and Hwy 126, and between the west side of the Gorge and the Institute Road. Most of it is marked as under the "guidance" of NC Wildlife as public and government mixed gamelands. I miss the old rides like that.
 
short off

The Wolf Pit road is private land and open to the circle turn around. There the US Forest land starts and there are plenty of sgns there stating "no vehicle traffic". I can't remenber the exact year the roads were closed, I feel it was the mid to late 70's. I have driven jeeps to the top and accross Short Off many times. The trail off the back side was extremely steep. I have gone down, but never up. I didn't have lockers and all the other stuff back then.
 
Going up the left side of the river, all the land along the river is private, all the way to the Wildeness boundary.(there are three or four gates on the road up the river.) The last gate is the start of a 200 acre tract(private also) that lays on both sides of the river up to the wilderness boundary. The road goes up a good portion of the gorge. There are several roads going up to the base of the rock cliff along Short Off. Pisgah National Forest land starts on the right side near the old churh rec area located on the left side. I grew up in the area and have hiked, camped, and hunted the entire Linville Gorge area up to the falls, until around 1992.
 
BAck in 78, when I got my Dl and my first Jeep. A 48 willys( yes Rich it even had electric start!) I used to go up there with my first real girl friend. Scared her to death! It was a rough ride even then, without lockes and so on. I had a good set of re-capped mud tires thought LOL Awesome spot to to and have a picnic, watch the clouds move up and down the gorge. Sit out on a ledge and just watch and listen to the river. Saw my first bear in the wild up there. There used to be some fish in one of those ponds up there too. Great memories! Now, you can only drive up to the old wolf-pit and hike up there. I also have hiked from the wold pit to the top of Short off, and then over to Tables rock. the trail comes out in the parking area there at the base of Table Rock. some of the steepest trails, and windiest trails I ever hiked. I think to do that is by permit only now though.
 
you only need the permit for overnight camping in the peak season months....didnt know there were all of those trails out there, it would be nice if they were still open but thats what happens in life, stuff gets shut down and sometimes its not as fun but in the end its probably for the best, atleast in the gorge that is.
 
The ponds on top of Shortoff are just seasonal now. They usually don't completely dry up in the summer, but they get really low. Same with Paddy's Creek. I don't know if any of you are familiar with that creek, but I swear in the last 10-15 years the water flow has at least cut in half.
 
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