Scenic Drives/Mountain Roads

boice1971

New Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Location
Casar, NC
Does anyone know of some good scenic drives or mountain roads. The wife and I like to take off simply riding around in the mountains; and I was just wondering if anyone else does this and where they go?
Today I found a good drive I've never been on before; we went down Brown Mountain Beach Rd. to Edgemont Rd., then took a left somewhere along there. The only sign we saw said winding mountain road and it was a good hour - 1.5 hour ride that led us to a paved road where we turned right and wound up on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Anyway, sorry for rambling but any suggestion on where we could go next time is appreciated. Roads can't be too rough or crazy, we just have an '05 Explorer 4x4.

Thanks.
 
Yes, the Blue Ridge Parkway is very nice, but I prefer back country not too much traffic roads. Like the one I talked about above; we only saw 5 cars in the 1.5 hours and 3 of them were parked and the start of hiking trails.
 
Take 105 out of Marion, NC will take you up to Linville Falls. You may need 4WD. great ride.
 
The Smoky Mountain Expressway is a good one. It goes from Cherokee to Gatlinburg. When you get to the Tennessee side hang a left on some road that takes you to Cades Cove (there is a sign). There is a ~11 mile loop with lots of deer and other wildlife all over the place there to see.
 
Today I went to banner elk, then hit 184 up to beech and took it to the top of the mountain, where it dead ends. I parked and walked around up there.. there is a little photographic lookout down a trail. Not very adventurous as far as driving, but definitely a sweet view. I would like to find some easy, scenic trails to drive around on with my DD up here in Boone.
 
It sounds like you have alot more exploring to do in the Brown Mtn./Grandfather area. There are probably close to 200 miles of dirt roads up there. I can hit a dirt road on hwy 181 and come out on hwy 321 just below Blowing Rock without seeing pavement. I've been hiking that area for 15yrs and I still don't think I've been on all the dirt roads up there. Nat Geo has a good map of the area with every dirt road on it. Its the Linville Gorge/Mount Mitchell Trails illustrated map.
 
GONOVRIT said:
It sounds like you have alot more exploring to do in the Brown Mtn./Grandfather area. There are probably close to 200 miles of dirt roads up there. I can hit a dirt road on hwy 181 and come out on hwy 321 just below Blowing Rock without seeing pavement. I've been hiking that area for 15yrs and I still don't think I've been on all the dirt roads up there. Nat Geo has a good map of the area with every dirt road on it. Its the Linville Gorge/Mount Mitchell Trails illustrated map.
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brown mtn/ grandfather is a great area ,theres one dirt rd leading out of wilsons creek that has a house built at the base of a waterfall,just watch out for the big cat that's rumored to roam around there
 
Do the dirt trails provide any light wheeling? Where do you access them, closest to Boone?
 
Globe Road is ok if you like going all downhill. Maple Grove Church Road is awesome, something like 10-15 miles of state maintained gravel with basically nothing on it. Runs between Adako Rd and Mortimer.
 
This coming weekend I was gonna try to do some scenic drives/ light wheeling in my DD (stock for the most part) when my girlfriend comes up. Would Brown Mtn be the best bet? Any good scenic trails? Definitely open to suggestions and exploring.
 
105 from the head of Lake James, takes you up to "the other side of Linville Falls. A couple VERY scenic places. There is a lil pull off on the right going up. You will recognize it by the berms right at the beginning. Walk out there and there is a deck to walk out on, and a rock to climb and look out over the Linville Gorge. The other place is Wisemans View.
MANY roads around these Mnt's
IF you go up 181 from Morganton just before you would turn off to Brown Mnt, there is a road to the left. Sign there says Table Rock. Part of Pisgah NF Many roads to ride in there.
Any of these roads is a good venture. Bring a pic-nic
 
336wheeler said:
This coming weekend I was gonna try to do some scenic drives/ light wheeling in my DD (stock for the most part) when my girlfriend comes up. Would Brown Mtn be the best bet? Any good scenic trails? Definitely open to suggestions and exploring.
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Brown Mtn ORV area is a good place to wheel a DD/mild rig.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Globe Road is ok if you like going all downhill. Maple Grove Church Road is awesome, something like 10-15 miles of state maintained gravel with basically nothing on it. Runs between Adako Rd and Mortimer.
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X2 on Maple Grove Ch. Buy a NC atlas and you can find a lot of goat paths.
 
Black Mountain Road

I believe that is the name of the road. It is the last right hand turn on the Blue Ridge Pkwy as you approach Cherokee. It is paved until you reach a campground. Past the Campground it is a single track one way road that leads into Cherokee. Nice drive - no scenic overlooks but wooded all the way. Probably quite nice as the leaves change.

Edited:

The correct name of the road is Round Bottom road - it is accessed by Heintooga Spur Road - the camp ground name is Black Balsam Road.
 
Cherohola skyway is nice too.
 
What are trails 1 and 8 at brown mountain like? I've been trying to find pictures but I'm having no luck at all.
 
336wheeler said:
What are trails 1 and 8 at brown mountain like? I've been trying to find pictures but I'm having no luck at all.
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IIRC Trails 1-7 are atv trails only. Trail 8 is trucks and atv`s.
 
336wheeler said:
This coming weekend I was gonna try to do some scenic drives/ light wheeling in my DD (stock for the most part) when my girlfriend comes up. Would Brown Mtn be the best bet? Any good scenic trails? Definitely open to suggestions and exploring.
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Let me know if you find some good easy trails for a DD up here in Boone. I'm up here and would love to take my Jeep out on some easy stuff with nice views. I know there are a lot up here, just don't know where.
 
I"m interested in more stuff up here in Boone as well. Wilson Creek and Brown Mountain rd are awesome, you could spend a whole weekend out there driving around and never see the same place twice. I want to find something a little more difficult though.
 
Well I went out to Brown Mountain this weekend and checked out the trails. Trail 1 and 8 are definitely do-able in a DD, as I took my 4runner and my buddy took his stock grand cherokee. It was fun; a little slow, but there were some fun parts.
 
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