John Rock Best Hike

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Hike Description

Begin the hike by following Forest Service Road 475C out of the parking lot. It's the paved road on your left if you're standing in the parking lot and facing the main building. This is NOT the trail that follows the Davidson River downstream - that's the Cat Gap Loop where you will return. The trail leads toward the towering John Rock mountain at first.

There is a sign stating "Authorized Vehicles Only" hanging on the gate - however it's OK to follow this road on foot or on a bike. Go around the gate and immediately cross a bridge. Immediately after that, turn right onto the Cat Gap Loop trail.

This trail will get your blood pumping from the start, with a climb up some log steps, but it soon moderates into a gently rolling grade. It lies just outside of a forest demonstration area delineated by a green chain-link fence on your right. The trail will cross one small tributary and is generally flat.

The forest here has many different varieties of trees: cove hardwoods (namely tuliptree and oak), white pine, hemlock, and more. In places there is an extensive ground cover of Lycopodium - also called "ground pine" and "running cedar". Ground pines are some of the oldest varieties of plants in existence, and they used to dominate the landscape with tree-sized forms. Now diminutive, this cute little plant looks like a 6" high forest of its own! The spores of this plant are very flammable, and were once used to make flash bulbs for photography.

Shortly, you'll come to a footbridge over Cedar Rock Creek; cross it, cross the gravel road just after it, and pick up the Cat Gap trail again on the other side. This short, steep climb needs reengineering and it's eroded, but it takes you up to an old roadbed soon and moderates considerably. From here it is a wide trail that will take you high up along the side of the valley.

You will pass the weir where the water is diverted into the fish hatchery, far down below you on the left. The cold, clear waters of Cedar Rock Creek are perfect for raising the trout.

At times, rhododendrons arch over the trail forming a "tunnel". You'll pull away from the main valley and head up a side cove, then cross a very low ridge. Soon the trail will pass by a nice but overused campsite under some large hemlock trees, on the left. Just downstream of this campsite there is a waterfall - Cedar Rock Falls. Listen for it - it's worth a visit but be very careful around waterfalls and slick rocks. There are high drop-offs in this area. To get to the base, follow the path downhill from the campsite. Bear left where the trail drops over a small ledge to find a safer route around and down.

Back on the main trail, continue past the campsite and another small cascade. You'll reach the intersection with the Butter Gap trail shortly, at a big rock slab. Our hike continues straight, on the Cat Gap Loop, but you may wish to explore to the right a bit, which is an open area known as Picklesimer Fields.

Back on the Cat Gap Loop, you'll cross a couple of slow, meandering streams on log bridges. You'll then begin heading upstream along Cedar Rock Creek. The woods are young - you'll pass even-aged, planted stands of white pines where there is no undergrowth. Roots are your main obstacle on this portion of the trail, and the rest of the forest consists of mostly cove hardwood trees.

The trail will cross the creek - this time, it's a rock-hop - and then become significantly steeper. It pulls away up the mountainside and works its way up onto the nose of a ridge. Then, you'll switchback up the ridge between John Rock Branch and Cedar Rock Creek. Footing is generally good, though there is some erosion, and a there are a few rooty and rocky sections.

The trees become older, and you'll be traveling through a mixed hardwood forest typical of these sloped areas at this elevation. The thick understory of mountain laurel and rhododendron would make traveling off-trail extremely difficult. It also poses somewhat of a fire hazard. Since the era of fire suppression, undergrowth like this has become much more common. The Forest Service sometimes use controlled burns to reduce fuel loads and open up areas such as this. Nature uses wildfires to do the same thing, but in a much more dramatic, uncontrolled fashion.

The climb will lessen, and you'll reach the intersection with the Cat Gap Connector trail. Turn left here, onto the Cat Gap Connector. (Straight ahead, the Cat Gap trail climbs to reach the Mountains to Sea Trail northeast of Cedar Rock Mountain, in Cat Gap).

This trail traverses a high slope below Cat Gap at about 3100' in elevation, and provides a much easier, shorter, and faster way to John Rock than going through Cat Gap itself. You'll pass through varied forest environments in rapid succession. As you go out around ridges, look for mostly oak trees. When you dip into the small coves you'll find poplar and hemlocks. In the wintertime you can catch views of the side of John Rock through the branches.

You'll come to a four-way intersection in a deep gap to the south of John Rock. Turn left here onto the John Rock trail. (To the right, the Cat Gap Loop trail climbs up to Cat Gap and the Mountains to Sea Trail, mentioned above. Straight ahead is also the Cat Gap Loop, which promptly descends into Horse Cove). Here, you begin an extremely steep climb up to an unnamed knob on the ridge leading out to John Rock.

This section of trail could afford some switchbacks, or even to skirt around this knob entirely, but it doesn't. Watch your footing, as the trail is rocky and deeply eroded with roots crossing the trail, suspended a foot or more in mid-air in places. After reaching the top of the knob, you'll head gradually down again toward John Rock. This is the highest point on the hike, at approximately 3320' in elevation.

There is one more short climb, then another descent, before the trees become smaller and disappear, and you pop out onto the face of John Rock itself. This goes without saying, but: be extremely careful here! It's a 200' sheer drop to the rocks below. It's level and not unsafe to enjoy the view from the edge of the forest if the rock is dry, but watch out for wet rocks and slippery things like leaves, pine needles, moss, and algae which could send you sliding downhill!

Enjoy the view north across the valley of Looking Glass Rock and of the Fish Hatchery below. Bring a pair of binoculars and see if you can pick out your car in the lot! To your left (northwest) is the Pisgah Ledge and all the ridges extending off from it. Just to the right of Looking Glass Rock (northeast) is Coontree Mountain, and to the right of that is Bearpen Mountain.

After you're done soaking up the views, head along the edge of the woods to your right, and pick up the trail heading downhill. This is the continuation of the loop.

You'll pass through a large, flat area to the east of John Rock. Then the trail drops into a cove filled with a dense undergrowth of rhododendron and mountain laurel. From this cove you'll begin heading downhill on a moderately steep trail before winding back up slightly and into the next cove, where the trail descends in earnest. You'll bottom out at a crossing of Horse Cove Creek; on the other side you'll reach the intersection with the Cat Gap Loop trail.

Turn left here, downhill. The lush forest in this area is dominated by tall, straight tuliptrees, one of the most common Cove Hardwood species. Dark, lacy hemlocks share the ground with the tuliptrees (but unfortunately, they are all dying). You'll intersect FR 475C again; go straight across and continue downhill. Horse Cove starts leveling out soon; the trail will pass out of the mouth of the cove and then begin heading upstream beside the flat, gently flowing Davidson River.

The river is mostly calm, but some steeper sections of the river contain scenic white-water rapids. Although you are climbing very slightly on this section of trail, you'll hardly notice it compared to the rest of this hike. Several small tributary streams and seeps pass beneath the trail and join the river.

Near the end of the hike, a large, attractive campsite opens up to your right under some tall hemlocks. This is also a great place to relax by the river at the end of a great hike. Finish by crossing the last bridge over Cedar Rock Creek and you'll end back at the far end of the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education parking lot, and your vehicle.

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Map

Here's an interactive GPS map of this hike. Yellow highlight indicates the route followed by this hike within the trail network. Only the trails and points of interest along the hike, and those in the immediate vicinity, are shown. For expanded maps, see this hike's Trailhead area.

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