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 Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education building, leading toward the towering John Rock mountain. This is NOT the trail that follows the Davidson River downstream - that's the Cat Gap Loop where you will return. 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 the 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 moderates into a gently rolling trail just outside of a forest demonstration area. You'll follow a green chain-link fence on your right. The trail will cross one small tributary and is generally flat, traveling through woods with 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, or ground pine. Ground pines are some of the oldest 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!

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 moderately climbing, wide trail that will take you high up along the side of the valley. You will pass the station where the water is diverted into the fish hatchery, which will be 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 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 hidden 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.

Back on the main trail, you'll reach the intersection with the Butter Gap trail just past this campsite, at a big rock slab. Continue straight on the Cat Gap Loop. You'll cross a couple of slow, meandering streams on log bridges and 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 hardwoods. The trail will cross the creek, and then become significantly steeper as switches back, pulls away up the mountainside and gain the nose of a ridge. You'll switchback up the ridge between John Rock Branch and Cedar Rock Creek. The trees become older, and you'll be traveling through a mixed hardwood forest typical of these sloped areas at this elevation. The understory of mountain laurel and rhododendron would make traveling off-trail extremely difficult. Footing is generally good, though there is some erosion, and a there are a few rooty and rocky sections.

The climb will moderate, and you'll reach the intersection with the Cat Gap Connector trail. Turn left here. This trail traverses a high slope below Cat Gap at about 3100' in elevation. You'll pass through varied forest environments. As you round ridges look for mostly oak, while in 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. This section of trail is fairly level, so you can conserve energy for the next part of the hike. You'll come to a four-way intersection in a deep gap to the south of John Rock. Turn left here and begin an extremely steep climb up to an unnamed knob on the ridge to John Rock.

This section trail could afford some switchbacks, or even to skirt 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 achieving the knob, you'll head gradually down toward John Rock. There is one more short climb, then a descent, before the trees become smaller and you pop out on the rock face itself. This goes without saying, but: be extremely careful here! It's a 200' sheer drop to the rocks below. Stay near the edge of the forest and watch out for wet rocks and moss which could send you sliding downhill!

Enjoy the view across the valley of Looking Glass Rock (north) and of the Fish Hatchery below. Bring a pair of binoculars and see if you can pick out your car in the lot! To the left (northwest) is the Pisgah Ledge and the ridges extending off from it. Just to the right of Looking Glass Rock is Coontree Mountain, and to the right of that is Bearpen Mountain (northeast). After 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 drop into a cove filled with dense undergrowth of rhododendron and mountain laurel. From this cove you'll begin heading downhill on a moderately steep trail. 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, downhill. The lush forest here is dominated by tall, straight tuliptrees, one of the most common Cove Hardwood species. Dark, lacy hemlocks share the ground with the tuliptrees. This trail will pass out of the mouth of the cove and then begin heading upstream beside the flat, gently flowing Davidson River. 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 as this valley is nearly level here. 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 bridge over Cedar Rock Creek and you'll end back at the far end of the Center for Wildlife Education parking lot.

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