Laurel Gap Trail
At A Glance
7 mi one-way
Difficulty Rating: 7 
Steepness: Few Hills
Tread Condition: Few Obstacles
Trail Number: 184
Description
This is a long, late 80's era logging road (FS 5548) that traverses the forest roughly parallel to (but a higher elevation than) FS 74, the main road through Big Ivy. As much of the area was logged after this was constructed, the forest along this route is generally young, providing some good views both up and down the mountainside in places although the trees are beginning to close in over the road again in places. The trail is overgrown in places though a discernible path exists along at least the southern half.
Sticks between the 4000 and 4800 ft contours making for a gentle grade along the length overall. The forest is at the transition zone between the mid-elevation and high-elevation northern hardwood zones for the most part with elements of each. It's not terribly healthy in places.
The road comes to within just a short distance of the Blue Ridge Parkway at its closest point near the Glassmine Falls overlook so you may hear traffic noise at times when the Parkway is open.
Aside from just being a long walk through a pleasant forest, this trail intersects four other trails providing loop options in the Big Ivy area.
Intersecting Trails
This trail is located in the Big Ivy (Coleman Boundary) area. For a list of all the trails in that area, see the Big Ivy (Coleman Boundary) trails list page.
All Photos from the Trail
GPS Map
Map Information
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Data Formats
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About the Map
Copyright
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Base layers provided by OpenStreetMap, the US Geological Survey, the US Forest Service, and NC OneMap. Base layer images are subject to the respective copyright policies of their owners. Base layers may not be available at all times due to system maintenance or outages.
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The WNCOutdoors Base layer is provided by WNCOutdoors.info. It is licensed by Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.
Trail and Marker Overlays
Trail layers and downloadable data are all original works created by WNCOutdoors with guidance from a variety of sources, including ensembles of our own GPS tracks, user contributed GPS tracks, official maps and GIS data from government agencies, and field observations. WNCOutdoors data is made freely available under the Open Database License - you are free to copy and use it for any purpose under the terms of that license (summary).
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Trail Segments
Trails are often made up of several connecting paths which may have different characteristics, allowed uses, and seasons. This trail is divided into multiple segments as follows:
Laurel Gap - Start to Bear Pen
- Allowed Uses: Hiking, Mountain Biking, Horseback Riding
- Length: 2.6 mi
Laurel Gap - Perkins to Little Andy
- Allowed Uses: Hiking, Mountain Biking, Horseback Riding
- Length: 2.43 mi
Laurel Gap - Bear Pen to Perkins
- Allowed Uses: Hiking, Mountain Biking, Horseback Riding
- Length: 2.02 mi
Total Calculated Length: 7.04 mi
This value is derived from our underlying map data, and it may not match officially published information.
Feedback
Ratings
Average Rating: 3.0 (rated 11 times)
Rate It Now:
Bob said: Again, very overgrown with no maintenance first week of July 2017. Unfortunate as it the connector for several stem trails up from Big Ivy Rd. BUT, stunning amount and diversity of wildflowers!!
Rockhound said: Super overgrown. Slow trail. Riding on grass. Lots of stinging nettles!! These conditions as of August 2016. Needs maintenance.