Elk Knob State Park — Attraction in Boone

7-3-21

One of the best parts of coming to this park is the drive on Meat Camp Road. Regardless if you are coming from the north or south on this road, it is a rural mountain valley drive of pure awesomeness. I recommend driving the entire length of it when you are done with your day in the park.

The road in the park is all gravel which I am assuming is for winter weather. As you enter the gate the office is on the left. Small amount of parking. Beyond the office the road forks. The left fork has bathrooms, a picnic area, and parking for maybe 20 cars. The Backcountry Trail begins here (2 miles one way, orange, moderate to strenuous). This trail is for campers with a ton of sites.

The right fork takes to you to an amphitheater, parking for maybe 15 cars, and the Summit Trail (1.9 miles, blue, moderate to strenuous). The Summit Trail is one of my favorite trails in all of the NC State Parks system. Most like the views at the Vista and north/south overlooks. The return value is excellent with varying weather making views and conditions varied as well.

Cell service is spotty and nonexistent at parts. I would consider this a moderately trafficked park as you will see hikers and campers but it doesn't get too crazy. The return value here is high with varying weather for different types of views and scenery. I enjoyed the fog, wind gusts, and mist today on the Summit Trail as a nice contrast to sunny days.

I wish I lived closer as this would be a weekly hike for me....

Elk Knob State Park is one of the newer parks in the NC system and one of relatively few areas of public lands in the northwestern corner of the state. My first visit, several years ago, there was just a single trail that led to the summit. Since then, they've built several more trails, picnic areas, and primitive campsites. The Summit Trail is definitely the highlight of the park - a beautiful trail just under 2 miles to the summit. Although it gains about 1000 vertical feet, there are plenty of switchbacks to keep the steepness reasonable. At the summit, there are two overlooks - South View and North View. From the south view, you can see Grandfather Mountain, Roan Mountain and into Tennessee. From the North View you can see Mount Rogers in Virginia. My last visit was very foggy so the views weren't very good, but the park was still really beautiful. The fog over the trails gave it an...

Beautiful summit trail! Well marked and just enough difficultly for FL flatlanders 😂 it has sections of elevation to get the heart rate up, some roots, steps, and rocks to navigate yet is short enough at 3.8 miles (round trip up and down total mileage) that ensures you will still make it to the top! Since I often have our small dog in a backpack on my back it’s great to have a hike that’s all downhill on the way back 😁 The trail is also pet friendly for dogs on a leash (or in our case, in a backpack) Parking was great and there are other trails around the park. No admission fees 👍 We’ve visited twice- both early to mid June so I don’t know if it gets busier later in the summer but we only encountered other people in small groups at the very beginning of the trail...