Flagpole Knob — Attraction in Franklin

Located within the George Washington National Forest, camping and hiking in Flagpole Knob (elev. 4250ft) is easy to reach provided you have a 4x4 vehicle and use county Rd 257 to access. The last 4 miles are dirt/gravel fire road (space for 1.5 cars wide that can be muddy during the wet season, and is always rocky. (It usually takes me an hour for the last 4 miles of dirt road.) I've been coming up here for the last 25 years with a popup camper and more recently with a 24ft travel trailer. I don't recommend doing the 24ft TT unless you are used to deep woods camping with it and have decent ground clearance. Side brush and foliage will certainly rub the sides...

Great, always a good time, always finding new places to off-road. Camped right off of the top of Flagpole, got a good rain the night we camped. Then literally woke up in a cloud. We were very high up and the ceiling had settled on top of the mountain prior to us waking up you could not see anything anywhere, visibility was a very short distance. It was the first time that I had ever been inside of a cloud, LOL and it was an amazing experience. Some of the trails are very stock vehicle friendly, as long as you have four wheel drive. Other trails that we take it makes it much easier to be lifted on 35s and have lockers. Definitely a sight to see in the state...

Used to go up there quite a bit. Now that it has become more popular, there is a lot of trash on the roads and at the knob. It's a fun trip up and down though. Not terribly challenging, but you can find some spots to test your 4wd. I have done Union, 85A and Dunkle on the bike. Amusing to see the reviews that say 4x4 is required. 1wd on street tires was fine in all but the muddy spots. Never needed 4wd in the Jeep, although the rear had a locker. Pic of the bike at the peak. One each of the bike and jeep...