Description

Elevation: 1508 ft. at gate/parking wide spot; climbs to 4977 ft. at end of road.

This Forest Service trail offers hikers an opportunity to ascend Powell Mountain. This secluded and underutilized road is excellent for nature watching and eventually leads into Kane Gap. Most of the trail is surrounded by habitat typical of Appalachian mixed hardwood forests, as well as remnants of old orchards. Avian diversity peaks during the spring and fall migration, but summer still holds many treasures for birdwatchers. Summer woods are alive with singing flycatchers, American redstart, vireos, summer tanager, and black-and-white, hooded, Canada, and Kentucky warblers. This site traverses the same general area and joins with Site MDB05, the Daniel Boone Trail.

Directions

From the previous site on the Daniel Boone Loop of the VBWT:

From Natural Tunnel State Park, turn left onto Rt. 871 and follow it to its junction with US 23. Go north on US 23 for approximately 7.0 miles to Rt. 611/ Jasper Rd at Jasper. Turn left onto Rt. 611/ Jasper Rd, using caution when crossing the southbound lane of US 23. Follow Rt. 611/ Jasper Rd for about 0.2 miles, crossing the railroad tracks. Again, use caution because the road narrows over the tracks. After crossing the tracks, turn left and continue across the concrete bridge. Follow the gravel road for about 1.0 mile to a “T” intersection; turn right and follow the gravel road up to the gravel wide spot and gate, crossing a small creek coming out of the mountain. The trailhead parking is at the wide spot. (Don’t block the gate, please.)