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0.8 mi - Easy - This is an easy loop trail that is a nice family excursion. Immediately after leaving the beach parking lot, turn left onto the trail, which is signed with a synthetic trailhead sign approximately 200 yards short of the wooden sign mentioned above. (Disregard the “Deerfield Loop” sign on the opposite side of the road, which marks a spur trail to the campground.) From here, a combination of foot trails and old forest roads form a loop that will lead you through patches of large pines, beautiful rhododendron, and past wildlife fields. These fields provide supplemental food and needed diversity of habitat for many varieties of wildlife. If you are quiet, you may catch a glimpse of a deer or flock of wild turkeys feeding in these fields. This trail intersects with Small Creek Trail (#334), and the last section overlaps with the Pine Tree Loop (#336). After reaching the road (at the wooden sign), you may turn right and proceed approximately 200 yards to the trailhead and beach parking lot; or, for a slightly longer hike, turn left and proceed approximately 200 yards to an unsigned trail on your right. Take this trail, which crosses a bridge, back to the trailhead.
Approximate Elevation Change: 100 feet
Blaze: Yellow
At a Glance
| Open Season: |
Year-round |
| Usage: |
Heavy |
| Restrictions: |
Mountain Biking Trail: Mountain biking and hiking trail. Bikers please yield to hikers. Mountain biking prohibited in wilderness areas. |
| Water: |
yes |
| Restroom: |
none |
| Operated By: |
US Forest Service |
General Information
Directions: This trail is in what is popularly called the Bent Creek area, near Lake Powhatan Recreation Area. Leaving the Pisgah District Ranger Station/Visitor Center parking lot, turn left (south) onto US 276. At the first traffic light, turn left (east) on NC 280. Proceed approximately 12.5 miles, to NC 191 north. Turn left (north) onto NC 191, and then proceed 7.7 miles to Bent Creek Ranch Road (SR 806), which is ½ mile north of the Blue Ridge Parkway, signed for the Recreation Area, and at a traffic light. Turn left on Bent Creek Ranch Road and proceed 2.3 miles to the Recreation Area. Park in the beach parking lot. (You will pass a wooden, roadside sign for Deerfield Loop and Pine Tree Loop (#336), but there is no parking nearby.) Note: There is a day use fee for visitors not camping in the Recreation Area.
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