Grayson Highlands State Park, an hour north of Boone, is home to wild ponies, fire eating cows, and neighbor to Virginia’s two highest summits–Mt. Rogers (5730 feet) and Whitetop Mountain (5525 feet). Grayson Highlands is also a beloved expanse along the 167-mile Southwest Virginia section of the Appalachian Trail and nearby Virginia Highlands Horse Trail. Visitors are rewarded with grand rock-top vistas in this region of balds where thru-hikers, campers, and day hikers all have access to a legendary experience. The ponies and the fire eating cows are real. | Photos by JC GARCIA
Hiking Trails in Grayson Highlands
Hikers in Grayson Highlands are quickly rewarded with beautiful views and occasional run-ins with the area’s wild ponies, all within a couple of miles of moderate hiking. Grayson Highlands State Park is a gateway to Virginia’s highest peaks–Mt. Rogers and Whitetop Mountain–and the park provides visitors and adventurers with easy access to one of the Appalachian Trail’s most scenic sections (just a day’s hike–28 foot miles–north along the AT from Damascus, Virginia).
The park’s 13 short trails lead to the more rugged wildlands–which include the AT and also the many horse and backcountry trails of the surrounding Jefferson National Forest.
We exited Grayson Highlands State Park and entered the wilder woods of the adjacent Appalachian Trail where we’d heard there were ponies that eat out of your hands. There were, though there were also plenty of signs that suggested we abstain from encouraging these equine animals from their habituation to human contact.
A local guide also made the same suggestion. Still, I had a hard time believing it as anything other than a myth until we actually couldn’t get away from them they were so needy and intrusive.
But they’re also, obviously, beautiful as you can see from the images.
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It seems there should be a limit on just how many curiosities you can pack into one destination. Like, you can have wild ponies but not wild ponies and fire eating highland cattle and beautiful rock outcroppings and even boulder fields for the climbing enthusiasts.
Grayson Highlands is like “we got all of those things and more so come out and spend a day or a week–and we’re only an hour drive from Boone.”
So we went. It’s a spectacular place for a good moderate day hike, a beginner’s backpacking adventure, a full-day trail run, and maybe even perhaps a romantic camping getaway.
There’s tons of variety and a dash of strangeness that’ll make it worth the trip.
Looking for a stout trail race in some beautiful country? Check out the Grayson Highlands 50 mile/50k/Half Marathon
VARIETY OF TRAIL CONFIGURATIONS. Dozens-of-miles network
DIFFICULTY. Easy to Moderate to Strenuous (depending on the trail)
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS. The ponies are cute but you’re not supposed to feed them. Also, they leave pony patties to step in.
Mount Rogers, Whitetop Mountain and the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail
Grayson Highlands offers views of Virginia’s highest peaks, Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain, and is also a good entry point toward accessing the trails of both, with an enviable network of trails linking hikers to both the Appalachian Trail and the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail–a well-maintained, well-supported path for equine camping and touring adventures through this region of Appalachia.
Bouldering and Rock Climbing in Grayson Highlands
Bouldering in Grayson Highlands is a rare experience given everything mentioned above (ponies, etc.) plus the excitement of getting gripped in the midst of such beauty on the rhyolite and metasandstone rock formations that make up a lot of the boulders in the park.
The Highlands offer thousands of boulder problems uniquely characterized by beautiful vistas and excellent landings (though not always of course, so bring some friends and multiple crash pads if possible).
Grayson Highlands State Park, in partnership with the Access Fund, has been supremely accomodating the climbing community in recent years, even renting out crash pads and chalk bags to visitors.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GRAYSON HIGHLANDS BOULDERING
Birdwatching Opportunities
From the Audubon Society
Mount Rogers and White Top mountain are truly unique in that they contain the highest point in Virginia and therefore support a unique assemblage of high-elevation, or typically northern hardwood, bird species not commonly found elsewhere in the state. This IBA contains the only known breeding population of the Appalachian Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Virginia, a subspecies of the more northern nominate race, that is restricted to deciduous forest habitats above 3000 feet. Additionally, the site supports other vulnerable species in Virginia such as the Red Crossbill, Northern Saw-whet Owl, and Winter Wren as well as a distinct assemblage of species whose breeding distribution in Virginia is characteristic of high-elevation habitats such as the Hermit Thrush, Blackburnian Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Red-breasted Nuthatch. The successional edges of grassy balds may provide habitat for the Golden-winged Warbler, a species of concern in Virginia and on the Audubon Watchlist.
