From an amble on rolling trails to brief but delightfully rugged uphills and gymnastically rapid descents, Rocky Knob should win an award for best use of space in Watauga County and perhaps for most creative use of rocks. For hikers, mountain bikers and trail runners it’s a perfect spot for a quick and rugged afternoon adventure.
While there’s plenty of epic locations in the High Country, when it comes to pleasant hikes and nice trail workouts you can find plenty within a few-minutes’ drive of downtown that’ll satisfy the itch. This well planned trail system just off of Highway 421 E is the perfect place to piece together a decent circuit with or without a bike.
Online Guides. ALL TRAILS | WNC MTN BIKE ALLIANCE | MTB PROJECT
For Solitude
I realize you probably aren’t visiting a mountain bike park to seek solitude, but there’s still some to be had in this purpose-built park as these trails carry you through the landscape—just below rock outcroppings, through rhododendron tunnels, meandering alongside meditative streams and cascades, and into quantums of solace where birdsong and brook sound are all that echo off the hardwoods and the hills around you.
If you’re wondering where to find such a place in this park, take the Rocky Branch Loop to mile marker 0.50 and tell me if you don’t experience the same sense—the sense that somebody has suddenly dropped you into a place you didn’t think could exist within a few minutes of a downtown college town.
Roughly after mile 0.75, other sounds—like that of traffic from 421—begin to mix in–but who cares. Now you’re off into yet another rhodo tunnel heading windingly downhill. And so it is throughout much of the park. It’s hard to believe there are so many beautiful turns in the trail all within a 185-acre tract of land that spans two small mountains with power lines in between.
For Mountain Bikers
Hill climbs, downhills, and well-placed features along more than eight miles of trail make Rocky Knob the ideal place for a fun afternoon of skill development without the long drive out of town. Because this is a mixed use park, watch out for the runners and hikers among you (who are typically very respectful of directional signs and bikes-only areas).
For Hikers
It’s a great place for a stroll, hike, whatever you want to call it, though as mentioned before it’s a compact space often filled with bikers and some runners. Plenty of families and casual walkers though have found their ideal spot on the Rocky Branch trail which meanders past those aforementioned babbling brooks and gentle cascades.
For More Information
Rocky Knob Blog
https://rockyknob.wordpress.com/
Explore Boone
https://www.exploreboone.com/things-to-do/attractions/rocky-knob-park/
Bike Mag
https://www.bikemag.com/routes/routes-no-boone-doggle/