Day Trip to the Parkway and Elk Knob State Park

On Sunday, October 11, we decided to take a day trip to the Boone area. Sometimes you just have to get away for a few hours!  We left at, like, 6:30 in the morning, and were on the parkway before nine.  Andrew took his bike, and we stopped at this overlook for him to get ready to bike the Blue Ridge Parkway.

He biked for a few miles while I stopped at some overlooks for pictures.  I've been to the mountains when it was foggy, but I had never experienced the parkway being clear and the Yadkin Valley being filled with clouds.  It was so pretty!  Like a field full of fluffy cotton...

I also went to Thunder Hill overlook and took a very short hike on the Mountain to Sea trail where I found the apple trees a few weeks before.  The trees were loaded!

I also found these things.

And here is a view from the top of the trail.  See the clouds filling the valley...

Andrew didn't bike for too long this time because October is peak leaf season and the parkway gets so.full.of.vehicles!

We decided to hike instead. 

Rough Ridge Overlook is one of our favorites, and it was gorgeous. And busy. And the most muddy I've ever seen it.  Hooray for recent rains after a pretty dry year.  But we only hiked to the first big overlook which had wonderful views. We decided to skip the upper rocks since it was so crowded.  Lots of App State students hike there. I don't know why those kids aren't studying!

Instead we went on down to Beacon Heights, and Flat Rock, and later went to a new (to us) place nearer to Todd called Elk Knob State Park.  The volunteers maintain the trail very well, and the view from the summit was nice although I prefer the balds where you can see 360 degrees. I admit Max Patch, Roan Mountain, Whitetop Mountain, and Bluff Mountain spoiled me this year about that!

Beacon Heights parking lot

view from the summit of EKSP

resting my weary bones

Elk Knob State Park entrance area

The Elk Knob area was very nice - driving up there (Meat Camp Road) was so pretty once you get past the shacks with Confederate flags (haha)!  My mom and I went back to that area a couple days later, and went two miles past Elk Knob State Park, and were smack dab in stunning views!  We loved it.

We drove through part of Todd on the way back to Hwy. 421 which takes us home.  That's where we saw this field of pumpkins, and cows on hills, and awesome scenes like this. I love farm scenery.