Low Gap trails
Low Gap
Low Gap is an area at the top
of Hidden Valley Road where the road transitions from pavement to
gravel with a small parking area on the left. Two trails can be
accessed from the parking area: a trail that leads to the base of some
cliffs referred to here as the Cliff Trail and the western terminus of
the Clinch Mountain Trail.
Cliff Trail
Facing north, access to the
cliff trail is just to the left of the mound and a small patch of
weeds. The trail meanders westerly a few hundred yards through a
heavily shaded deciduous forest where Indian Cucumber, Large-Flowered
Trillium, Southern Harebell and the like can be found. As a few
sandstone rocks are ascended the trail trends
northwesterly then northerly along the base of tall sandstone cliffs.
The trail is approximately 3⁄4 of a mile in total
length, flat, and makes for nice walk. Above is a photo of
the Cliffs.
Clinch Mountain Trail
Clinch Mountain Trail,
accessed from the northern side of the parking area, averages 3,800
feet in elevation as it follows the ridge of Clinch Mountain
approximately nine and a half miles along the Washington and Russell
County lines east to US Route 80 in Hayter’s Gap. Four land owning
parties are involved: Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
(DGIF) that maintains the Hidden Valley Wildlife Management Area,
Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) and Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Natural Heritage Division who jointly
manage the Channels State Forest, and Brumley Cove Baptist Camp.
Open only to foot traffic,
hikers transit southern Appalachian and northern hardwood forests, high
elevation cove forest, and calcareous cliff plant communities, and are
afforded high elevation vistas into Russell Co. Near its eastern
extremity the trail provides access to the Channels. A spur trail
descends to Brumley Cove Baptist Camp that allows users access to the
camp and trout fee fishing.
Vista west from
the cliff above Hansonville known as Buzzard Rock near the Clinch
Mountain Trail. Approx. 4,000 ft in elevation, four states are seen
from here: North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
Little Moccasin Gap, one of only two true gaps through the mountain, is
seen on the left as the backbone of Clinch Mountain trends southwest to
northeast. Many pioneers passed through this gap enroute to the
Cumberlands and westward.
Richard Kretz
is a photographer and naturalist who chronicles his adventures in
southwest Virginia at
http://www.pbase.com/diggitydogs/clinch_mountain. Stay
tuned to read more of his writeup on Hidden Valley Wildlife Management
Area, or click on the tag for "hidden_valley"
to read previous posts in this series.
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I was looking at some places I could go hiking around Abingdon, VA and I noticed your blog. I am really interested in hiking the clinch mountain trail, but I am unsure on where to enter for hiking. I was hoping you could help me figure out where I could begin the trail, and how long the trail would be. I will be hiking it with my boyfriend so I am really interested in scenic views. If you could please help me I would highly appreciate it, and I am looking for directions with my starting point at Abingdon, VA. Thanks!