Looking for campsite help near Grayson Highlands

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#1

I have been asked to take a group of scouts(ugh, I know) and adults (16+5) on a hike and plan to start at the AT spur trail in the Grayson Highlands, hike the AT south to around Rhododendron gap, then pine mtn trail to the AT and then south on the AT again back to the parking area at massie gap. I am thinking 2 nights of camping, one in the rhododendron gap to Thomas knob shelter area, and one in the little wilson creek area. My problem is, that I dont recall if there would be that much flat area to have 13 2man tents. I dont really want to use the Thos knob shelter, but could tent near there. Can anyone with good knowledge of the area give me some ideas? I have hiked it a couple times, but was always in a solo or two person group, so didnt really notice if there was a big open non rocky area to be able to use. Any help really appreciated. Thanks, Cutman 11.

cutman11

#2

We go up there all the time. If you head SOBO on the AT past Rhododendron Gap, there are several huge, well-used tent sites along the left side of the trail within the first 1/2 to 3/4 mile. This is well before you get to Thomas Knob Shelter. You should easily be able to put up 13 tents (ugh) in any of these sites. There is water nearby, both at the shelter, and also at a fenced-in spring near the junction of the VA Highlands Horse Trail and the Rhododendron Gap Trail, which is downhill from the campsites in the open, grassy area. (Just find the trail junction and look downhill to the west for the fence.)

Remember that you can’t set up tents anywhere inside the fence around the TK Shelter, all the way to the top of Mt Rogers – it’s all a no-camping zone. There is a privy at the shelter, in case your scouts need it.

When you get to the LIttle Wilson Creek area, camp in the large, grassy field just before you cross the creek. There is plenty of room, and water in the creek.

–cranky

cranky

#3

Tent camping is not allowed at Wise Shelter. You can camp across Big Wilson Creek (North) there is a large and fire ring on the high ground west of the trail. It has room for about 15 tents around the fire ring. Going south to Thomas Knob there are lots of camp sites just before Thomas Knob Shelter. No water except at the small spring below Thomas Knob. I don’t know if the TK shelter will hold 21 people. Even with the loft it appears to be about 12-15 max. Plus, you have other hikers coming thru. There is a stealth site south of Thomas Knob just past the privy. But it would only hold about 6 or 8 tents. I’ve camped there twice and the ponies mess with the tents all night. If you have scouts with any kind of food near the tents and the ponies will drive you crazy. I laid down my bear bag and one grabed it. We played tug of war for a while and I tore my sil nylon bag. I’m not real fond of the “wild” ponies.

That is a beautiful area. Flame and I take 10 high school seniors from our church every year on the section from Damascus to Troutdale. We go the next to last week in June when the rhododendron are blooming. We have a group this year. We had 30 degree weather one day and night with front last year! We put together all of the equipment for the group so we have no problem with heavy packs. We have them down to about 25 lbs including 5 days of food. They have to go through one 8 hr day of orientation. So it is a lot of fun when we get to the trail.

Good luck, I hope this helped.

Papa Smurf

#4

Thanks for the replies. And I do want to emphasize to others that read this thread that I am well aware from the solo hiker point of view re: too many loud scouts near shelters. I have encountered my share and have at times had to move on. So I figured the best thing to do is try to get them to an area which we will be able to reach without getting too close to the shelter, but still be able to access water etc to get them away from “car camping” and be able to teach these guys LNT, lightweight backpacking etc. I figured that until they have done some “real backpacking” (as opposed to the car camping deal)they would not be as appreciative of the need for lighter weight, lnt, etc. I am hoping this experience will open some eyes to the wonders of the AT and give them an interest in doing more, perhaps in smaller groups for longer treks. Thanks again for the help. Cutman11

Cutman11

#5

Hey! I agree. I have done my share of group leading - doing 50 milers with scouts, and have found it to be a challenging but rewarding job. The boys will, if left to themselves, make noise and bother people. But that does not have to be the way things happen. With a little work, such as constant reminders while hiking, they can come to respect other people’s spaces and “quiet zones”. I would tell them as we approached shelters, to quiet down and pretend someone is there who does not want to hear yelling and hooting when the shelter comes into view. Camping away from the shelter is another recommended method that gets the group out of the immediate vicinity of the shelter. We would clean up afterwards, often leaving the place cleaner than when we first arrived. A little education and time to ponder the results of other people’s negligence usually paid off. In the end, I led a number of these hikes and the experience was a good one. Sometimes, other hikers commented on how well behaved the boys were. It’s funny because the expectation from others is often, “oh no, here comes a group of rowdy scouts”. We aimed to change that. After all, these kids will be growing up into young adults who will (hopefully) revisit the trails as a well seasoned hiker with good ethics that they learned in these group hikes.

Of the boys we had on our hikes, 6 of them thru-hiked the Long Trail (after high school) and at least one of them thru-hiked the AT.

Quite honestly, I would rather spend a night at a campsite with a scout group than with a group of beer drinking rowdies. That is really a no-brainer.

WoodBadge

#6

How about breaking the group into 2 so that you don’t violate LNT guidelines on group size?

LNT

#7

well, I suspect that several will end up returning to car camp at the campground in Grayson Highlands, a few wont even end up showing up for the trip, ect, ect. Some will hike slower and end up spread out as night falls. We have enough adults going to allow for the separation of the group into slower and faster hikers etc. Thanks for the input. Will try to do my best to LNT

cutman11