Overview:
This post includes two very different loop trails that both take you to the actual Shining Rock in the Shining Rock Wilderness of Western North Carolina. The Art Loeb/Ivestor Gap loop takes you over high elevation balds (upwards of 6200 feet in places!) and back along a relatively level service road. The other loop, the Old Butt Knob & Shining Creek Trails, starts you down in the valley below, and offering a grueling climb of about 2500 feet in 3.5 miles, and then takes you on a slightly less steep descent back to the valley.
Distance:
Art Loeb/Ivestor Gap loop: about 8.9 miles—I’ve also seen it listed as 6 miles, but closer to 9 seems more accurate, especially once you add in wandering around at Shining Rock.
Old Butt Knob Trail-Art Loeb-Shining Creek loop: about 8.4 very steep miles.
Directions:
For Art Loeb/ Ivestor Gap: Take the Blue Ridge Parkway to about milepost 420. Look for the turn off for Forest Service road 816 (there should also be signs for the Black Balsam Parking Area). You can either follow the road all the way to the end (where there’s a large parking lot and the Ivestor Gap trail ends) or about ½ mile before that there’s a small parking area along the right side of the road where the Art Loeb/Black Balsam trail begins.
For Old Butt Knob/ Shining Creek Trail: If you’re on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you’ll want to exit onto US 276 and head West. The road will wind down from the parkway until you’ll see the signs for the Big East Fork trail head. Park there and the Shining Creek/Big East Fork trails begin at the parking area.
Wildlife:
Sadly I haven’t seen too much wildlife while hiking in this area, but bears are definitely in the area. There are, however, lots of beautiful wildflowers (like Turk’s Cap lilies) and lots of blueberries and blackberries on the balds if you’re there at the right time of year.
You also may encounter some interesting people up here though! Shanna and I met one woman who gave us a lecture on how Shining Rock is one of 26 (27?) “vortices of power” in the southern Appalachians.
Trail breakdown/Highlights:
Art Loeb/Ivestor Gap Loop:
These two trails technically make a figure 8, so you can hike it in any order you want, but The path I’m suggesting takes you over the more scenic Art Loeb first, then Ivestor Gap, then Art Loeb again, and finally ending on Ivestor Gap.
If you park at the end of the forest road, you’ll need to hike back up it about .5 miles until you see the trail off to your left (there’s usually a few cars parked in front of it). The next 2-3 miles are really the most spectacular part of the hike, as you go up and over Black Balsam Knob (6214’) after about another half a mile, and then drop down before hiking over Tennent Mountain (6040’). All along the way you’ll be walking across grassy balds with 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains, including Looking Glass Rock, a nearby granite dome.
It might look like you’re above the tree-line here, but actually the reason the area is lacking in trees is because of a massive fire in the 1920s. Timber operations had clear cut much of the surrounding forest, and the scraps that had been left behind caught fire and burned so intensely that it scorched the soil. While the event was very destructive, it also means that you get fantastic views while you hike!
About halfway through the hike you’ll drop down to a clearing called Ivestor Gap, where the Ivestor Gap trail and Art Loeb trails meet. Both trails keep going after the clearing (Ivestor Gap on the left and Art Loeb on the right), but I would suggest taking the Ivestor Gap trail the rest of the way to Shining Rock, and then coming back via the Art Loeb Trail. Ivestor Gap is an old logging road, so the grade tends to be a lot more gentle, but it also is very rocky. Throughout this stretch you’ll pass by lots of rhododendron and hike through the woods for a change before it curves back uphill as you approach Shining Rock.
Shining Rock Mountain is about 6000 feet, but the actual rock is on slightly down the northern slope of the mountain. About a mile and a half to two miles after Ivestor Gap, you’ll come to another clearing where the Ivestor Gap trail ends and intersects with the Art Loeb Trail. You’ll want to continue (left) past the clearing and work your way up and through the woods to find Shining Rock itself. There’s a mess of trails all throughout this area, but if you look for the more heavily traveled ones (and if you see white quartz keep heading in that direction!) you’ll find it. The “Rock” itself is a giant outcropping of gleaming white quartz that you can climb around on and find a nice spot to take a break before heading back.
On your way back you’ll want to go straight across the clearing to follow the Art Loeb trail. Between this clearing and Ivestor Gap, you’ll pass over the tops of a couple of mountains (Flower Knob first, then Grassy Cove top) that are somewhere between grassy balds and laurel hells. The trail in sections, especially later in the summer, tends to be very overgrown and can be hard to follow. You’ll need to also be careful with your footing because some of the rocks through this section (which can be hard to see through the brush!) can be loose. Eventually you’ll make it back to Ivestor Gap, and this time you’ll cross over and take the Ivestor Gap trail (it’ll be the one across and on your right) back to the parking area. This is a gentle, wide, and level path with lots of views of the mountains and valley off to the side. The views aren’t quite as good as the first stretch of the Art Loeb trail, but it makes for an easy last couple of miles back to the parking area.
Old Butt Knob/Shining Creek loop:
If climbing 1500 feet in half a mile sounds like fun, this is the hike for you. For me, I did it once, and likely will never try again. Just think about that for a minute before you set off—for every two feet forward, you go one foot up. Still interested?
Really? You are? Oh, well, in that case you’ll start out at the parking area for the Big East Fork and follow the Shining Creek trail along the Big East Fork of the Pigeon River. It’s really beautiful throughout this stretch, and looked like there would be several great places to go fishing or swimming. After about half a mile you’ll notice a trail veer off to the right—that’s the Old Butt Knob Trail. You can do this hike in either direction since it’s a loop, so either you can kill your knees going down it or kill your thighs going up it, but when I did it I took the more masochistic route of going up it. Pretty much from the moment you get on the trail you start climbing, and you don’t really descend at all until you get over 5000’. The most brutal stretch is during this first mile and half or so, including the infamous 1500’ climb in half a mile.
While I was in the midst of climbing this section a group of smoke jumpers passed by me—rather quickly—who had been brought in to do trail maintenance in Shining Rock. They were carrying heavy packs, axes, and all sorts of other things—and literally ran up the trail. I, however, felt like death and inched up this section at a rate of at most a mile an hour. Maybe a half mile an hour. It was pretty much mountain crawling.
After you reach the end of that brutal stretch you’ll be at the top of Old Butt Knob, but will still have several hundred more feet of climbing to do. The trail thankfully levels out somewhat and you drop down and go back up a couple of times, including over a peak named “Dog Loser Knob,” which would be the most interestingly named point on this hike if it weren’t for Old Butt Knob.
After Dog Loser you drop down into yet another gap, before climbing back up to Shining Rock itself. You’ll actually hit the Art Loeb trail and will need to follow it (to the right) to get to Shining Rock. Like in the other trail description, there are lots of small trails throughout this area, so just head uphill and follow the quartz!
On your way back you’ll retrace your steps on the Art Loeb Trail until right after you pass the Old Butt Knob Trail. You’ll keep going a ways and look for another trail descending off to your left. I didn’t have trouble finding it, but since none of the trails are marked in the wilderness area (buy this map or another good one, seriously) if you’re not sure you can always wait around and ask just to double check (this is a pretty popular area on the weekends especially, but on week days or the off season you might be waiting awhile). Again, chances are if you pass the Old Butt Knob Trail and see the next trail descending on your left that’s not just a rabbit trail, that should be your turn.
The Shining Creek Trail zigzags its way down the mountain, and while it’s not as eventful as the Old Butt Knob trail, it passes through some pretty woods and follows Shining Creek and its tributaries all the way back down to the Big East Fork. The creek and river throughout all of this area is really beautiful, and if you have a filtration system and need to restock your water supply (after exhausting it going up Old Butt Knob!) you should have plenty of options all along the Shining Creek trail.
Overall:
The Art Loeb Trail/Ivestor Gap figure 8 loop is a must-see if you’re going to be hiking in the area. You get incredible views, get to bag several 6000’ peaks, and all without any really grueling climbs! The Old Butt Knob and Shining Creek Trails, on the other hand, are worth doing if you want to test yourself or just really want a good workout. It was possibly the most brutal climb I’ve done, but I’m also still happy that I forced myself to keep going (even after the dispiriting show of the smoke jumpers sprinting up the trail with much heavier packs than mine). On the other hand, if you just want to see Shining Rock, the Art Loeb/Ivestor Gap trails are a much more scenic and less intense choice.
+ Bonus Trail!
If you’re going down the Blue Ridge Parkway and don’t have time for an 8 or 9 mile hike, there’s also a beautiful loop hike that starts at the parking lot at the end of forest road 816. The Flat Laurel Creek Trail is only about 2.5 miles, and is mostly level, but passes through a mix of grassy bald, rhododendron & laurel thickets, and spruce/fir forest. It’s a really nice hike with some scenic views and can give you a taste of the longer hikes, without the time or distance. It also passes over Laurel Creek and is a really popular camping area. You can also take a spur trail up to the top of Sam Knob, a 6000+ foot peak with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain. Overall the spur would add about 1 mile (to and from the loop), making it a 3.5 mile hike altogether.
Carolina Hiking 