Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 11

receives no more than a moderate
rating.
Some of the carriage roads are
popular with the local population, so
expect to share a part of your day
with other walkers, picnickers, joggers, horseback riders, and, as temperatures drop and snow covers the
ground, cross-country skiers. In fact, I
can’t think of a better place to crosscountry ski in the entire Blue Ridge.
Not only are the roads nice and wide
with gentle ascents and descents, but
thanks to Mrs. Cone’s insistence that
her daily carriage rides not be rough
or jarring, you don’t have to worry
about any large boulders hiding
under the surface of the snow.
On the way to its eponymously
named summit, the 5.1-mile Rich
Mountain Carriage Trail ascends from
the Manor House, goes through open
fields, into rhododendron-rich forests,
circles small Trout Lake and old building foundations, and passes other
reminders that the Cones worked
every part of their estate. The grandstand view from the fire tower atop
another summit, this one reached by
2.8-mile Flat Top Mountain Carriage
Trail, is not the only reason to walk
the pathway. Wildflowers line much
of the route through a deep maple
forest and broad open pastures provide additional vistas. You can also
make a stop at the Cones’ final resting place to personally thank them for
the outdoor opportunities they have
provided you.
In mid- to late spring, the 3.8-mile
Watkins Carriage Road will be the
place to hike for wildflowers. The
route switchbacks at least 10 times as
it descends from the Manor House
and nature seems to have chosen a
different wildflower to grow in the flat
area of each switchback. Expect to
come across lousewort, wild geranium, violets, painted trillium, rhododendron, mountain laurel, and more.
The Maze, a 2.3-mile carriage road,
will be lined by the huge white blossoms of magnolia trees from late
spring into summer.
Cone built two lakes on his

The walking surfaces, made for carriage rides, are all wide and gentle.

estate, stocked them with bass and
trout, and named them accordingly.
The larger is Bass Lake, a focal point
of the view from the Manor House
porch and the Bass Lake Carriage
Road is an easy, level route around
the body of water with good views
back up to the Manor House. Since it
is almost perfectly level and is exactly
1 mile, the Trout Lake Trail has
become popular with the locals as a
jogging track.
This is just a sampling of a few
miles of the carriage roads the Cones
constructed on their estate. Many
more miles are waiting for you to discover. 

when you go

The hike. A choice of 25 miles of gently
graded carriage roads in Moses H. Cone
Memorial Park near Blowing Rock, North
Carolina.
Directions: The park is located at Blue
Ridge Parkway mile 294.1, just a short
distance from Boone and Blowing Rock.
Trail Information: Recently released,
“Hiking and Traveling the Blue Ridge
Parkway: The Only Guide You Will Ever
Need, Including GPS, Detailed Maps, and
More” provides information about every
one of the trails along the full length of
the parkway and is available through
habitualhiker.com.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 | 11

http://www.habitualhiker.com

Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

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