Three Top Mountain Hike Route Map

Three Top Mountain caught my attention when I climbed nearby Elk Knob the week before. It looked like a fairly rugged peak from a distance and when I got home and checked out the peak on Topozone I was excited to find a mountain with lots of tightly packed contours. I found out quickly why I had never heard of Three Top Mountain. Try doing a search online for it and see what you come up with. I didn't find squat. I finally ended up contacting an online friend who let me in on the tightly guarded secret directions to the peak (if you want I'll gladly send them to you). It was a great hike that I would highly recommend to anyone. The peak looks like it is rarely visited and there is a lot of fun scrambling to be done on the summit ridge. Weather forced me down early so I'm sure there are a number of places I missed. I'll hopefully be back someday to do more exploring...

Trailhead GPS Coordinates: 36.421857, -81.597780

Route Type: Out-and-back Difficulty: CHALLENGING (Petzoldt Rating: 6.80 )

Hike Length: 3.5 miles Hike Duration: 1:30

Trailhead Temp: 30'F Trail Traffic: NONE!!

Min. Elevation: 3,580' Max. Elevation: 5,100'

Total Vertical Gain: 1,650' Avg. Elevation Gain / Mile: 943' (ascent)

Trails Used (blaze color): Three Top Mountain Trail (unblazed)

Three Top Mountain, NC (12-7-06)

Three Top Mountain Hike Route Map
My hike up to Three Top Mountain as tracked by the Gaia GPS app (on a later trip) and depicted a la Google Earth...
Three Top Mountain Hike Route Map
My hike up to Three Top Mountain as tracked by the Gaia GPS app (on a later trip)...
Oak Trail, the residential road you follow up to the game land access road.
You turn left here off Oak Trail and follow the access road about 0.4 mile to the trailhead parking area.
These tiny signs told me I was in the right place...
The Gameland Access Road...
The trail up Three Top starts from the far right corner of the parking area.
I guess flak vests might be optional gear for this hike...
The old ATV that doubles as the trail up Three Top begins at this gate.
Starting out flat...that always worries me...
Views are limited on the way up. During the first bit of trail The Peak can be seen through the trees.
The trail crosses a few small streams near the beginning. The cold temps made for some pretty ice formations.
Gaining elevation...
Pretty woodlands...
A steep section...
A panorama shot showing a typical section of trail on the way up Three Top.
A huge rock outcrop near the ridge...
As I gained the ridge I noticed pieces of White Quartz poking through the leaves here and there.
The Summit Ridge
The final short climb to the summit of Three Top.
I think its time to replace the flag up here. Three Top Summit - 5100'
Three Top Summit - 5100'
Looking west from the summit of Three Top. The Peak, highest point in Ashe County, is the summit almost dead center.
Looking north towards Virginia. Dark clouds hang over Mt. Rogers and the Iron Mountains.
Above Ashe County...
Had to have one of these shots...
Another look west to Beech Mountain...
The rocky ridge that extends southwest from the summit. This is where the fun is on Three Top.
I had to fight your way through some fairly thick scrub to get out on the ridge.
The sweeping panorama from the narrow ridge atop Three Top.
One of the rock faces you have to cross out on the ridge. The gusty winds made things...interesting.
Looking back west from the end of the ridge. The summit of Three Top is in the foreground.
There would be no end to the fun you could have scrambling around the rocks out here but...
...thick clouds promising snow forced me to consider heading down...
The views out on the ridge were beautiful but the wind was picking up and the clouds were rolling in from the north so I had to call it a day....it actually started to snow on the way down, thus no more photos.

Dan Weemhoff (dwhike)
on July 4, 2017
Appreciate the comments Kelly! Hope the album can help you with your trip. Just be aware I haven't been there in nearly a decade (it's time I went back!) so some of the info found here could be out-of-date. Good luck and I'd love to hear about your adventures once you go! Best of luck!
Kelly Jordan Clewell
on June 30, 2017
Thanks for the info! I can't wait to hike this mountain...starting a bucket list with a lot of Ashe's mountains being at the top of the list! I'll be stalking your posts! :D
Andora Sidden Collins
on April 10, 2016
My son and I hiked three top two years ago and it was a beautiful hike. Weather cut our Tim short as well but wow what awesome views. We may go up again. Thank you for the beautiful shots
Dan Weemhoff (dwhike)
on February 6, 2016
Hi James, thanks for stopping by the page! Unfortunately I don't have up-to-date info on trail access to Three Top. It's been 10 years since I have been there. At the time the trailhead was located off of Oak Trail, near Creston, at a parking lot marked as 'Game Land Access'. Your best bet I feel is to visit the Nature Conservancy's page on Three Top at: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/northcarolina/placesweprotect/three-top-mountain-game-land.xml
James Robert Smith
on January 14, 2016
Hey! How do I get directions to this trail? Let me know.