Wagon Road Gap Trail Map
Route map of the Wagon Road Gap Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app and depicted a la Google Earth...
Route map of the Wagon Road Gap Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app...
Wagon Road Gap/Turkeypen Gap Trail Junction (Wagon Road Gap) -- 3,000'
This is the upper terminus of the Wagon Road Gap Trail, where it departs the Turkeypen Gap Trail north at, you guessed it, Wagon Road Gap...
The Wagon Road Gap Trail as it leaves Wagon Road Gap...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,950'
The trail immediately begins its descent off the north side of the ridge...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,900'
The descent from Wagon Road Gap is moderately steep, though hardly difficult...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,850'
Deadfall like this is common along this trail, which sees less usage than others in the area...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,800'
About halfway along its length, the Wagon Road Gap Trail eases up in its descent as it nears an area known as "Big Cove"...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,750'
Looking up the adjacent ridge, thickly covered in rhododendron...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,700'
There are a few wet areas to contend with along the lower half of the Wagon Road Gap Trail, but nothing that should dampen your feet...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,650'
Looking back up the valley...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,620'
The trail as it nears Big Cove from the south...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,600'
One of the handful of stream hops you'll make along this section of the trail...like I said, nothing too major...
Entering the Big Cove area...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,580'
At times the rhododendron pressed in tight alongside the trail...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,570'
Just before reaching its lower end the Wagon Road Gap Trail makes a quick crossing of this unnamed tributary...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,560'
...and then almost immediately doubles back to make another crossing of the same stream. During wet periods, I'm sure these twin crossings could be tricky...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,550'
Immediately before its lower junction with the South Mills River Trail, the Wagon Road Gap Trail enters a once-majestic grove of towering hemlocks. Sadly, these trees have succumbed to the hemlock woolly adelgid...as so many others in the area also have...
Looking up into the canopy of now-dead hemlocks...
The last few hundred feet of the trail, through the old hemlock grove, is a bit tricky to spot. To stay on track keep along the left edge of the grove to reach the South Mills River Trail...
Wagon Road Gap Trail -- 2,540'
The short stretch of trail as it looks along the left side of the hemlock grove...
Wagon Road Gap/South Mills River Trail Junction -- 2,520'
Arriving at the South Mills River Trail...the lower terminus of the Wagon Road Gap Trail...
The Wagon Road Gap Trail as it arrives from the north, reaching its lower terminus at the South Mills River Trail.
