Exercise Loop Trail (#344)
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Route map of the Exercise Loop Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app and depicted a la Google Earth...
Route map of the Exercise Loop Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app...
Pisgah Ranger Station/Visitor Center
The Exercise Loop Trail begins alongside the parking lot for the Pisgah Ranger Station and Visitor Center. This is great place to gather info on the National Forest as well as having a nice little gift shop...
Pisgah Ranger Station/Visitor Center Trailhead
Looking at the visitor center from the "trailhead" for the Exercise Loop, which runs along the length of the parking lot...
Pisgah Ranger Station/Visitor Center Trailhead (Andy Cove Nature & Exercise Loop Trails)
If heading around the loop in a clockwise direction (as this album does) the trail immediately passes its eastern junction with the Andy Cove Nature Trail, also right alongside the parking lot...
The trail as it departs eastward from the parking lot at the visitor center...
The section of the loop between the visitor center and its eastern crossing of US-276 has a number of sharp turns which, thanks to these well placed signs, aren't as confusing as they could be...
The trail briefly climbs as it leaves the visitor center, passing through a small grove of conifers...
Quickly though the trail returns to the deciduous forest it will spend pretty much the rest of its length in...
Another sharp corner, this time to the left...
The cone ahead marks where the trail makes a hard right, to head around the nearby maintenance yard for the Forest...
A wooden sign points you in the right direction at the turn described in the previous shot...
A few ferns mixing into the understory is a nice addition to the surroundings...
Exercise Loop Trail @ US-276 East Crossing
About a quarter-mile east of the visitor center the loop reaches its eastern crossing of US-276...
Exercise Loop Trail @ US-276 East Crossing
Looking up US-276 from the eastern crossing...this is busy road, particularly in the summer, so use extra caution...
Exercise Loop Trail @ US-276 East Crossing
The trail as it re-enters the woods on the south side, of the eastern crossing, of US-276...
Once again the trail enters a small conifer grove, which provides some welcome shade on warm afternoons...
Cutting through a tunnel of young deciduous trees...
Before long the trail emerges on this old roadway along the river. To continue on the loop, bear left and keep heading east...
A split rail fence and boulders ahead signals the trails arrival at the entrance road to Davidson River Campground...
Exercise Loop Trail @ Art Loeb Trailhead
Directly across from where the trail reaches the campground road is the busy Art Loeb Trailhead. If you wanted, you could just as easy walk the Exercise Loop from this spot as well...
Overlooking the Davidson River, which the trail and campground road now cross...
Exercise Loop Trail @ Davidson River Campground Entrance
After crossing the bridge the trail makes a turn back into the woods on the right (seen in the next shot), while ahead the entrance to the campground can be seen...
The trail as it leaves the campground road, heading west on the south side of the river...