Spruce Knob (1.5 miles; d=1.70)
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Spruce Knob Summit Hike Route Map
An approximate track of our hike around the summit of Spruce Knob as depicted a la Google Earth...
Spruce Knob Summit Hike Route Map
The Route...
Dropping down into West Virginia on US-33 we stopped briefly at this beautiful pull-off overlooking the Potomac River valley. I believe Spruce Knob is one of the high points along the ridge in the distance...
Spruce Knob Summit Parking Lot
A well maintained forest service road provides access to the top of Spruce Knob. From here a short trail leads to the summit tower loop...
Welcome to the Top of West Virginia!!
I was looking forward to finding some new wildflowers down south and this group of Bleeding Hearts were the first I found...a nice start, I thought...
This Canada Hawkweed I was a little more familiar with, however...
The tower path passes this jumble of rocks as it enters the Spruce's...
From the tower trail the views are limited to a few brief glimpses through the trees...
The boys took off running at sight of the summit tower...
The tower is no skyscraper but it offers great treetop views without being too gaudy...
The view west from the summit tower was jaw-dropping...the Monongahela National Forest is a truly spectacular place...
The Whispering Spruce Trail heads out through the trees...where we'd be heading next...
Looking back down the tower trail (north) towards the parking area...
The Whispering Spruce Trail actually came as a surprise...I didn't know it existed until we arrived. It loops around the summit area providing a closer look at the environment up here and lots more views...
The oddly named Vipers Bugloss lends its color to the surrounding forest...
As the trail swung out to the west side of the summit the views really opened up...
I wondered at the cause of the openness of the terrain on the western slopes of Spruce Knob...was it due to the climate or human intervention? Either way it affords wonderful views...
The view southwest from the open west slopes of Spruce Knob...the summit raod can be seen snaking its way through the forest to the right...
Looking northwest from the same spot as the previous photo...I was amazed at how little man had made his mark on the surrounding terrain. It was wonderful...
Just when I started thinking I'd seen the best of Spruce Knob the trail rounded the south side of the summit...the boulder strewn field down there looked mighty fun...
There were at least a dozen of these truck-sized boulders strewn across the lawn on the southern ridge...another curiosity of this peak...
The views to the east from the southern ridge were beautiful, though markedly different than those to the west. To the west the land is protected National Forest while to the east well, you can tell it's not...
Looking back up at the summit from the lawn on the south slopes of Spruce Knob...