Vistas, Waterfalls & Wildflowers, Just A May Day On The Old Forge Loop

Monday was May Day, the International Workers Holiday, so what better day for a hike at a place called Old Forge.

Once the sight of an old iron forge it was transformed by another set of workers, the Civilian Conservation Corps, along with Horse Creek into a campground. That is why the hike is called the Old Forge Loop, as it combines three trails, Little Jennings, Cowbell and Jennings Creek Trails to form the loop. 

From the parking area, the trail starts to the left through the arch. You get a good look at this peaceful campground before reaching steps down to Jennings Creek.

I found out about this hike from Johnny Molloy's book Five-Star Trails: Tri-Cites of TN & VA and in the book he describes this as a tough creek crossing and it was. He says there are 23, but the Little Jennings alone had 28 (whole hike 36 a new record for an outing for me). There is one more creek crossing to arrive at a junction. Left was the Jennings Creek Trail, but that was for later, I headed right on the Little Jennings running up the Round Knob Branch.

First, part of the Little Jennings Trail was the kind of uphill you notice but is not too taxing. What was hard was the temperature as this was the first really hot hike of the season. To think less than a fortnight ago I was in the snow. I did pretty well with the creek crossings, until the 18th. It was the hardest one, but I put my foot on the wrong rock. Next thing I know my foot is in the water and my tail on that rock. 

Besides water the other thing the Little Jennings had plenty of was wildflowers. While I will have more in the Mid-May Wildflower blog there were plenty of Dwarf Crest Iris, Violets but I thought I missed more Bent Trillium because the blooms had faded. However, I did find a few late bloomers.
I knew this would happen, but the last half-mile got steep and tough with the heat. I will say I thought about tapping out, but just about then I made it to the junction with the Cowbell Trail. I had thought about doing the 0.5-mile trail to Round Bald Recreation Area, but I had hiked out of there twice and was just too tired.

I will say the fact I was going downhill gave me a little more pep, but what really did was the views. One of my favorite AT spots was visible, Coldspring Mountain. The trail here was reminiscent of the Middle Springs Trail, which I could see the area it goes through from the Cowbell. I also ran into some big hitters in the wildflower department in Flame Azalea and two different Rhododendrons (Piedmont & my first white Catawba rhododendron). The trail itself was lined with Rhododendrons. Before long it was of the ridgeline and back under the tree canopy.

Surprisingly there was only one crossing on the Cowbell ( Little Jennings had 28). Before long I reached the junction with the Jennings Creek and Poplar Cove Trails. While I didn't find the homesites on the final mile on the Jennings Creek Trail I did see a number of beautiful cascades and some bear tracks. There were also six creek crossings. 

Before long I reached the trail junction and crossed the creek twice more before returning to the campground. I then visited the very nice cascade I am calling Old Forge Falls, before eating lunch at one of the campsite picnic tables. Overall, this hike was better than I thought it would be and made for a great May Day out.