Roan High Knob Shelter

[weary]

Another great thing about staying here---it puts you in great shape the next day to have an easy hike and short day to Overmountain Shelter, one of the prettiest places to spend the night on the entire Trail.

True. It's one of the few shelters that still stick in my mind as special after 14 years. Well, that and the Roan HIgh Knob shelter, which was very welcome after climbing the mountain.

Weary

[Lone Wolf]

True. It's one of the few shelters that still stick in my mind as special after 14 years. Well, that and the Roan HIgh shelter.

Weary

why? it's a dark, dingy, dirty box.

[Deerleg]

It was raining for the last two miles as I approached from the south. The trail did not wash out as it was well maintained with rock. Upon arrival the view was, well, not very good. I did not know I was on top of anything. The shelter was ok and we slept well. The walk north was down the hill and feeling was that I was leaving an arboreal forest and returning to civilization.

I had a similar experience a few years ago too...I had the place all to myself ... I think it was October 02....the place is a rain forest, lots of moss all over, I hung some gear out to dry on the front porch and it was wetter in the morning than when I hung it out. Steady breeze and mist all night. I'm a bit of a weather freak and noticed on Doppler radar that as the clouds pass over Roan they consistently tend to get rung out so you will have rain there and a mile north or south the sun will be out.

[Kerosene]

Stopped by early on a morning in late October 2008, with about 6" of snow on the ground and a lot of it still adhering to the dense pines covering the entire Knob. I thought it was beautiful and idyllic, but then again, I like snow.

Woke up a guy and his dog who had hiked up from Carvers Gap for the night. There was some snow in the loft, and the first floor is a 20'x20' dark box with a dirt floor. Nothing special there. There's a small bench that can serve as a cooking platform out front under the eave of the loft.

[GeoRed]

The trail to this shelter is poorly marked. Many NOBO's were missing it and we almost missed it going SOBO in April 2012. It's not really the sign that's hard to spot, it's the way the arrow is pointing that throws you off. It misleads you to think that you have to keep going to arrive at the shelter. You actually need to turn and go up that trail right then and there to arrive at the shelter.

[pipsissewa]

The trail to this shelter is poorly marked. Many NOBO's were missing it and we almost missed it going SOBO in April 2012. It's not really the sign that's hard to spot, it's the way the arrow is pointing that throws you off. It misleads you to think that you have to keep going to arrive at the shelter. You actually need to turn and go up that trail right then and there to arrive at the shelter.

Not anymore. There's a new 4x4 post along side the trail that's impossible to miss. (unlike the fading sign way up in the tree was!)

[doritotex]

roantower.jpg Picture of the firetower and newly built fire warden's cabin circa 1932/1933.
Great view with the surrounding area cleared of trees.

[chelko]

Amazing how much of that mountain that nature has recaptured in 80 years.

[WingedMonkey]

Amazing how much of that mountain that nature has recaptured in 80 years.

If you want some more fun, use the search on the Tennessee State Archives photos. Be creative looking for the trail and trail towns. One of my bookmarks for my genealogy habit.
http://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/index.php



17294.jpg

A cabin for the fire tower lookout on Roan Mountain. 10/16/1938

[SouthMark]

Only 1º low that night and a high of 8º.

DSCF0306.jpg

[goldbug]

Very easily accessable from the Carvers Gap parking lot, so it can be crowded if you're there on a weekend. Also a lot of garbage when I was there! Sometimes the toilets in the parking lot are locked.