Cone Manor to Bass Lake Trail

My husband and I decided to hike the trail from Bass Lake to Cone Manor today. I was intrigued by the manor house and wanted to make a longer outing than just driving to the manor. As most others have mentioned, the trail is gravel and really easy to walk. Even the incline from the lake to the manor is very gradual. I gave this 3 stars though because it's overall kind of dull. I was most fascinated by the overgrown orchards but they are blocked from access by barbed wire and nailed gates.

Trail was very nice. Hikers and horseback riders were very friendly. Manor mansion view was spectacular.

Very nice hike - nice view from the Cone Manor, but most of the trail is a great walk through the woods and around the lake. We didn't know the trail as well as most - and since the trail really isn't marked clearly - it's easy to cut out the "maze" section of the hike and go up to the "apple barn".

Lovely, easy hike on wide, smooth trails. Gorgeous views at Cone Manor. NC

Absolutely beautiful!!!

Nice, wide open trails. Do not believe it's 6 miles. Beautiful lake views

Great wide gravel trails, blooming rhododendrons, beautiful Bass Lake, nice balance between sun and shade... a perfect hike! Also enjoyed looking at the local art in Moses Cone Mansion after our 6.6 mile trek.

Awesome hike

Good trail to hike! Well maintained with gorgeous views at the top. There is a decent amount of people and horse traffic on this trail though.

Nice wooded walk to a lake with a view of the manor and then back. Great place to watch birds, enjoyed watching 3 yellow bellied sap suckers do their thing. Took about 2 hours round trip at a leisurely pace. Direct access to lake from other entry points via another trailhead vs hiking all the way from the manor.

Very easy- it's a flat walk on a gravel path that leads to a paved circle around a lake

Great trail for dogs and kids.

Nice easy enjoyable trail. Plenty of blooming rhododendrons in mid-July. Great views at the top of the trail at the Cone Manor.

Scenery on this hike is so beautiful!

Nice, easily accessible trail.

The trail is well-kept and a great hike. My wife and I stumbled across it while completing The Maze and Apple Barn Trails at Bass Lake. Seeing Cone Manor is well worth the winding path which gradually climbs with each turn. You can drive to the manor, but the hike makes it all the more worthwhile.

love Cone Manor property. Beautiful horse trails and walking from the house to the lake then to the orchard.

I couldn't find the right trail on here to write this review for, so this will have to work.

I started at the parking lot of Bass Lake. I ran west around the lake and hit The Maze trail, ran up by the Apple Barn and instead of going up to the Cone Manor House, I ran back down Deer Park Road to Bass Lake and ran a loop around the lake to finish. This route put be at about 4 miles. The scenery is gorgeous on this route, not the hardest but still enjoyable.

Beautiful October weather and moderate level hike from Manor around Bass Lake and complete the loop. The old orchard was laden with apples--beautiful.

The entire cone estate has professionally groomed horse carriage trails which are in excellent condition and open to horses, hikers, runners and dogs on leashes. We took the big beasts for a couple trail rides and camped at the nearby blowing rock equestrian preserve which connects to the trail system. The trail to the man-made lake is quite scenic in the fall with the leaves changing. The trail from Cone Manor to flat top tower has stunning views and was definitely our favorite. The tower can be easily climbed for a 360 degree panoramic of the area. Very nice place to visit.

Great family friendly trail!

I've lived near the Cone Estate for most of my life and have only recently begun to explore and hike the many miles of carriage roads this beautiful spot has to offer. Multiple access points and intersecting trails allow you to customize your hike, creating various loops or out and backs The gentle elevation of these trails has allowed me to push for longer distances than I've done before without overdoing it. I love the history here and the preservation of such a large piece of land that would surely be developed by now had it not been set aside. We saw several different groups of people but there was lots of space and time to oneself as well. One of my favorite spots.

I did this trail on horse back. Moses Cone had created these trails for his wife to take carriage rides through the property. To hike on foot may become boring, but it's just fine on horseback. It is a shame you are not allowed to do on bicycle.

Nice walk but it IS a carriage trail not a hike. My 5 year old was bored and annoyed by the horse poop.

This trail is very nice and well-maintained. Although mountain bikes are NOT ALLOWED, equestrians, trail runners, hikers, and cross country skiiers enjoy this trail. This carriage road is just a connector- serving Moses Cone estate and Bass Lake. Not too many views, but still a good trail nevertheless. Very easy and kid friendly. An offchute carriage road leads to the horse stables halfway down the road.

Beautiful Estate and grounds. Nice relaxing walking/hiking. At one time you could rent horses and take a trail ride across the grounds, unfortunately the ceased this some time ago.

Me and my brother hiked this trail and "The Maze" trail (which can be accessed from the path around Bass Lake and leads back up to the Manor. It is around 5.5 miles from the lake to the manor via "The Maze") today and it was really nice. The trails were gravel. They were clean and wide. Very nice trails! The reason I rated it a 4 star and not a 5 is because there were not that many "good" views from the trail. You're in the woods most of the time. So if you're looking for high up breathtaking Mountain views this is not your trail. Don't get me wrong, this trail was beautiful and has a great view from both the manor and the lake! Not to mention the lush forest with streams, moss and lots of large trees. The huge white pines were so majestic! I particularly liked that I was in the woods most of the time because I hunt mushrooms and man were there lots of em! I saw over 13 different genera just on the edges of the trail! Amanita, Conocybe, Clitocybe, Inocybe, Boletus, Mycena, Xerula, Hypholoma and more!!!!! :]
Looking at Bass lake from the manor you will think the hike back up would be torture, but it is totally not. I was surprised at how easy this trail was to hike, very relaxing.
Bass Lake was beautiful! There were Swans, Geese and Mallards. We also saw these very large Wood Peckers! Never have I seen a Wood Pecker so large! Beavers must be in the area too as I saw a tee halfway chewed through. Bring your dog, ride your horse or bike. This trail rocks!