Pond Mountain Trail to Pond Mtn, Stone Mtn, and VA-NC-TN Tri-point

Great hike!

Overall a great adventure! Went with my 80 pound dog, a friend and her large dog. I’m not too sure if I would feel comfortable doing the trail alone because of how remote it felt and the bad cell service. We had orange jackets for the pups and we wore orange, definitely recommend putting orange on the dogs since it is a hunting area. We came across 2 people on horse at the abandoned house and 1 solo hiker. At our car we meet some hunters taking a break. The all trails directions are wrong, I google led pond mountain game lands and used the google directions from there. It is a ways up a single lane dirt road to the forst parking area- across from a. Christmas tree farm- then once you get there it is a steep long single lane dirt road to the other two parking pull overs. I was able to do the whole road in my Honda CRV. The hike was super fun, mostly flat. We did get lost but ended up doing a loop. Once you get to the first camp site, maybe 1.5 miles into the hike. Go right this will lead you around a hill with a Christmas tree farm. We took a moment to climb that hill and it had some amazing views then got back on the trail. There is a little trail off to the right that goes into the woods, that is the trail you need to take. We missed it and had to gl back. Luckily I had cell service and was able to use the trail map on AllTrails to find the correct trail. There is a little brown post with a sign pointing straight, do not go straight this just takes you on a 1.5 mile loop back to the camp sight. The trail goes into the woods, there is barbed wire and private property to the left and then you’ll come up to a metal road block, I think it’s meant to prevent horses, and then continue hiking this trail for about 1-1.5 miles and then you’ll come to the abandoned house. That last 1 mile is almost straight up though! Not easy by any means but the views at the top are worth it !! We stopped and had a snack at the abandoned house. Be careful because there is a lot of broken class in the house so don’t let pups or kids play around it. Definitely recommend this hike !!

Easiest way to find entrance is to Google Map search Pond Mountain Game Lands in Creston, NC. Be sure to keep driving past the first wildlife gate. There is parking at the trail head about 1.5 miles in. Starts out as a rocky horse trail and keeps that width most of the way. Seems to have been an old tree farm at some point with some shelters and equipment all around. An abandoned cabin straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina border just before the tripoint geographic marker. Be sure to take pictures at the cabin, because the actual tripoint is much lower in elevation and offers almost no scenery.

Great

Folks are right—follow the directions linked in a previous post. The AllTrails directions are wrong. My phone also clocked in around 7.5 miles, so I think it is a bit longer than what AllTrails suggests. The place was gorgeous, offering peace and quiet and near 360 degree views. Since the trails seem a bit off too and service is spotty up there, it is wise to download Maps.me and the maps for that area to have a better idea of the roads and trails.

As someone we talked to along the trail said "this is NC's hidden gem". It was a nice hike, steep at times and wet at times but it was worth it. Since we had to park a the first locked gate at Pond Mountain Game lands it did add an additional couple of miles to the out and back. Our trek showed 8 miles when all was said and done. Also I didn't have a good map that showed the actual trail and service in this part on NC is spotty at best I downloaded the Pro version map which you can follow with no problems. 2/3 of the trail is marked as a horse trail but those signs go away when you have to veer into the woods to stay on the trail.

A beautiful hike with great views of NC, VA, TN. Tons of open meadow with native wildflowers. Don't follow the directions based on the location that AllTrails has marked. Go to the website below and there are directions from Boone & West Jefferson. https://blueridgeconservancy.org/pond-mountain-game-lands-1

My video (tell me where I went wrong). https://youtu.be/_7jc372gMv4. I got up a 3 am to make it in the morning to this trail. I used the directions in alltrails. I ended up on a gutted, loose rock TINY road with no turn around spots. I did finally turn around and a man near his home told me to go back up and follow the road till it ends. I made it to a fork and went left. The gulleys were so washed out I didn't take the chance EVEN with 4 wheel drive. I finally got service and looked at the map and alltrails had taken me to the BACK of the trail. My tire was right next to the tri-state marker. There was no place to leave the truck to explore from the back to the front, so I left. Be careful with these directions.

Woah. What a seriously hidden gem of Ashe County, NC. My dad and I hiked this one recently and were blown away by how beautiful this area is--360 views right from the start where you can count back 10+ ridges. We went over the Fourth of July holidays and were a bit shocked at how lightly trafficked this area was. I have never left a review before on here but I felt this deserved one because we loved it so much. Plus, we got a little confused trail-wise a couple times getting to the tri-point marker. Once you make it around to the old Christmas tree farm, follow the trail up through the woods a bit (there was a trail marker post right near this turn) and it eventually spits you out by the mysterious abandoned house. From there, keep following the trail. It kind of goes down and to the right a little, then we hit a fork, where you need to keep right. Keep going downhill on the trail and eventually you hit another version of a fork, keep left and the tri-point marker will be right there off to the right of the trail. Very easy to miss. Even for those not hiking, this area is so beautiful. My family has been in the county for 20 years and I cannot believe it took us so long to visit here.