Dragon's Tooth, Mcafee Knob and Tinker Cliff's

took me 2 days complete. wanna do north mountain trail but weather turn cold Friday. going back in the spring time for sure to do the loop

This hike was absolutely stunning. My girlfriend and I started at the Dragons Tooth Parking Lot. There’s PLENTY of room there. We noticed that most people park at the the McAfee Knob lot. It was mid fall and misty/foggy out and we trekked up to Dragons Tooth for an eerily SPECTACULAR view. We moved in toward McAfee Knob and decided to do a PTP of Dragons Tooth - McAfee - Dragons Tooth off the Boy Scout Trail and back to the car. The shelters are great, but there are plenty of amazing spots off the side of the trail. I highly recommend sleeping alongside the river between Dragons Tooth and the cow fields. Just really take your time and enjoy every single thing. One of the most beautiful eastern hikes I’ve ever been on. Edit: The water at John's Spring was pretty hard to find. You have to travel about half way to the outhouse, take a right at the first path and you'll pass a couple of fire rings. Go about 1/4 mile down the path and you'll see a tiny spring coming out of the ground. This is the water source!

I loved the length of this trail- I only have the resources to day hike right now, so I made sure I started early enough to do this in one day. It rained the day I had it planned for, so I hiked in the rain. I plan to go back this spring when days are longer and the sun is shining, I took the DT trail from the parking lot at 5:30 AM, saw the sun rise- through a thick cloud cover- and went along the AT the rest of the way, to the Andy Layne Trail. DT in the dark and in the rain was the hardest part.

This trail includes the three points of the Virginia triple crown. It is both challenging and beautiful. After training for months on flat ground (no hills where I live) for months, I found myself struggling to make the steep hike up hill and battling leg cramps on the way down. Regardless, the breath taking views are 100% worth the effort. I'd do it again in a heart beat! The first section from Dragons Tooth to Mcaffee Knob is the toughest. We stayed on the AT instead of taking the road after dragons tooth. About 12 miles total. Grab water before you leave the meadows. There's not another water source for about 6 miles,and it's a steep uphill. We ran out of daylight and water at the Mcaffee Knob TrailHead. Park ranger at the trailhead said the next shelter might have a trickle of water, but it's unreliable. We took his advice and stayed at a hotel and picked up the trail where we left off the next morning. He was right, no water. There's a second shelter before you reach mcafee knob, it has water. It's a steep hike from the trailhead to the knob. We stayed overnight at pig farm camp site after a short hike on day two. Nice campsite with good water source. Day three, we hiked to Tinker Mountain, then out to the Andy Layne Trail head. This was the easiest day, about 9 miles total.

For some reason the trail map on the main page here follows the road not the AT. 311 doesn’t seem safe at all to walk on to me. If you want to do the entire thing via the AT and sub trails then add about 5 miles..mostly on the front end. Water was plentiful this weekend.

Dragon tooth parking lot to Tinker Cliff parking lot, Andy Lane trail. Hiking all the way in Trail. Dragon tooth parking lot - Dragon tooth - McAfee knob parking lot - Macafe knob - Tinker Cliff - Tinker Cliff Andy Lane parking lot. started at 8 am and finished at 7 pm

Great hiking enjoyed the incline and the rocks. If you enjoy the outdoors than go for it. You can do it I seen kids on this trail. I would rate this moderate. Great views on top.

This is a late review, but it is fun hike with some challenging areas. Definitely worth it, however. I particularly liked Dragon's Tooth; there are lots of rocks and scrambling during that section. Great way to spend a weekend hiking and camping.

Amazing hike! The climb to Tinker is INTENSE. The path is clear but steep. You can't beat the views on this hike though. It is challenging but very rewarding!