X-C Ski Sojourn at Roan Mountain State Park

Had planned to go to Roan Mountain State Park with two others but our schedules did not appear that they would ever jibe so belatedly I went solo today. I had previously gone there to X-C ski in the 1980’s once with my wife Meredith and once with my youngest son Kirk. I used MapQuest to get me to Elizabethton thinking Roan Mountain was quite close; unfortunately it was a bit further and that does not include the 7+ miles to get to the top of Roan Mountain; when I was there in the 80’s I truly did not appreciate the scope of what I missed.

Initially I skied around in the low-lands; it was not that great. After talking to a Park Ranger, I decided to attempt to drive to the top of Roan Mountain. The Ranger thought that there was a good chance that I could make it in my Highlander that has only front wheel drive; because traffic would be so light on it today, he said that I would have no problem turning around if I were having problems. I decided to give it a try; I soon found that the criteria for opening this road is a little different than that used for opening U.S. 441 in the GSMNP. There were not any pull-outs so I did not even think about turning around prior to reaching the top.





Although I took a picture of the markers for the Appalachian Trail (AT also runs across the top of Roan Mtn), it was not worth printing. As most know, much of the AT is on a ridge which is also the border between states; the second sign in the first picture states a welcome to North Carolina. Although I had planned to ski at the top, there were really not any parking spaces that I deemed safe for a non-4WD vehicle; I definitely did not want to end up being stuck on the top of this mountain.

On the way down I quickly stepped out of the car to take a couple of pictures (there was no traffic); it is the last one.