When I hear the word highlands, I instantly think of Scotland with mist floating over moors. But did you know there are highlands in Virgina? And that there are wild horses? I didn't know this until last year (2024). At the end of August we took a trip to the area to explore and as our last prep hike for Half Dome in September.
Grayson Highlands State Park covers 4,800 plus square miles and is surrounded by other
National Forests and National Wilderness areas such as the Lewis Fork Wilderness and Racoon Branch Wilderness, it is important to note when you cross the boundaries as camping regulations are different between them. It is close to Virginia's two highest peaks, Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain. The highlands themselves sit at 5,000 feet of elevation, which sounds like nothing to hikers from out west, but for east coasters that's pretty high. The Appalachian Trail runs through this area and there are many other hiking trails, horseback riding trails and various campsites including horse camps.
The wild ponies were released into an area known as 'the balds', an area with sweeping
meadow views by the National Forest Service in 1975. Why would the NFS release ponies in the area? Very simply, these are ponies with a purpose. Created through extensive logging, the balds are a man-made landscape. The ponies control the growth of the brush and keep it in check, this is important both for trail maintenance and fire control. The herd is managed by the Wilburn Ridge Pony Association, they monitor the heard and facilitate the sale of excess colts to help maintain the population, which currently stands at around 150 ponies. While the ponies are often very friendly, especially as people do sometimes feed them (you shouldn't feed them), always be careful about getting too close as ponies bite and kick. It's also advised to avoid petting and feeding them to help keep them as wild as possible.
The initial plan for this trip was with Girls Who Hike Ohio and was going to be camping at one of the campgrounds and day hikes to summit Mount Rogers, see the wild ponies and a few other hikes in the area. The trip leader ended up canceling the group trip due to a family emergency, but since our campsite was already booked, Ashley and I decided to still go anyway. Two other women from the initial trip were also still going and the proposed we turn it into an overnight backpacking trip which we agreed to.
We drove down on Friday and spent the night at the Racoon Branch campground in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and a short drive from the trailhead. This
campground has wooded sites with picnic tables, firepits and access directly to hiking trails.
There is a bathroom and potable water, but no showers at this campground, in fact it seemed like the only campground in the area with showers was Hurricane Campground, so I would recommend staying there before or after your hike or for day hikes. Shortly after arriving and getting our tent set up, it started pouring. A little thunder and lightning were sprinkled in for fun. After about 20 minutes we gave up on the idea of waiting for the rain to stop so we could cook and drove about 25 minutes to the nearby town and had Mexican for dinner, by the time we got back it had stopped raining, although it started again after we were in the tent for the night.
Saturday dawned a bit cloudy, but the sun came out and big fluffy clouds floated lazily in the sky, although the weather was forecasting rain later in the afternoon/evening. We parked at the Grindstone Campground in the day use area, most of the campground was closed down and was in need of some TLC, so don't be cheap and pay the $3 fee. The trail you will take from Grindstone is the Mount Rogers Tie In, this links into the Mount Rogers loop. Once on the loop, you immediately start heading up a series of switchbacks, there were a lot of bees on the trail, and I was the lucky recipient of a pretty painful sting. This was one of those cases where I was glad to be wearing underwear since I had to pull my leggings down in the middle of the trail to see if there was still a stinger stuck in the sting (I had to pull the bee of me as it was stuck), it stayed painful and swollen for the rest of the weekend. What a way to start a backpacking trip!
About .4 miles from the spur for the summit the forests open up off and on and you get glimpses of sweeping meadows and mountains in the distance. The summit of Mount Rogers is reached by a spur trail, and if you're looking forward to views across the highlands
and the Blue Ridge Mountains, you will be a bit disappointed. Like many peaks on the east coast and Appalachian trail, there is no view from the summit, but there is a USGS survey benchmark marking the summit. Shortly after the spur the scenery opens up into the highlands and this is a prime spot for spotting some ponies (we did). This is also where the Thomas Knob shelter is located and if I do this trail again, I will spend my first night here. Dispersed camping is allowed and there are bear boxes, there is a water source, but it may be dry later in the summer. By all accounts this is one of the best spots to camp to enjoy the scenery, sunrise/sunset and the ponies.
Since we were attempting to do the trail in two days, after a break for lunch, we pressed on through the pine trees and rhododendrons. This was one of my favorite sections and had
some of the best scenery and views, we could constantly here thunder in the distance and rain clouds across the mountains. Around the spur is when we started encountering day hikers and continued to see more and more of them as we moved into the section of the Mount Rogers loop that runs along the Appalachian Trail. We stayed at the Wise Shelter and arrived around 6pm, we covered approximately 12 miles. The Wise Shelter is along the Appalachian Trail, there are composting toilets, a great water source and bear boxes, there is no camping allowed directly around the shelter and there was a ranger there to greet people and direct them where to camp - a short walk away and across a bridge in the Lewis Fork Wilderness.
The next day dawned mostly sunny despite thunderstorms the night before, due to time
constraints we decided to take one of the connector trails that would cut off nearly three miles of our hike. The Wilson Creek Trail that we took was a pretty easy trek through scrub brush, up one big hill and through one of the horse camps before rejoining the Appalachian Trail. From there it was pretty easy going (mostly downhill) through a mix of hardwoods and pines. Once you reach SR601 there are two ways to reach the trailhead parking, by walking or hitching a ride straight up the road, or by crossing the road and hiking along the trail the runs parallel to the road until you hop off and cross the road to the parking lot.
Similar to many trails on the east coast, you spend a lot of time picking over uneven rocks and tree roots on this hike which can make for slow going, sore feet and be mentally tiring. I would not recommend doing this loop in two days unless you are a super-fast hiker, three days will allow for splitting the milage up into more enjoyable chunks and give you time to enjoy being out in nature and the company of the others on the trip (unless you're going solo. For the second night I would recommend staying at the Old Orchard Shelter, there is dispersed tent camping, a fire pit and a water source (if it's a particularly dry year, the water source can be dry so you will need to do a water carry). If you're an east coast hiker or just visiting this is a great moderate backpacking loop to experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and the unique scenery of the highlands, this is a can't miss loop!
Quick Trail Facts
Length: 21.1 miles
Elevation: Elevation Gain - 3,898 feet / Max Elevation: 5,729 feet
Permits Needed: No
Water Sources: Multiple streams along the trail, water sources at all shelters
Food Storage: Bear boxes at shelters, there are bears in the area so use a bear cannister if not utilizing bear boxes
Weather: May be the biggest variable. The area is prone to thunderstorms in the summer, up in the highlands there can be high winds and even snow as early as October
Check out our itineraries and detailed maps here.
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