Name: Green Ridge
Rating: 4.0

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Access at the bottom is an old forestry gate. It has "No Trespassing" signs, but it is a legit` forestry road with public access( fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/r…) leading to the trail.

If accessing from the AT, the trail can also be hard to find. The actual trail is a bit closer to the graves than the app indicates. Follow the app and you'll hit a faint trail soon enough. You may need to bushwhack

Description

This trail can be challenging to access but, once on it, it is a splendid stretch of trail leading to some spectacular views and a gorgeous drainage. You're pretty much guaranteed to have the trail to yourself and there's an isolated feel to it.

We parked at the TH for the Jerry Miller Trail (which, when paired with the AT, makes this a glorious loop). There is also parking along FR211. Continue on FR 3509. The road soon turns into Green Ridge Trail.

Enjoy your ascent up the lush, enclosed drainage. The singletrack is some of the softest I've found out east. The trees are blazed yellow fairly regularly. It is obvious the trail is infrequently used or maintained but there is no trouble following it and the blazes are always there to lead the way.

If accessing from the AT, the trail can be challenging to find, but if you follow the map on the Trail Run Project mobile app, you'll find the trail and the blazes as you climb toward Green Ridge know. The trail access seems to be a little further north than indicated on the app, but otherwise it is fairly dead on, and once you are on the trail, even though it may be faint, it is easy enough to follow. After Green Ridge knob, the trail is very easy to follow.

Stop and enjoy an amazing view from the knob. It was a rainy day when we were there and the clouds were all low in the valleys, with the peaks, covered in fall foliage rising up above those clouds, looking like islands in a vast sea. It was spectacular!

Assuming this trail is done as part of a loop, my recommendation would be to come down it. It is not as steep as I expected and was quite managable.