Turkey Knob Trail and Poplar Hill Loop, Dupont State Recreational Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/2/2026	6.3 miles	2 hours 45 minutes	397'	2.3 mph	283.3

Parking: 

• Pinnacle Mountain Road, room for 1-2 cars only on the side of the road

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Dupont

Directions:

• From the trailhead, take the Turkey Knob Trail to the left. Pass the first entrance to the Poplar Hill Loop Trail on the right (there is a sign saying the trail is closed). Take the second sign for Poplar Hill Loop and hike until the sign where its closed. Turn around and return to the Turkey Knob Trail. Turn right onto the Turkey Knob Trail and hike to the intersection of Reasonover Creek Trail. Turn around and take the Turkey Knob Trail back. Pass the parking area, and follow the Turkey Knob Trail over two stepover stream crossings until you reach the third crossing at a closed bridge. Turn around and return to the parking area.

After being out of town for 2 weeks, I was eager to return to Dupont to work on hiking more trails. Neither of us have hiked these 2 trails before. We had no idea what condition Pinnacle Mountain Road would be. Its a dirt road, but is okay for a regular clearance vehicle for the 1.5 miles to the parking area. From what I read, it gets much more rough beyond this. 

We headed out on the Turkey Knob Trail, heading southwest. Its a wider trail with good terrain - very pleasant to hike on. We saw lots of gentians flowering along the sides of the trail. Our Pisgah Map Co. map shows Poplar Hill Loop as a full loop, but we knew it no longer is. The portion of the Poplar Hill Trail that was open, is less well maintained. We went threw a meadow area, where we had to push through tall weeds. Then we passed 2 areas of blowdowns. So, not a trail I'd bother doing again. The remaining portion of the Turkey Creek Trail to the Reasonover Creek Trail, continued to be nice. We saw a handful of bicyclists on that section, but it wasn't busy. We returned to our parking area, and continued on the Turkey Creek Trail to the northeast. We had read that the bridge 1/2 mile in was closed, so we wanted to see if it was passable. The bridge itself looks perfectly fine on top, but from what I've read, its rotting below the decking, making it unsafe. The stream it crosses is trivially small, but the problem is the bridge crosses a steep embankment. Yes, it could possibly be bushwhacked, but it would be very challenging and a pain, so we didn't try. We are going to have to hike the remaining part of the Turkey Knob Trail, approaching from the north.

Trailhead

Turkey Knob Trail

Many Appalachian Gentians on this hike

The first end of Poplar Hill Loop is closed

The second end of the loop is open - now an out and back

A short section is very overgrown

A couple sections had down trees that we had to climb over

A barrier shows the closed section of the rest of the loop

Continuing on Turkey Knob Trail

Which ends at Reasonover Creek Trail

This is on the other end of Turkey Knob Trail

The closed bridge

The top looks okay, but from what I read it is rotting underneath

Hard to see, but there is a steep embankment under the bridge

Mine Mountain Trail and Fawn Lake

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/14/2026	5.5 miles	3 hours 8 minutes	489'	2.2 mph	277

Parking: 

• Fawn Lake Access Area

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Dupont

Directions:

• From the parking lot, take Fawn Lake Road to the left. Turn left onto Mine Mountain Trail. Turn left onto Laurel Ridge Trail. Turn left onto Shoals Trail. Turn left onto Corn Mill Shoals Trail. Hike to the wide water crossing & turn around. Turn left onto Corn Mill Shoals Trail. Turn right onto Laurel Ridge Trail. Turn left onto Mine Mountain Trail. Turn right onto Fawn Lake Road and return to the parking lot.

Temps in the low 80's and I wanted to get one more hike in this week. We returned to Dupont to hike the Mine Mountain Trail, Laurel Ridge Trail, and Shoals Trail. We've hiked the Mine Mountain Trail before - it climbs, but not too steeply. We've hiked most of the Laurel Ridge Trail before as well. We saw a handful of bicyclists - not too many. We hiked over to the stream crossing on Corn Mill Shoals Trail. We've hiked the trail to the west of the stream crossing, but didn't want to cross the stream. Last time we were there, I think the water was higher. Today it looked shallow. It was tempting to cross, but its a solid rock slab under the water. I put one foot in to test it, and it was very slippery. I'm not even sure if poles would help. We let Krumm wade on leash. We then did a loop of the Corn Mill Shoals Trail to the Laurel Ridge Trail. We took a slightly different route on the way back so that we would walk by Fawn Lake. There was a group of people there on the dock with their stuff spread out along the shore. And one guy sunbathing and occasionally jumping in to swim. We would have preferred to have the whole shore to ourselves, but this is a popular swimming hole. We moved one of the benches under a shade tree. Krumm doesn't like to bring a stick that far up shore, so I had to hang out in the sun. I managed to step in a hole and did a face plant. No harm done. But, at least he got some swim time in. Krumm thought it was strange that there were other people in the water. Sometime, we have to go swimming with him. 

Turn left at the parking lot trailhead

Mine Mountain Trail

Fairy Fingers, or Clavaria Fragilis

We saw many turtleheads, mostly not open

Turning left onto Laurel Ridge Trail

Turning left onto Shoals Trail

Turning left onto Corn Mill Shoals Trail

Wading in the stream

A wide shallow crossing to the other side

Downstream

Staying on Corn Mill Shoals Trail

More turtle heads I think

Pinesap, closely related to Ghost Pipes. It has no chlorophyll.

Swimming in Fawn Lake before heading home.

Wintergreen Falls, Dupont State Recreational Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/12/2026	5.8 miles	2 hours 49 minutes	454'	2.4 mph	271.5

Parking: 

• Guion Farm Access

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Dupont

Directions:

• From the parking lot, take the Connector Trail next to the parking lot. Turn right onto Tarkiln Branch Road. Turn left onto Wintergreen Falls Trail. Hike to Wintergreen Falls. Turn around. Turn left onto Grassy Creek Trail. Hike to the intersection of Joanna Road. Return the same way, but skipping the trip to Wintergreen Falls.

Temps in the low 80's and we had a free day, so we went back to Dupont. We have never hiked to Wintergreen Falls, so that was one of our destinations today. We usually try to avoid Dupont on weekends due to crowds, but the Guion Farm Access parking area typically is less crowded than other Dupont parking lots. 

We started out on a road, and had the occasional mountain bikers cross our paths. We hiked to Wintergreen Falls, hoping it would be a good place for Krumm to swim. It wasn't.  Its a small waterfall, with a small pool. We let Krumm get in the water, but he struggled to get out, because the rocks on the edge were too slippery for him to climb up. I thought I might have to go in to help him out, but eventually he did. We let him wade in an area that was easier to get out of, but it wasn't enough to swim in. So definitely a 2 paws down rating. 

We continued on down Grassy Creek Trail. We had seen there is a creek crossing, so we brought Crocs and small towels in case we had to wade. There are big rocks at the crossing, so if the water is low, you can cross without getting wet. I would still recommend hiking poles for the crossing if you have shorter legs or have balance issues. We hiked to Joanna Road. We are working on hiking all of the trails in Dupont. Joanna Road was going to be a challenge, due to me not being able to hike longer distances currently. The Pisgah Map Co. map (2022 edition) shows Joanna Road extending to the east. There is a trailhead at the end, but it says you need a high clearance vehicle to reach it. Well - it turns out that section is permanently closed. So no need for us to find a friend with a higher clearance vehicle. On the hike back, after crossing Grassy Creek, we stopped and let Krumm swim there. It is actually deep enough that it makes a decent swimming spot. He was happy.

Sign on the connector path next to the parking lot.

Stream crossing that was shown on the map

Joanna Road is closed to the east of the trail intersection.
I didn't see Briery Fork Trail which I thought was at this intersection too.

Stopping to swim at Grassy Creek

Lake Julia and Fawn Lake, Dupont State Recreational Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/9/2026	4.9 miles	3 hours 3 minutes	379'	2.3 mph	265.7

Parking: 

• Fawn Lake Access Area

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Dupont

Directions:

• Turn right from the parking lot. Turn left onto Conservation Road. Cross the airstrip and turn right onto Camp Summit Road. Turn left onto Lake Julia Road. Turn right onto Conservation Road. Turn left onto Shelter Rock Trail. Turn left onto the Airstrip Trail. At the air strip, turn left and walk to the end. Turn around, and continue walking on the air strip. Turn right onto Conservation Road. Turn right onto Fawn Lake Road and return to the parking area.

We've been wanting to go to Dupont, but have been waiting for a break in the heat, plus a weekday, because Dupont is very crowded on weekends. Temps were in the low 80's which was good enough. Conservation Road isn't particularly exciting, but it gets you to Camp Summit Road and Lake Julia Road. These are still woods roads, however, they provide access to Lake Julia. My 2022 trail map shows the Lake View Loop Trail as a spur trail at the intersection of  Camp Summit Road and Lake Julia Road, but that trail is permanently closed. There is a sign up that says authorized personnel only can go there (there's also a park building there). However, there is a grassy area with benches and access to the lake. It's a beautiful spot that we had to ourselves. And its perfect for dog swimming! So, we've discovered a new place to take Krumm. The lake looked clean (no algae) and the view is pretty. We let Krumm have a long swim. He was unhappy when it was time to go. 

We moved onto the Shelter Rock Trail - it was nice to be on a real trail instead of a woods road. Then a switchbacked uphill on the Airstrip Trail. I love the air strip itself. It has a nice view at the end. From what I read, the runway was built by Ben Cart, who bought about 1,400 acres in the Cedar Mountain area in 1967. He established Summit Camps, two large summer camps for boys and girls around what is now Lake Julia. Cart was also a pilot. He eventually decided that having his own airplane would make it much easier to travel around the country promoting the camps. So he had a private runway constructed right through the forest. Construction began around 1975 and wasn't finished until 1979.

Rather than taking the Conservation Trail back to the trailhead, we took Fawn Lake Road. This passes by Fawn Lake. Fawn Lake is a very popular swimming hole, so although we like it, we don't always let Krumm swim there. There were only 2 people there - attempting to paddle board, so we stopped again and let Krumm swim. The paddleboarders were entertained. Another couple arrived to swim as we were about to leave. The woman said - your dog is having the best life. Isn't that true! Krumm begs to differ, as we don't take him swimming EVERY day.

The painted X's on the airstrip mean its been decomissioned

Crossing the air strip, continuing on Conservation Road

Turning onto Cam Summit Road

Turning right at the lake

Reasonover Creek Trail intersects here to the right.
Saving this for another day.

We stopped to read a sign on Reasonover Creek Trail about a bridge being out.

There used to be a loop trail straight ahead. It's now closed.

However, this intersection has access to Lake Julia.
With picnic tables & benches.
And no people!

Off the roads and onto a trail

Turning onto the Airstrip Trail

Walking over to the air strip view

A second swim at Fawn Lake