Vineyard Gap Loop, Pisgah National Forest

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
11/14/2021	4.8 miles	3 hours 22 minutes	772'	1.7	455.7

Map: 

• National Geographic Pisgah Ranger District

Parking: Turkey Pen Gap (very rough road to trailhead). Do not park in the horse trailer area.8

Directions: From Turkey Pen Gap, we bushwhacked north and then southeast and then got on the Vineyard Gap Trail heading east. Near a house on the right, the trail turns sharply left and goes steeply downhill. Before approaching the river, turn left at 3 steps onto a herd path which follows the south side of the South Fork Mills River. (The original route crosses the river). The herd path continues along the river. Eventually the herd path joins the Riverside Trail, still continuing along the south side of the river. We took a lunch break at a bend in the trail. (The original trail crosses the river again at this point). Turn left onto a herd path that climbs steeply up around 400 feet. The trail has a few switchbacks, but is still very steep. At the top of the hill reach the Vineyard Gap Trail, and follow it back to the parkin area.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

• Pisgah 400 Challenge, #324 Vineyard Gap Trail, #115 Riverside (partial)

We joined the CMC for a hike starting from Turkey Pen Gap. The road to the trailhead is rough and not recommended for lower clearance cars. We made it, but every other car in the parking lot (other than one which was the same model car as we have) was a high clearance vehicle. We scraped the bottom of our vehicle once on the way in. It's also a one lane road, so would be challenging if you had to back up on it to let another car go by.

I only took one photo during the hike. I love fall foliage, but now all of those leaves are on the ground. I spent most of the hike staring at the ground, making sure I didn't trip due to the deep leaves. From what I read, there are 2 variations of this loop. One which follows the trails, but has several river crossings. And a shorter hike which takes you on a couple of herd paths (they call them man ways here), and avoids the river crossings. The river crossings looked like they would be pretty deep (above knees for sure), so I'm glad on this chilly day that we didn't do them.