Shope Creek, Riceville

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
12/24/2023	1.2 mile	33 minutes	236'	2.2 mph	227.1

Parking: 

• Shope Creek Trailhead. The end of the road to the parking area is rutted but is drivable. 

Map:

• Hiking in Shope Creek (hikewnc.info) - use the interactive map, not the USFS map
• Gai Gps

Directions:

• From the entry of the parking lot, take the wide Shope Creek Trail. In 1/2 mile, turn left onto the Pine Forest Traverse Trail. At the end of the trail, turn left onto Wolf Branch Trail.

We were able to come up with a short loop at Shope Creek. This area is popular with mountain bikers. The trails are not marked at all, so it's especially important to carry a map and ideally a GPS. This area I think is known for a lot of bear activity. Our first hike after moving to Asheville was here, and we came across 2 bears on the trail. Welcome to Asheville, lol. 

Start of the Shope Creek Trail