Mills River Valley Overlook to Sleepy Gap, eastbound
October 24, 2025. I missed out on some prime hiking weather due to coming down with COVID, but here I go again, six weeks after my last hike. We had an overnight event in Flat Rock, so I planned on doing one hike before, and one hike after.
The husband-shuttle drove almost 4 hours to drop me off at Mills River Valley Overlook, along the Blue Ridge Parkway. And sadly for my patient driver, the birding isn’t all that great, now that fall migration is over.
It’s a bit nippy up here in the mountains, even with a 9:30am start time. With the long drive to get here, I didn’t plan a long hike–only 8.8 miles.
What a joy to be back out on the trail! I warmed up pretty quickly, and soon shed my gloves, scarf, and jacket.
This was my first hike in segment 3, and there was plenty of evidence of recent trail maintenance following Hurricane Helene. Thank you, Trail Angels!
My route crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway several times, usually at overlooks.
I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to hike in such beautiful places!
I definitely paused at all the overlooks to enjoy the fall foliage.
And I was not alone! There were lots of people out admiring God’s handiwork!
The trail was very well-marked. I only opened up the FarOut app once to check my location at an intersection, because I had overlooked one check-point and therefore the printed directions didn’t match what I was seeing. I like having all three route indicators: printed directions from the Friends of the MST, the FarOut app, and of course, the white dots!
The main hazard today was not being able to see stones on the trail, because of all the leaves. I took it nice and easy, especially on the downhill sections.
Although overall I descended 1000 feet in elevation throughout the almost 9 miles, there was still plenty of uphill trail–including this rather steep ascent up Ferrin Knob.
Ferrin Knob is the site of an abandoned fire tower. (And I’m thinking of you, Mom!)
Most of the ferns here in North Carolina are deciduous, with one common exception:
Christmas Fern!
And that’s my endpoint, the parking lot at Sleepy Gap.
We drove down the mountain to Flat Rock, where we stayed at Bonclarken, our church denomination’s conference center.
After the missions conference was over, we had a lovely German meal at Haus Heidelberg. Fueling up for the next day’s hike!
Wunderbar!
My.Bird.Walks. 