Potts Mountain Jeep Trail
Holy cow, this was a big one! In late October, with the leaves changing and cooler weather coming in, the CORE 4x4 off-road club decided to tackle arguably the most difficult and famous trail in Virginia, the Potts Mountain Jeep Trail. Being the most difficult trail in Virginia says a lot about it, given how much of the state is in the Appalachians!
The club had attempted this trail back in 2014, before I had joined, but was unable to tackle the most difficult section of the trail, a 300 meter section known as "The Valley", located roughly halfway through the trail. So instead, they did two out and back runs from both directions, each time stopping at that section and turning around. So, for the organizer of this trail ride, Andrew from hobbytrap.com, this has always been a bit of a "white whale" trail for him, as well as an aspirational target for the rest of us.
Given the difficulty of the trail, we knew there were some key pieces of equipment we needed. This included 35 inch tires, lockers, underbody protection, and a winch. My Jeep almost meets all of those, with the exception of only running 34 inch tires. Given that I had the winch though, I felt that this was something I could attempt. Others in the group either met the requirements, exceeded, or came short, but between all of us, we all managed to make it through with some help from the recovery equipment!
So knowing that we had what we needed to attempt the trail, one of the members found an amazing campsite just about 20 minutes from the trailhead. It was called Wilderness Adventures at Eagle Landing. When we arrived, the owner of the campground met us, gave us some great information, and pointed us in the direction of the campsite where Kirk was waiting for us.
We settled into our campsite, setting up and getting ready to prep dinner. We were relaxed, in such a serene environment, but knew we had a big day ahead of us!
Andrew and Cherie arrived right after dark, after we had finished eating. So a couple of us went over to their site a couple of sites down, and helped them get set up so that we could all sit back around the fire and relax for a bit.
We turned in for the night, which was a bit chilly, getting into the 40’s, but quite pleasant! I was in a 32 degree sleeping bag, and bundled up with a warm hoodie and thermal bottoms and socks. I had my usual solo camp setup, with the Coleman instant tent and cot. I was experimenting with a smaller packing shorter cot, and while very comfortable, it was a bit too low, and didn’t offer a good place to sit while getting ready in the evening or morning. So I think I’ll go back to my Trailhead 2 cot. I was trying out a new cot since the Trailhead 2 was not the easiest cot to setup, and the smaller one was much easier. That being said, my preference is for a higher cot, so it’ll be the Trailhead 2 until I find an alternative!
The next morning, we got up, and whipped together a quick breakfast, so we could get an early start on the trail. We were meeting two other guys at the trailhead who had stayed at hotels overnight. The plan was to start at what Google calls the “Lower Trailhead” located at 37.635529, -80.051676. We would then travel the 7.4 miles on the Potts Mountain Jeep Trail until we reached the “Mid Trail Crossover” located at 37.599360, -80.154574. The USDA Forest Service labels the trail as a 14 mile path, but that includes the section going from the Mid Trail Crossover to the “Upper Trailhead” located at 37.534461, -80.235403. That second section from the Mid Trail Crossover to the Upper Trailhead is a relatively smooth dirt road, with some large mud puddles scattered throughout. While it is part of the official Potts Mountain Jeep Trail, it’s that first northern section that gets the attention due to the difficulty of the trail. From the southern section, there is a hike to the Hanging Rock Overlook, which has an incredible view of the valley. The parking lot for the hike starts at 37.56595, -80.19286.
With the plan in place, we met the other two guys at the Lower Trailhead, aired down our tires to about 15 psi, and I disconnected my manual swaybar disconnects. This allows the front suspension to flex more easily, as well as prevent the vehicle from rocking as much side to side when on uneven terrain. We then began the trail. Right away, we knew we were in for an exciting day! Not more than 100 feet from the start of the trail, we came across a rocky descent, testing ground clearance. After that, it was tight single vehicle width trail, at times rocky, and beautiful. We then came across our first challenge, a rutted out tight section of trail, with a rock jutting out of the side, waiting to hit a door panel if we weren’t careful! After some precise maneuvering, we made it through unscathed.
After that, and a bit more riding, we finally came across the big one! This is known as “The Valley”. This is the infamous section of the trail that was not done by the club 7 years ago. This time, we were ready to give it a go!
After a careful descent into the valley, we made our way upward out of it.
It was a steep and boulder filled path, requiring careful tire placement and at times, a bit of momentum.
After exercising all of our suspension, tires, lockers, and liberal use of the skid plates and rock sliders, several of us, myself included, got hung up on the last bit out. But, after hooking our winches to a nearby tree, we quickly got ourselves out of trouble! After helping the rest of our 6 vehicle convoy through, we made it through the still steep and rocky section after the valley, to a small clearing where we settled in for lunch.
After lunch, we made our way to “The Meadow”, a large clearing not far from our lunch spot. Andrew wasn’t sure how big the meadow was, or if there would be suitable place for us to have lunch there, so we grabbed that earlier spot when we came across it. It was a good thing too, the meadow is a big open field, with no shade or cover. So while there is plenty of room, and it’s beautiful, the spot we picked worked out nicely! After stopping in the meadow for some photos, we continued on the trail.
There were a few more challenging sections awaiting us as we made our way through the trail. This included a tight pinch to the top of a hill, requiring two tight turns on a rocky and challenging climb. At the top though, we were rewarded with a great view from a rocky overlook.
From there, we continued on, and met another challenging climb. This time, we encountered our first significant damage. Kirk, driving an FJ Cruiser, had hit his rear differential skid plate hard on a rock, and bent it. After the bend, it started making contact with his driveshaft, making a terrible clicking sound as his vehicle moved. Fortunately, a few wrenches, hammers, and crowbars later, he bent it back in place, and we were back in business!
After that, we had a few more obstacles, and then came up to another big one! This one is optional, as there’s a bypass, but it was too tempting to pass up, so some of us decided to give it a try. Essentially, it’s a huge boulder, with a steep drop-off. Andrew and Kirk managed to climb it and make it off, after hitting their center skid plates and skidding down.
The Jeeps, however, weren’t so lucky! We took it very slowly, and when it came to getting off, we high centered on the engine skid plates, and got stuck. We could have made it with a bit more momentum, but were worried about damage and falling off, so we took the more careful approach. Fortunately, we put our winches into action again, and pulled the Jeeps the few inches needed to clear our skid plates, and safely descend.
That marked the last major obstacle for us on Potts. Once we arrived at the crossover parking area, we took stock of what we just did. We just took 6 daily drivers on the hardest trail in Virginia, and safely made it to the end. Several of our vehicles, mine included, have baby seats in them, and transport our children around. Yet here we were, successfully tackling a bucket list trail for many of us.
After coming down from that high, some of us decided to wrap up the day with the hike mentioned above, to the Hanging Rock Overlook. We made our way there, along the dirt road, dotted with mud holes, to the trailhead. After parking, we hiked along the .5 mile trail from the parking lot to the overlook, and were not dissapointed. We made it there right in time for sunset, to watch the sun drop behind the mountains in front of us. Perfect way to end the ride!
After the sun had set, we made our way back to the vehicles, and got ready to head back to camp. By the time we arrived, it was late, after 9pm. We were tired, and while we all brought food to cook that night, we thought we’d check the campground lodge to see if they were still serving food. We noticed a sign indicating that they had ended dinner service at 8. But, to our amazement, the owner and girl from the kitchen came out, saw us, and told us they could whip up some food for dinner for us! We were so pleasantly surprised, we just told them to whip up whatever they’d like, we’d be ok with it. After she listed a couple of things, we went with some cheeseburgers and mac n cheese as a side. The happily agreed, and we made our way to the side of the lodge, where there were some tables. We expected to just grab the food, pay, and go. But when we got there, we saw a band playing some great music, and a few folks having a small party, singing and dancing away, under some hanging string lights! The perfect ambiance! We bought a couple of drinks from the bar they set up, and we sat down and just took it all in. Then they brought us our food, and it was amazing! And not just “we’ve been wheeling for 11 hours and we’re hungry” amazing, it was truly delicious! Nicely seasoned baked mac n cheese, and a burger that was perfectly seasoned, with cheese, arugula, tomatoes, roasted garlic, and some other stuff I didn’t even bother to check! It was simply amazing. I have to say, that place made our night. Truly a wonderful experience.
Over dinner, and then back at camp around the fire, we sat, and recounted the amazing day we just had. Honestly it was a legendary day in my book. Amazing trails, perfect weather, challenging obstacles, and pushing our vehicles to the limit. Then wrapping it up with an incredible hike and overlook sunset view, then followed up with an incredible dinner, and hanging out with friends around the fire. Special thanks to Andrew for organizing the trip, and leading us through the day, Kirk for organizing the camping setup, and for spotting so many of us throughout the day, and to Cherie for taking so many great photos and videos, which is where most of the pictures in this post come from. The next morning, we packed up, had breakfast, and made our way home. Hearts full, vehicles filthy, skid plates scratched and dented, and coolers empty. This will be a weekend I’ll remember for a long time.
