What if we told you that the best hiking and biking to be had in all of Southwest Virginia was in the middle of a city?
OK, so the population of Norton is only 3,900 and change – the least populous in the entire state – but still, a thousand-acre city park offers some of the best if not the best hiking and biking trails you’ll come across.
Main Dish: Flag Rock Recreation Area is just three miles from and overlooks downtown Norton’s Main Street. Of the thousand acres just 25 is developed with multi-use trails, picnic shelters and camping areas. But boy, oh boy, is that 25 acres packed. Eight miles of trails wind through the developed area and more are on the way. Built with an eye on mountain biking, with the banked turns, wicked switchbacks and delightful rock and root scrambles, the trails are open to what the city refers to as people-powered users. That’s bikers, hikers, trail runners and, God forbid we get enough snow, cross country skiers.
Don’t let the fact that the trails should be known and praised far and wide as an example of how to build a proper mountain bike trail – most of them are single track – prevent you as a newbie from getting out there and getting going. With varying difficulties Flag Rock has a perfect trail for any ability.
Don’t worry about getting run over, either, by gnarly mountain bikers and gear heads. Trail etiquette is such that hikers have the right of way.
Appetizer: If you just want something light, something that doesn’t require sweat or blistered feet, head on down to the Flag Rock overlook. A couple hundred feet from the parking area, you’ll cross a short metal bridge onto some fenced-in rock. The city of Norton will come into view and with it the eponymous flag.
The flag arrived on the rock sometime in the 1920s, when, according to the city, a German immigrant so loved America and Norton that he wanted to do the natural thing, the thing we’d all do, which is to climb up a mountain, scale a rock face and plant a flag.
Look, the flag is cool and all, but it can’t hold a candle to what you’ll come across en route to the viewing area, for there on the trail, as big as life, is old Sasquatch. The Woodbooger. Big Foot. Whatever you want to call him. Seems that back in 2011, Animal Planet’s television show “Finding Bigfoot,” where a dude who actually looks like he might be partially yeti-ish and a couple others folks go out into the woods and make drunken frat boy sounds at night with cameras, filmed an episode nearby. The crew was drawn to the area from a video of a man riding an ATV up a creek when a Bigfoot-looking thing crossed higher up. A couple years after that episode, in 2014, the city council passed a memorandum declaring Flag Rock an official Woodbooger Sanctuary, erecting a plaque, signage and a statue. That same year, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with Central Appalachia Climbers Coalition to develop climbing areas in the park. The two probably aren’t related. But one never knows.
Side Dish: The park is developing climbing and bouldering routes. More than that, the rec area offers kayaking, canoeing and fishing in the trout-stocked upper reservoir. There are two reservoirs with a short road and trails leading to the upper one.
Dessert: Norton and neighboring Wise – it’s a little difficult to tell where the town of Wise, in Wise County, begins and the city of Norton ends sometimes – are home to a host of restaurants, pretty much everything you’d expect and then some. Skip the chain eateries, though. You didn’t drive most of the way to Kentucky to eat at an Applebees. Along with several Chinese restaurants, a plethora of Mexican fair and steak houses, there are what shouldn’t be a surprising number of pizza joints. It’s shouldn’t be surprising when you take into account that the University of Virginia’s College at Wise is just up the road.
Where to stay: There are plenty of budget hotels in and around the city. The park also offers $20 per night campsites (18 of them) with simply stunning and spectacular morning views. Honestly, the overlook campsite will make you want to toss caution to the wind, buy yourself a fully outfitted Westfalia and embrace that inner crunchiness and say “man” a lot to people you don’t know. If you’re a little extra, though, stay in downtown Wise. The Inn at Wise is only a fistful of dollars more than the budget chains scattered around. It’s guaranteed to make you fall in love with the downtown area and is within easy walking distance of one of the delicious aforementioned Mexican restaurants.
What else is going on: As home to legendary banjo picker Dock Boggs, Norton has some solid mountain music bonafides. You’ll find plenty to hear and do during the good weather months. In the bad weather months, the university offers plenty of sporting and cultural events. It’s not all Cavaliers, either. The college has made a point of extending its goodies to the greater community, playing host to an annual two-day wrestling tournament that features much better competition and more excitement than the state meet. Basketball and football all-star games are also an annual treat, where you can bop in and catch the best in the state going at it. The basketball games, in particular, normally end with a couple hundred points scored.
While You’re There: Don’t miss out on the two-mile drive up to High Knob. Go at sunrise or sunset. Either way, you’ll have a totally unobstructed view with the nearly 360-degree outlook you get from atop the tower. The city’s Flag Rock backs up to Jefferson National Forest, where High Knob Recreation Areas and the Observation Tower is located. The tower sits atop a 4,200-foot high summit and offers sweeping views of five states on a clear day. For those keeping track, that’s Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. A handy little plaque lets you line up peaks of Mount Rogers, Pine Mountain, Roan Mountain, Whitetop Mountain, Clinch Mountain and peaks in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The original tower was a fire tower, manned at one time by young men on the lookout for smoke and flames. Ironic arsonists – which is coincidentally the name of the band I’m going to form tomorrow – burned the original in 2008. The new tower, which has its unfair share of graffiti, was built in 2014.
You know what? Go ahead and plan a second week or two explore all that High Knob contains. In addition to a 13-site campground, the park offers a small lake for swimming and kayaking and hiking trails, including the 19-mile, one-way Chief Benge Scout Trail, which begins at the tower. The High Knob Trail is 33 miles.
Camping at High Knob is $10 per night. Day use is $5 per vehicle.
