metcalf bottoms trail

I took the short hike with my two boys (5 and 7) in the late afternoon. It was a bit rainy and foggy, so we had the whole trail to ourselves. Great short hike with plenty of nature exploring to keep the boys entertained.

This is a nice trail to do with kids. Not strenuous but long. We started at the Little Greenbriar School House which the kids loved and then hiked to the Walker Sister's Cabin which they also loved. Pretty flowers along the way and even saw a bear briefly running down in the bushes along the creek. Then we had a picnic lunch by the water at Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area. Nice area.

We live nearby and this is one of our favorite hikes when we need an easy hike because we are taking small children, just had surgery ;-), (the woods are a great place to heal), or just want to be lazy. There is only a small amount of elevation and the trails are wide. Start at the picnic area and walk to the School House and then on to the Walker Sister Place; about 3-4 miles roundtrip. Certain times of the year there might be living history guide to talk to you about the structures and the history. Great for kids and a great trail to see wildflowers in the spring.

On July 14th we visited the old school house on the trail and joined about 40 shape note singers to sing old hymns in 4 part Capella harmony. if you saw Cold Mountain you saw a sample of it. My 1st time and was invited to sit with them. I had a blast. Check it out next year!

My husband and I decided to walk the Metcalf Bottoms Trail from the Little Greenbriar School to the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area. It is about a mile from the school to the picnic area. The trail starts out right behind the school next to a creek. The trail is mostly wooded and is just a dirt path with several rocks & tree roots. So, careful footwork is required. We did cross over a few footbridges (crossed small creeks) that were made out of split logs. Along the way we saw some neat orange mushrooms growing beside some trees, but we did not really see any wildlife. At one point in the trail, we came across a manmade structure behind fencing. It looked like a power station of some sort, but we were unsure what it really was. The ends of the trail were flat. However, the middle part of the trail did have some areas where you had to climb uphill and then back downhill on the other side. It was not too strenuous, but it is NOT completely flat. When we came to the end of the trail, we were on the opposite side of the river from the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. It did look like you could turn right at the end of the trail and walk around to the small wooden bridge on Lyon Springs Rd. that connects to the picnic area. Overall, the trail was OK. The trail was not too difficult & it only took us about 20 minutes to walk the length of the trail once. This trail would probably be best used to hike from the picnic area at Metcalf Bottoms to the Little Greenbriar School, since there is little parking at the trail head for the school (on Lyon Springs Rd). Note: Restrooms are located at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area