Bald Mt

[James Morse]

Top, the road splits and follows the ridgeline.

Went this far, this looked worse in real life, probably would have been fine, now I feel like a wuss. I only went that far on the north ridgeline road.

Really pretty

Stop and have a ham sandwich and listen to the quiet

Seems steeper going down!

Whee (got a little mud on it)

Truck was great.

 

[JoshT]

Where is this at? I see the thread title says Bald Mountain, but there are a bunch of places with that name.

I need to start getting away like that a lot more. Next year should be a good time to start. Settling into the new job and will have a bunch of leave that I need to burn during the year.

 

[James Morse]

Yeah and I didn't find the bald part yet, if there is one. I was looking at the topo after and I was at about 2800 ft the top is 3400 ft so I had a little ways to go yet - hopefully another day.
So anyway it's in the Newcastle District of the Jefferson National Forest. I have a bunch of maps (and the phone) and I found the best map was the Forest Service District map so if you can get one of those you'll see it. It's roughly a bit northeast of Newcastle itself. F.S. road 181 goes up from Fenwick Mines Area then at the junction it's F.S. 179. It'd be quite a hike for you.
The nice thing is we have Jefferson Nat'l Forest and Washington Nat'l Forest here and there are a ton of roads.
The mountains here are long ridges that run roughly sw-ne so what they call a mountain, there's a top, sort of, but not peaks. So you have often roads (like I took) following the shoulders, I'll call them, of the ridges then when you get to the ridge they follow along the tops of them. Potts Mt Road is like the next ridge to the nw and you've probably heard of that, for the truck I have parts are not passable.
I asked Forest Service about using the roads and they said if it's not gated shut, go drive anywhere you want. And that usually in hunting season all the roads are unlocked - with some exceptions. They (F.S) said if they are working on the road they are supposed to shut the gate while they are in there to prevent people going in and getting locked in.
I didn't see any other vehicles at all. If I'd been with somebody, probably wouldn't have stopped where I did, but I'd rather err on the side of caution rather than be stuck. It makes me think, maybe a winch might be the next thing to look at, can't help in all situations, but might help.
I had to back down a grade about 1/4 mile or so not my favorite thing. But there are here and there little flat clearings. I think you can camp anywhere there afaik.
It was kind of weird there were zero birds or wildlife it was silent up there. Not really high compared to, say, the Smokies, but it's what we have here.
A lot can be seen on Google Maps most of those roads are on there. All the Districts have their own rules like you can't cut xmas trees but you can in Monongahela N.F.
I mostly find off-roads within 50 miles or so, there are tons. Actually the other day I left Roanoke at 1:30 PM and got back 5:30 PM and that included stopping in Newcastle for their street fair so it didn't really take that long where I went but you gain a lot of elevation in a short distance so kind of cool and you get away from everything for a bit.
Hope that helps a little. Basically just find the 2 Nat'l Forests I mentioned then pick and choose. Maybe pick a few possibles because sometimes you can have a plan and get to the road and it's locked. Which is good to know because if you came at it from another end thinking you were going back to the highway, you'd have to completely re-track.

 

[JoshT]

So anyway it's in the Newcastle District of the Jefferson National Forest. I have a bunch of maps (and the phone) and I found the best map was the Forest Service District map so if you can get one of those you'll see it. It's roughly a bit northeast of Newcastle itself.

So... Virginia? Looks Due north of Roanoke looking at Google maps. Never been in that area that I can remember. No surprise there, I haven't been in a lot of areas.

Do want to get up that way someday and visit with an old friend. IIRC he and his wife are in/near Roanoke. Don't recall what they do for a living, probably something music related since they also perform Irish folk music.

 

[James Morse]

Right, I live in Roanoke. Large town or small city - about 100k people. It's at the south end of the Shenandoah Valley. What happens is the Appalachians are on the west side of the valley and the Blue Ridge mountains are on the other side. I-81 goes up the valley. There's so much just in the national forests it would take a long time to do all the roads just within an hour of here.
I lived in Sandy Springs for a while right on the Chatahoochee River it was pretty nice there was a dock right there in the backyard for your boat.

 

[Fast Eddie]

So... Virginia? Looks Due north of Roanoke looking at Google maps. Never been in that area that I can remember. No surprise there, I haven't been in a lot of areas.

Do want to get up that way someday and visit with an old friend. IIRC he and his wife are in/near Roanoke. Don't recall what they do for a living, probably something music related since they also perform Irish folk music.

If you have time to burn and feel like making the trek, check out NC 105 in North Carolina (Linville, NC). It's a good road to 'play' on. There are camping flats up and down each side if that's your thing. I did in my 2wd Ranger. Let me know if you want more info.

Try to carve out enough time to see Linville Falls and Wiseman's View, at a minimum. If intrigue is your thing, search for The Brown Mountain Lights, supposedly visible from Wiseman's View. I lived in Marion for 2 years and drank beer up there often. I never saw them but interesting 'claim' just the same. There's also an interesting story about how Linville Falls got it's name. Seek it out if you're interested.

Old NC 105, North Carolina : Off-Road Map, Guide, and Tips | onX Offroad (onxmaps.com)

Another good one to check out (I heard): Maple Grove Church Rd - Google Maps

@ericbphoto did a video on it but don't remember how I came across it.