Took my brother for a ride. He's visiting from PA and we haven't seen each other in almost 2 years due to Covid. So there is a road I wanted to check out - Toe River Trail. It starts on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Mt Mitchell and travels down the side of a mountain. Descriptions talk about water crossings and obstacles up to 18" high. Sounds like a nice drive.
Well, the gate was closed. So the info I read about its open season is wrong. We had driven 2 hours to get there. So we investigated a few other gravel roads. Beautiful scenery. But no challenge requiring 4x4. Neal's Creek Rd is a nice drive. It lead to Toe River Rd and the bottom end of Toe River Trail - gate closed at that end, too. Nice camp sites along the roads and even a campground. This is all in Pisgah Forest.
Then we turned around and went back up the mountain and descended the east side via Curtis Creek Rd. Another nice dirt rd with campsites, mountain views and a park service campground near the bottom. All in all, a nice day with my brother.