54 Parker-Hickman Eight

    Today we’re going to hike another little section of the Buffalo River Trail, but instead of an ‘in and out’ type hike I have devised sort of a loop.  Actually, two small loops that meet in the middle right at the Parker-Hickman parking area, which together form a lopsided figure eight.  Therefore, almost half of the ‘Parker-Hickman Eight’ isn’t on the BRT.  We’ll begin our hike at the parking area for Parker-Hickman Homestead.

Parker-Hickman Farm

    At the back of the parking lot is the BRT Trailhead, heading south along Webb Branch the trail soon joins a road.  A hundred yards further we cross Webb Branch, still on the road.  The trail then leaves the road and continues up a little side creek.  Where we left the road there was a sign that said, ‘Discovery Site’ and points up the road.

more out-buildings from parking area

    I have read about these ‘discovery sites’ which consist of ruins of old homes or barns that the NPS has determined are in good enough shape that they don’t pose a threat to visitors' safety, so they have been left as discovery sites.  I’m sort of blown away though when we see this sign announcing and pointing the way to a Discovery Site.  Where is the ‘discovery’ in that?  After all, it’s not a discovery if you have signage telling you where it’s at.

near highpoint on trail

   The trail continues uphill along a small creek mostly in an easterly direction and soon we come to the highpoint of this section of the trail.  Here are lots of nice rock formations and occasionally we spot Erbie Campground Road down below.  Now the trail is going downhill and soon swings to the west and continues downhill to the road.  We cross Erbie Campground Rd. and then leave the BRT; we turn left on the Erbie Campground Spur Trail.

goat shed near Webb Branch

   This short trail has a ‘tropical rainforest’ feel to it, very lush and short, soon we’re at Erbie Campground.  Walking down the road in the campground, from the east end to the west, passing first the canoe launch area then restrooms, campsites and turn-offs to more campsite loops.  At the west end we enter the Parker-Hickman Spur Trail which is like a ‘walk in the park’ you could push your baby-buggy down this trail.

trailhead at back of parking area

    On the south side of a long narrow hay field, this manicured ‘trail’ is a nice surprise and passes quickly.  Near the end of the field the trail turns left to the south and soon the grass is gone and we’re back on a normal trail.  Then on our right in the jungle we see what looks to me to be an old hog-pen or was it for goats.  Just beyond the pen is Erbie Campground Rd. and the crossing at Webb Branch, which brings us back to the Parker-Hickman parking lot and the halfway point of today’s hike.

at Swinging Bridge Vista

   Back at the car we have lunch and some water before walking through the gate and into the front yard of the Parker-Hickman Homesite.  We have seen all these old buildings quite a few times in the past, so today we head straight back along the little grassy ditch (creek) to the chicken coop.  Behind that is the BRT Trailhead, and just like that we’re back in the woods.  The trail heads uphill for a bit before leveling out between a couple old fields that are getting overgrown with saplings.

cool-off in the Buffalo

    Towards the north end of this field the trail swings to the west just before we reach an intersection with a short trail down to Erbie Campground Road at the Buffalo River crossing.  We stay on the BRT and in 200 yards come to a vista directly above the Buffalo River.  With a nice view up into the mouth of Cove Creek this is a great spot.  Come to find out, this is Swinging Bridge Overlook named for the bridge that was once here long ago.  After the vista we come into a small ravine which is a little steep with a lot of big boulders, and then a little cave and tunnel.

little cave and tunnel

    Now the trail is close to the bank of the Buffalo and after entering a tiny drainage begins to get overgrown and harder to follow.  The jungle is thick for about a third of a mile, we cross paths with a snake in here.  Then after we climb a little rise, the trail clears out and we come to a trailside campsite.  A hundred yards past the campsite the trail joins an old road at an intersection.  We turn right, for a little side trip down to the river on the ORT.  

cave tunnel area

    This trail heads downhill into the bottomlands, swings left then we’re at the Buffalo.  It’s a warm day so I decide to test the water, after changing from boots to water sandals I wade out to the deepest spot I can find, which is about waist deep.  The water feels great, and I splash around for a while with Kat on shore snapping pictures.  A very scenic spot, I can understand her desire to take photos of the river.  After drying off we head back up to the BRT and a locked gate.

at Cherry Grove Cemetery

   Past the gate on the left side of the road is Cherry Grove Cemetery.  This cemetery is good sized with probably over a hundred graves, most are old gravesites, we found one birthdate from 1797.  A few are Civil War veterans, and many are of the names we recognize as the pioneer families of the area; Cecil, Villines, Reavis, Shaddox among others.

resting place for many area pioneers

    There are a few recent graves as well, so evidently this cemetery is still in use.  Hmm…that conjures up an image of a hearse coming up this road when the coffin bounces out the back onto the road.  I think I saw that in a movie once.  Leaving Cherry Grove Cemetery, we head uphill on the road/BRT through an old gate and then another intersection.

Black Cohosh

   Here at the intersection the BRT leaves the road on its way to Kyle’s Landing, we however stay on the road which stays mostly level around a small feeder stream.  Then we head downhill past an old homesite with little more than foundation stones as evidence.  The road becomes steeper, and we soon arrive in the backyard of the Parker-Hickman Homesite.

at mouth of Cove Creek

    And that’s it, the Parker-Hickman Eight was a great hike, with lots of diversity as far as scenery goes along this route.  On our hike we used parts of the BRT, two Spur Trails, a little piece of the ORT and an old road with no trail affiliation.  Easy too, the entire hike including the side-trip down to the river was just over 5 miles with a total elevation gain under 400 feet.

on the banks of the Buffalo

Parker-Hickman 8: Statistics Chart 54     The parking area is easy enough to get to: from Highway 7 just turn onto Erbie Campground Road (NC 2500) which is about 2.4 miles south of the Hwy.7 Buffalo River bridge, or 1.6 miles north of the hairpin curve at Little Switzerland Cabins, then go west approximately 6 miles, just past the ford across Webb Branch the Parker-Hickman Parking area is to the left.

base map before fair use alterations is property of ArcGIS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License