House Mountain / Roan Mountain State Park
Hiking House Mountain | Hiking Roan High Knob and High Cliffs Mountain | Roan Mountain State Park & Carters Gap | July 2026
This morning began with breakfast at our camp spot along the Cumberland River, and then getting back on the road heading South. We crossed into Tennessee on I-75, driving a stretch of the interstate that we haven’t driven since we moved to South Carolina in 2015. Before reaching Knoxville, we exited and started heading East in pursuit of two harder to reach counties and our first peak of the trip. We drove on county roads, navigating to House Mountain State Natural Area, Northeast of Knoxville. We parked in the small trailhead lot, then prepared for our hike.
The trail to the House Mountain ridge can be done as a loop, however today we decided to go up and down the slightly longer, supposedly less steep direction, that would take us closer to the viewpoints on the Northeast side of the ridge. We started on the trail, and when we came to the fork in the path, we went right. The trail started out wide and with gradual incline, getting steeper and more narrow as we climbed higher.
Along the way, we came across people working to rebuild sections of the trail. We don’t know if it was due to Hurricane Helene or another storm, or just erosion due to overuse, but after we passed them we saw examples of why their work is necessary, as parts of the trail were very eroded and required some careful maneuvering to get around steep, narrow sections. After getting passed those tricky sections, the trail became wider and less steep, with gentle switchbacks leading toward the ridge.
When we made it to the ridge, we turned right to go to where we knew there would be overlooks. We found two different spots with rocky outcroppings and good breaks in the trees where we could take in the view to the North. When we came to the first one, we found a large buzzard there also enjoying the view, and we gave it space until it took flight, floating across the landscape, enjoying the gentle breeze and the views even better from way up high. We wandered some more on the trail, looking for another overlook, but it was either much further down an overgrown path or didn’t exist, so we eventually gave up and turned back. Curtis still wanted to reach the highest point on the ridge that was prominent enough to count for his hiking challenge, and since he knew there likely wasn’t a view there, he hurried ahead to grab it while I leisurely walked back to the trail junction, and sat on a bench waiting for his return. When he made it back, we started on our descent off the ridge together, taking our time on the trickier parts of the trail, and thanking the workers for what they were doing on our way down (thankfully they’re being compensated for their work!). Overall, this hike was 4 1/2 miles long and almost 1100 feet of elevation gain. You can see our AllTrails recording for this hike here.
When we made it back to the van, we had lunch in the pavilion before getting back on the road and continuing our drive. Our next goal was to enter into two counties that are hard to reach, especially when we’re usually traveling Northeast to Southeast or vice versa, between the Midwest and Carolina coast. The drive was pretty easy and very scenic as we were now nearing the Appalachian mountains.
Our goal for today was to reach Roan Mountain State Park, and hike and camp around Carters Gap on the Appalachian Trail. When we arrived at the state park, we got our stamps, some postcards, and maps before driving up the ridge. Our van took us up the steep highway, taking care of the majority of elevation that we’d have to gain to reach the peaks on the top of the ridge. When we arrived, we found a parking spot among the many others here hiking or backpacking sections of the trail. We readied ourselves for another hike, this time in much cooler temperature above 5000 feet, to peaks above 6000 feet.
Curtis had 3 peaks that he hoped to reach while we were here: Roan Mountain and High Cliffs Mountain in one direction, and Grassy Knob in the other direction, all 3 over 6000 feet, though only Roan Mountain would count towards his hiking challenge. I wanted to do as much as I could with him, but also didn’t want to slow him down and was mostly interested in enjoying nature and views, not necessarily checking peaks off a list. Going West on the Appalachian Trail meant a 7.5 mile hike with two peaks (including Roan Mountain) and going East was a 5 mile hike round trip to reach Grassy Knob. Curtis was pretty sure that Roan Mountain, which was only 2 miles in to the hike, would have a view, so I agreed to at least go that far with him, then potentially wait for him to go out to bag the other peak on his own. Then we’d save Grassy Knob for the next morning.
And so we set off on the Appalachian Trail, heading West. By going up so high in elevation, we had been transported to a lush, mossy rainforest, which gave me a renewed sense of energy. We crossed over streams and made our way up switchbacks, gaining 800 feet of elevation to reach our first peak, Roan Mountain. For as many cars as we had seen around the trailhead, we didn’t see anyone for most of this hike.
It turned out that Curtis was wrong about there being a view on Roan Mountain. Despite being one of the highest peaks in the East, it was tree covered and didn’t even offer a peek of the surrounding landscape. There was a small shelter (the highest on the entire AT) here for thru hikers that was currently closed, though it appeared that people still camp around this area. After some brief contemplation, I decided to continue on with Curtis to the next peak. We had already gotten most of the elevation gain out of the way, what’s another mile and a half of easier walking to another peak to find views?
We descended about 300 feet after leaving Roan Mountain, and continued West to the recreation area at Toll Gap. There were good views here at the parking lot, but we continued on another mile to reach the summit of High Cliffs Mountain. The trail was pretty flat and easy as it went along the ridge, though we came across some more trail reconstruction, this time definitely because of Hurricane Helene. When we reached the peak, we found a great overlook with views opening up to the North over a sea of trees and endless ridges. It was definitely worth the hike (even though we knew we could have driven up here and saved ourselves 6 miles or so…) and we enjoyed this spot all to ourselves. It was only our hunger that pulled us away and had us start heading back toward the van…well, that and the fact that we didn’t prepare for a walk back in the dark.
Instead of returning the exact way we came, we followed the road back down all the way to Carter’s Gap. We ate our dinner here, and settled in for the night. It was good to be back in the mountains, even for a short time, because at least this time (compared to last February) we were able to hike a few more peaks and enjoy more new scenery!
