March 2nd, 2008 - It's early in the year, but I would guess that this hike will go down as one of my favorites for all of 2008.  We had a warm, sunny day for early March, and the whole family came along to share this trip with me... not to mention, this was one of the most scenic and beautiful trails that I've ever hiked.                  

Sign at  Little Stoney Creek Trailhead

The Little Stoney Creek Trail is just outside of Dungannon, Virginia off of Highway VA72 at the Hanging Rock Recreation Area (Jefferson National Forest).  When we arrived at the park, the main gate was closed so this added another 2 tenths of a mile hike for us to get to the main trailhead. 

The trail followed directly alongside the stream for the entire hike, and the scenery was tremendous.  Cascades and small waterfalls were everywhere, while bridge crossings and rock ledges offered beautiful views.  The trail was also on an old railroad grade for much of the hike, so there wasn't a lot of strenuous climbs.  There were a few minor rock scrambles that Cam really enjoyed, and the trail also had very large bridges that crossed the stream on numerous occasions, so there was no worry of getting wet, however we did have to navigate one small creek crossing about halfway up the hike (at the waterfall seen in the photo below).                 

I would guess that there were ten or more waterfalls in the 4-10 foot range, and even larger falls if you wanted to go off trail to explore the subsidiary streams.  We also had nice views looking up at the "Hanging Rock" cliffs.  Taylor and I both took a bunch of photos.       

After about 2.5 miles of hiking we came across the first of the three main waterfalls... the Lower Stoney Creek Falls.  This is about a 35 foot drop waterfall that's very wide and scenic.  We were also fortunate that there was plenty of water flow on the day of our visit.  There's a viewing deck constructed in this area where we stopped to take some photos.  This was my favorite of all the falls.               

After the Lower Falls we hiked on up the trail where we went on by the Middle Falls.  This one was a tough climb down into the ravine to take good photos, so we bypassed it for another time.  We then continued our hike to the Upper Stoney Creek Falls.  This is ~30' waterfall that has a large plunge pool, and a bridge that actually crosses over the top of the falls.  We took the man-made rock steps down to the base and took more photos before we turned around to hike back out.       

When we arrived at the car we had hiked 5.6 miles.  My GPS showed that we had ascended approximately 800 feet in elevation from the car to the Upper Falls.

On the drive home we stopped at the Scott County Veterans Memorial (on highway VA72), where there's a large tank along with plaques of all the names of Scott County men and women who have died defending our Country.  After that, we finished our great day by stopping off at El Matador for dinner.    

Total Miles Hiked:  5.6  

Directions:  From Johnson City take I-26 toward Kingsport.  Merge onto Highway 23 (crossing into Virginia).  In Gate City, turn right onto Kane Street, and then take another right onto Jones Street.  Follow Jones St. to the stop sign and take a right on highway VA71.  Follow VA71 for approximately 1 mile, and then turn left onto highway VA72.  Follow highway VA72 for approximately 21 miles.  Shortly after going through the town of Dungannon, you'll see the Hanging Rock Recreational Area on your left.  If the gate is open you can drive all the to the back of the park where the trailhead is located.