Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 8, 1994 TAG: 9405170007
SECTION: DISCOVER NRV PAGE: 58 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Alas, if only they had spelled it correctly: It's that tricky E-Y ending.
Located along the Appalachian Trail as it parallels the boundary between Giles and Craig counties atop Johns Creek Mountain, Kelly Knob is a quiet, beautiful spot with a view over Sinking Creek and Brush mountains to Virginia Tech.
It's one of those commanding, blue-green humps a person sees looming behind Brush Mountain during a sunny drive from Christiansburg to Blacksburg.
And for you nit-pickers, it's not really named after me. But it is one of my favorite hikes in the New River Valley, at least for the brief amount of time I've lived here.
Getting there requires a drive through Newport and Clover Hollow, one of Giles County's most beautiful and bucolic spots.
And the Kelly Knob hike is flexible: It's suitable for a quick trip to watch the sunset or a weekend backpacking excursion.
The first time I hiked to Kelly Knob, I came the long way - from Georgia, the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.
I walked by in the middle of June three years ago, during a six-month "thru-hike" to Maine. I actually skipped the knob in my haste to make a rendezvous with my brother in Sinking Creek Valley. A shower, laundry, pizza and beer won out over the prospect of a grand overlook.
I missed a great view. And, my hiking buddies told me later, a topless female sunbather. Of course, they could have been making that part up.
Since then, I've returned to Kelly Knob a handful of times, once in mid-February after the valley's first ice storm, when I caught the sunset and walked back to my car by moonlight reflected from the snow. More recently, I trekked there on a sunny, windy Saturday afternoon. Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club volunteers keep the trail well maintained.
The highlight of the hike is a jumbled collection of huge boulders offering views of Salt Pond Mountain to the west and the Blacksburg-Christiansburg areas to the south. There are a few campsites right behind the rocks, and the Laurel Creek Shelter is less than a mile north (downhill!) on the AT. Though there's water at the hiking shelter, there's no readily available source at the knob, so be sure to bring your own.
The hike starts from Rocky Gap, where Virginia 601 crosses Johns Creek Mountain. You'll know you're there when you see a green highway department road sign - complete with authentic holes from a shotgun blast - marking the Giles-Craig border. Unfortunately, you'll also see the usual thoughtless litter from yee-hawing visitors, ranging from beer cans to condom wrappers.
The two-mile hike starts with a steep walk up an old road from the gap, past a turn-off for the Johns Creek Mountain Trail (which runs 3 1/2 miles to a small parking area on Virginia 658) and the site of a former fire tower. Once you've reached the ridge top, it's a cakewalk to the rocks, which are off to the right on a blue-blazed side trail.
Unlike other big-name Giles County hikes such as the Cascades or the War Spur Trail near Mountain Lake, Kelly Knob has no fancy parking area. It's reached by a steep, narrow, dirt road.
To get there, take U.S. 460 to Virginia 42, travel one mile to a left turn onto Virginia 601, then drive seven miles through Clover Hollow to Rocky Gap.
by CNB