Elk Knob State Park

My husband and I were camping in the area, saw a sign to this state park and decided to stop by. Now it is no Umstead but it sure is pretty! There really isn’t a lot going on here on as there is only a picnic area, trails to backcountry camping, and one hiking trial to the summit. However, I would stay tuned to this new State Park, as it sure contains some beautiful landscape and views.
The trail to the Summit is 1.9 miles (one-​way) and it a very nice hike. It is well maintained and we could tell that they just took care of weed waking recently near the top. I really appreciated this! They had one or two overlooks on the way to the top to enjoy the view and to rest but the trail was cut with switchbacks that helped keep the effort lower. The view at the top was really quite amazing! Worth taking the time too do! Who knew the top was the second highest peak in the area. And loads of wild blueberries at the top.
They had several flyers at the bottom with information for kids that appears very cute and interesting. And they are currently using volunteers to help develop the trails. At this point, I would certainly not make this a destination but if you are in the area it is totally worth checking out!!! My husband and I loved this little state park and our hike to the top of Elk Knob and can’t wait to see additional trails built.

This is one of the newer additions to the NC State parks system. There’s not much there right now but I can see this being another beautiful park.
The park is just a few miles north of Boone but I was actually coming from Tennessee today and getting here was a challenge from that direction since I followed my GPS. But OMG, once I got to the entrance of the park, I was in awe. What is so spectacular is the park entrance sits on top of the mountain so you have gorgeous views on either side.
The park access road is all gravel right now. The park office is off to the left inside the park and there is a picnic area if you take the next left. Straight ahead is the parking lot for the Overlook trail which is about a mile long trail. I didn’t hike it this time around as I was just scoping out the park and I was hurting from an earlier hike but I have it marked to come back to now that I know where it is.
One thing to note: The restrooms are port-​a-​johns so if you have a fear of tight smelly spaces, you might want to use the facilities somewhere in Boone.
I’m definitely going to have to see what they do with this park.