Description:

Point Lookout Trail is a highway-turned-greenway, running more than 3.5 miles between Ridgecrest and Old Fort. This portion of Old U.S. Hwy 70 was closed off after Interstate 40 was constructed during the Eisenhower era. The road was left to nature until it was cleaned up and reopened as a paved greenway in 2009, thanks to a joint effort among non-profit organizations, private landowners and government agencies, including the NC Department of Transportation, the U.S. Forest Service and the Town of Old Fort, as well as the McDowell Trails Association, which now maintains the trail. Only bicycle and foot traffic are permitted, along with dogs on leash.

From the start at the western “upper” end, Point Lookout Trail curves on a gradual downhill slope, through private land and Pisgah National Forest, over railroad tunnels and above the tracks. About a mile from upper end is Point Lookout, one of the original overlooks in North Carolina, where once a gas station, restaurant and viewing platform were a destination of their own. Those structures are gone now, and in their place are benches offering seating for quiet reflection and a view reaching more than 30 miles eastward toward mountains in the 2,000-3,000-foot elevation range. Directly below is forested Royal Gorge, the site of American Revolution and Civil War skirmishes. At the eastern “lower” end, the trail is near the Swannanoa Creek and features original exposed stone cuts made to create the road.

Open year-round, Point Lookout Trail is especially beautiful in the Spring, when wildflowers abound and views along the trail are less obstructed by foliage. It is equally nice in the Fall, when maples, sassafras, beech trees and oaks put on quite the color show throughout October.

Parking at the upper end is available on the right shoulder of Yates Avenue/Old U.S. Hwy 70 at the juncture of Mill Creek Road; don’t block the gate or the roads. Parking at the lower end is available on the left side of the road, near the Piney Grove Baptist Church.