Green Knob Trail Map

Length: 2.3-mile loop
Time: 1.5 hours
Difficulty: moderate with a few strenuous areas

You can begin the Green Knob Trail from either the Sims Creek Overlook or the Sims Pond Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. For the record, I started at the pond.

Sims Pond trailhead for the Green Knob Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway

From the parking lot make your way down to the footbridge that crosses Sims Creek as it exits one end of the pond. There are a couple of ways to get there. I hiked to the end of a retaining wall and then doubled back, but there is a path from the center of the parking lot as well.

Start the Green Knob Trail by hiking to the footbridge over Sims Creek at the Sims Pond Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

You will have a wonderful view of the pond as you cross the bridge, much better than from the parking area, so even if you aren’t going to hike the trail, walk down to the bridge to get your photos. Like all lakes and ponds on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Sims Pond is man-made, having been created by damming Sims Creek.

View of Sims Pond from the footbridge at the Sims Pond Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

In just a few minutes after crossing the footbridge is an unmarked intersection. Stay to the left, taking the path that looks like a gully. You will be hiking along the pond through a thicket of rhododendrons, but you won’t be able to see the water through the leaves. I don’t know one variety of rhododendron from the next, but they can be blooming anywhere from May through July. Hiking when the flowers are blooming, though hot, will be a visual treat.

Rhododendron thicket at the start of the Green Knob Trail when departing from the Sims Pond Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Once you pass the pond the trail starts following Sims Creek. If it has been raining, this can be a very muddy trail. You can tell that the problem is persistent because hikers from the past have placed logs, sticks, and rocks over the mud holes so others can get across without getting their shoes dirty. Alleviate the problem by wearing waterproof hiking boots and traipse right on through the muck. Also, the trail is extremely “rooty, ” so be careful not to trip or twist an ankle, another reason to wear boots.

Logs placed over a mud hole on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Green Knob Trail by previous hikers

The trail makes its way up to Green Knob, so the hike is a hilly climb once you get to the creek. The hills are of moderate difficulty to climb, but there are so many level stretches where you can catch your breath that you won’t be bothered by the inclines. Plus there are a number of creek crossings that spice things up enough to take your mind off of any hills. By the way, at the second creek the trail seems to end once you cross. Look to the right to find where it continues.

One of multiple creek crossings on the Green Knob Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway

After about a half hour of hiking, the trail spills out onto a field on a hill, which I am guessing is Green Knob. During my hike the hill had cows grazing on it. The Blue Ridge Parkway Outdoor Guide states that on a clear day there are wonderful views of Price Lake from the top. I don’t know when this trail description was written, but you can’t see anything from the trail. Even if you got off the trail and hiked up the hill towards the peak, all there is at the top is a forest. The only reason I hiked the trail was for the view, so needless to say, I was pretty disappointed (though hiking along Sims Creek was fun).

Open field at Green Knob near Mile Post 295 on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The trail climbs the hill across the open field and veers off towards the left. Soon you will be back in the forest, but this time instead of rhododendrons you will be walking in a standard forest with trees. Up until this point there are no markers or trail blazes on the trees to let you know that you are going in the right direction, but on this half of the trail, stone directional markers start showing up. They pretty much point to the obvious. After the unmarked intersection at the start of the hike, there’s just one trail to follow with no chance of getting lost.

After Green Knob, the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Green Knob Trail reenters the forest and sign posts point the way

Once past Green Knob, the trail heads steeply downhill—VERY STEEPLY—especially for the last half mile. This is a good reason to hike the trail as I did, in the counterclockwise direction, because it would suck to be coming the other way around and having to hike up this hill.

Right near the end of the hike is another open area with brush growing tall along the trail. If the steep, downhill hike doesn’t slow you down, the gully you will find yourself in probably will. The terrain is pitted and uneven, so you have to watch every step to avoid twisting an ankle.

Much of the last half mile of the hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s Green Knob Trail is along a rutted gully

The final stretch of the hike takes you back to level ground and into another rhododendron thicket. The trail comes out on the other side of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Sims Pond parking lot is in view to your left.

Sims Pond parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway

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