Dan River Basin Association

For its fourth hike of 2005, the Dan River Basin Association chose to explore a bit of history and nature in the northwestern corner of the Dan River Basin, close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mabry Mill, Morrisette Winery and the source of the Dan River. Following is a description from the original hike announcement:

The group has chosen a five-mile hike along Rock Castle Creek, in the Rocky Knob Recreation Area. Rock Castle Creek, in the border area between Floyd and Patrick Counties, Virginia, is a tributary of one branch of the Smith River, which joins the Dan at Eden, North Carolina.

“The trail is an old roadbed of one of the original roads leading from Woolwine to Meadows of Dan,” said Dr. Will Truslow, Outings Chair of the Dan River Basin Association and leader of Saturday’s hike. Scouting in the area, Truslow gained historical background from Dale Belcher, long-time resident of the Patrick County area. The North Prong of the Smith River rises on nearby Belcher Mountain, in Patrick County, as do the West and South branches of the Dan River.

The hike on April’s first Saturday is part downhill and part flat, dropping 1200 feet in the course of its five miles, through dense rhododendron in a forest that was last logged more than 80 years ago, according to Dale Belcher.

“We’ll pass a waterfall and make several crossings of small streams,” Truslow warned. “Better wear your waterproof boots or bring a change of shoes and socks if you want your feet to be comfortable during the drive home.”

According to Dale Belcher, the road that the trail follows was once a main thoroughfare into the higher reaches of the Blue Ridge. In the 1930’s, Belcher says, there were 25 or 30 families living along the road. “When the land was bought for the building of the Blue Ridge Parkway, most of the families sold out and left,” he added. Some remains of the homes, and particularly the chimneys, can still be seen.

Hikers will pass the former homesteads of the Whorley, Belcher and Cockram families. [Generations of Cockrams built at least three mills on the Dan at Meadows of Dan, and one, at the U. S. 58 crossing of the Dan, has recently become a part of a recreation and residential complex, according to Forrest Altman, author of The Dan River Book.]

Two chimneys along Rock Castle Creek mark the former homestead of Sam Underwood, who had the only house on the road with electricity, supplied by an electric generator housed in a still-standing shed, according to Dale Belcher. Farther down the valley is the still-occupied Mac Conner home, the only remaining private property in the Rock Castle Gorge.

“If you look carefully through the woods,” Belcher says, “you can see the shell of an old bootlegger’s car. “Legend claims he was being chased by the revenuers when he wrecked the car. He jumped out, left the car and never came back.”