Day Hike 13: Basin Cove Overlook to Doughton Park Tent Campground
Delightful Doughton
Distance: 5.9 miles
- Difficulty: Moderate. Some climbing early, relatively flat past Bluff Mountain.
- Camping: The northern trailhead is the seasonal Doughton Park campground.
- Land manager: National Park Service.
- Volunteer Task Force Leader: Steven Joines, sjj1@skybest.com.
- Piggyback trail: Bluff Mountain Trail.
- Connecting trails: Flat Rock Ridge, Bluff Ridge Primitive, Fodder Stack.
Passing through a high meadow near Bluff Mountain.
Inch for gorgeous inch, this is the most consistently scenic stretch of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail along the northern BRP.
You like high mountain meadows? After scrambling atop the Alligator Back outcrop, that’s pretty much what you’ve got: grassy meadows that gently roll downhill from Bluff Mountain.
You like views? The view down into Grassy Gap from Alligator Back is good for starters. The panoramas from the high meadows are stellar on a clear day, and then there’s the view from Wildcat Rock down — nearly straight down — into what once was the Basin Cove community. A thriving community once existed along the creek at the bottom of this very narrow, very steep canyon 1,500 feet below. A horrific rain in 1916 obliterated nearly the entire community. The only remaining signs of the natural disaster: a still visible scar down the hillside and a cabin at the base that survived.
You like human history? That surviving tiny cabin down below? It belonged to Martin and Jane Caudill, who raised 14 kids in the one-room structure.
For detailed hiking directions and parking information, download the Segment 5 guide from our Trail Guides page, using the “Primary Trailheads” section to pinpoint the location. You can also visualize the route on our interactive map; click “Day Hikes” to view the endpoints.
