Hungry Mother State Park: Lake/Molly's Knob Loop (Blog Hike #131)

Trails: Lake, Molly’s Knob, and CCC Trails

Hike Location: Hungry Mother State Park

Geographic Location: north of Marion, VA (36.87312, -81.51301)

Length: 6.9 miles

Difficulty: 8/10 (Moderate/Difficult)

Dates Hiked: April 2003, May 2014

Overview: An easy hike along Hungry Mother Lake followed by a difficult climb to Molly’s Knob.

Park Information: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/hungry-mother.shtml#general_information
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=940891
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: In southwest Virginia, take I-81 to SR 16 (exit 45).  Exit and go north on SR 16.  Take SR 16 through Marion.  2 miles past US 11, turn right on CR 617.  Take CR 617 1.4 miles to the state park entrance on the left.  Enter the park and follow the park road to a gravel trailhead parking area on the left just before the road ends at the boat launch ramp.

The hike: The story behind the state park system’s most unusual name dates to days shortly after southwest Virginia was settled.  According to legend, Molly Marley and her child escaped when some Indians raided their settlement in the New River valley south of the park.  Alone in the wilderness, the two survived eating berries until Molly could go no further and collapsed.  The child continued down the creek valley, and when reaching the closest settlement, uttered the words “hungry mother.”  Search parties arrived too late to save Molly, but the creek became known as Hungry Mother Creek and the knob that towers over the creek became known as Molly’s Knob.

Less desperate visitors arrived in the 1930’s to develop the park.  Hungry Mother Creek was dammed to form Hungry Mother Lake, and the park became one of the original six parks in the Virginia state park system.  A cabin area and campground provide lodging opportunities, while a boat dock, a sandy beach, and a 9-mile trail system provide recreation opportunities to modern visitors.  The park is only a few miles from I-81, so visitors are surprisingly many for southwest Virginia.

The hike described here gives visitors excellent views of Hungry Mother Lake and a trip to the top of Molly’s Knob, two of the main features in the park.  This hike is contained within the Molly’s Knob trail system, the largest in the park.  With a little more time, hikers might also find the 1.8 mile Raider’s Run-Old Shawnee loop of interest.  This hike takes you along a stream and departs from the picnic area.

The Lake-Molly’s knob route described here is a loop hike that has two possible starting points: the boat ramp and the campground.  I have selected the boat ramp as the starting and ending point due to the superior parking lot.  The down side to this selection is that the easiest part of the hike, the part along the lake, is taken first, leaving the difficult climb to Molly’s Knob until the end.  An alternate starting point is from the main campground, which can be reached by continuing 2 miles north on SR 16, turning right into the campground and picnic area entrance, and following signs to the trailhead.  This starting point puts the climb to Molly’s Knob at the beginning, but there is only room at the trailhead for 4 or 5 cars.

Lake Trail trailhead

            From the trailhead parking area, cross the road and pick up the blue-blazed Lake Trail as it heads counterclockwise around the lake.  Very quickly you reach the intersection with the orange-blazed CCC Trail.  To hike the loop clockwise as described here, stay on the Lake Trail by turning left now and use the CCC trail, which continues straight, as your return route.

Hungry Mother Lake, lakeside

            The lake comes into view on the left and in 0.2 miles the trail makes a short, moderate climb to an elevation some 50 feet above the lake.  All of the trails at Hungry Mother are marked every 0.1 mile with colored markers.  If the top of the marker is flat as they are here, the numbers decrease as you walk; if they are pointy, the numbers will increase.

The trail reaches the end of this ridge and curves to the right.  Ignore the yellow-blazed Middle Ridge Trail that exits to the right and continue on the Lake Trail, which heads up the first of several rhododendron-filled ravines.  The trail will go up the right side of each of these ravines, cross the creek, then down the left side, all the time maintaining a near-constant elevation.

Hiking the Lake Trail

            2 miles from the start, the narrow, gold-blazed Ridge Trail leaves at an odd angle to the right.  This trail will also lead to Molly’s Knob and could be used to shorten the hike by about 1.5 miles.  For the full tour, continue on the Lake Trail, which soon descends to arrive at a small rock outcrop only 10 feet above the lake.  This is a nice spot to take photos with the visitor center and sandy beach visible on the opposite shore and the Brushy Mountain Range visible all around.

Hungry Mother Lake, from above

            From the rocky outcrop, the trail ascends gently to arrive, 2.7 miles from the start, at the picnic area and the alternate starting point mentioned above.  Walk uphill along the gravel cabin road for 0.1 miles to the beginning of the white-blazed Molly’s Knob Trail, which begins heading uphill to the right.  The trail heads east and uses a single switchback to gain an elevation 100 feet above the picnic area, 150 feet above the lake.  The trail appears to have been rerouted recently, as a steep, unmarked abandoned trail exits downhill to the left.

The trail climbs gently along the ravine, then uses several steeper switchbacks to gain a ridge that extends northeast from Molly’s Knob.  1 mile into the Molly’s Knob Trail (3.7 miles from the start), the upper end of the short-cut Ridge Trail enters from the right.  The Molly’s Knob Trail continues a steep climb to another trail junction 0.4 miles later.  The CCC Trail, the final leg of our hike, descends to the right, while the Molly’s Knob Trail continues another 0.2 miles straight ahead to the summit of Molly’s Knob.

Continue on the Molly’s Knob Trail, and two switchbacks later, arrive at the summit of Molly’s Knob.  On a clear day, one can see Hungry Mother Lake 750 feet below, the Brushy Mountain Range extending to the southwest, and Mount Rogers, the highest point in Virginia, to the south.  You will probably meet some photographers at the summit, especially if you are visiting on the weekend.  Take some time to soak up the views, the reward for your steep climb.

View west from Molly's Knob

View south from Molly's Knob

            There is only one trail to the summit, so you will have to backtrack 0.2 miles to the intersection described above, then turn left on the CCC trail.  The CCC Trail loses 600 feet of elevation in its first 0.7 miles, so the descent is quite steep, but that is a nice change from the long uphill climb you have just completed.  Ignore the Middle Ridge Trail which exits right, and continue descending until, 6.6 miles from the start, you arrive in a narrow rhododendron choked ravine.  Another 0.2 miles will bring you to the end of the CCC Trail and beginning of the Lake Trail.  A right turn here will almost immediately return you to the picnic table beside the boat launch, thus completing the hike.