Hike Location: Blue Ridge Parkway, Peaks of Otter
Geographic Location: northwest of Bedford, VA (37.44338, -79.60959)
Length: 3 miles
Difficulty: 10/10 (Difficult)
Date Hiked: May 2018
Overview: A steep, occasionally rocky out-and-back to a
world-famous view.
Trail Information: https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/peaks-otter-trails.htm
Directions to the trailhead: From Bedford, take SR 43
north 14 miles to the Camp Store for the Peaks of Otter Campground. The campground is reached just before SR 43
intersects the Blue Ridge Parkway. Pass
the main campground entrance and turn left to reach the parking area for the
Camp Store and this trailhead.
The hike: At 9am
on a foggy and humid Tuesday morning, I left my lodging in Bedford, elevation
1004 feet. I drove up through a cloud (literally)
to reach the trailhead at Peaks of Otter Campground, elevation 2550 feet, at 9:20am
under partly cloudy skies. At 11am, I
reached the summit of Sharp Top, elevation 3875 feet, with fully clear skies above
me and the clouds clearing beneath me.
On my way back down, I heard rumbles of thunder, and less than an hour
later I ended up driving through a thunderstorm. Such is the fickle weather of the Blue Ridge
Mountains.
My weather-plagued
hike up Sharp Top was actually 15 years in the making. As a seminary student at nearby Liberty
University in Spring 2003, I noted the huge, pointy, pyramid-shaped mountain to
the west and heard about the fantastic hike and views that it offered. I endeavored to hike it during final exam
week, but a hiking injury sustained just days before the planned hike forced me
off the trail for several months and forced me to leave Sharp Top
unconquered. I spent a couple more years
in the region in 2009-2011 and did some more hiking at Peaks of Otter, but I
never found the time and stamina to tackle Sharp Top. Finally, on the last day of my May 2018 Virginia
hiking trip, I gave my old nemesis one more shot, and I conquered it in spite
of the weather.
Personal
achievements aside, Sharp Top has a long and storied history as a scenic
destination. As recently as the
mid-1800’s many Virginians thought that Sharp Top was the highest mountain in
Virginia, and a piece of Sharp Top’s rock was sent to Washington to be part of
the then under construction Washington Monument. Today we know that not only is Sharp Top not
the highest mountain in Virginia, it is not even the highest mountain at Peaks
of Otter: neighboring Flat Top Mountain is more than 50 feet higher. Summer resorts sprang up here in the mid
1800’s, and in 1936 the area came under the management of the National Park
Service with the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
For people
physically unable or unwilling to make the difficult 1325 vertical foot climb,
on selected days a bus shuttle takes visitors up the mountain to within 0.3
miles of the summit. The bus shuttle
also offers one-way trips if you want to ride up and hike back down. The shuttle did not run on the day of my
visit, and after waiting 15 years I wanted the satisfaction of hiking up the
mountain anyway. Thus, this description
starts at the Camp Store and proceeds up the mountain, so you would reverse
this description if you were hiking down.
Be warned that both the hike and the shuttle are quite popular, so try
to plan a weekday visit to maximize your solitude.
 |
| Trailhead beside Camp Store |
The signed
Sharp Top Trail starts at some stone steps to the left of the Camp Store. Almost immediately a signed spur trail exits
left to head for the campground, so you need to turn right to start heading up
the mountain. The first few hundred feet
are fairly easy as the trail follows a wide gravel treadway. The initial grade is gradual, and the hiking through
a nice broadleaf forest with dense understory is pleasant.
At 0.2
miles, you cross the paved shuttle road for the only time. Hiking on the shuttle road is prohibited, so
hikers need to stick to the trail. After
crossing the road, the grade increases as the trail traces around the top end
of a steep and rocky ravine. A cascading
waterfall can be heard to your right, but the steep and dense boulder field
makes footing tricky and hides most of the water.
 |
| Start of the stone stairs |
Just shy of
0.7 miles, you reach the first of many stone stairs. Like most stone stairs you see on trails
these days, these stairs were built by the depression-era Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC), and they are still in pretty good shape considering their
age. Higher up you will see some stone
steps held together by mortar.
A
switchback and a steep set of stone stairs lifts you up a prominent finger
ridge that juts out to the northwest.
Here the hike’s first view appears over your left shoulder, a view that
features forested ridges and valley farmlands to the northwest. This view was shrouded by clouds on my way up
but opened up nicely on my way down.
 |
| View from northwest finger ridge |
The grade
eases as the trail traces along Sharp Top’s west face, and you get some temporary
relief from the stone stairs and rockiness.
Wildlife enjoy this area, and I saw a box turtle and two deer on my hike
among other smaller critters. At 1.1
miles, you reach a high saddle and a signed trail intersection. The option going right leads 0.1 miles to
Buzzard’s Roost, a nice viewpoint on the west side of Sharp Top when there are
no clouds. Wreckage from a 1943 plane
crash also exists in this area. After
checking out Buzzard’s Roost, choose the left option to begin the final push to
Sharp Top’s summit.
The final
0.4 miles are the steepest part of the hike, and many stone stairs will need to
be negotiated. Some old asphalt even
appears on this section of trail. After
passing a couple of rocky outcrops that you might mistake for summits, the
trail to the bus shuttle’s summit stop exits downhill to the left. Finally, you break out of the trees onto the
rocky summit area and reach the stone CCC-built summit house. Although it has no furnishings, the summit
house is surprisingly large and features a chimney.
 |
| Stone summit house |
 |
| View northwest from summit |
 |
| Abbot Lake, as seen from Sharp Top |
 |
| Flat Top, as seen from Sharp Top |
Just past
the summit house sits the final set of stone stairs. Numerous viewing platforms have been built on
the bare rocky summit, which offers 360-degree views. Lynchburg can be seen to the east, while Abbott Lake and Peaks of Otter Lodge can be seen below you to the northeast. Flat Top stands to the right of Abbott
Lake. Clouds blocked views of Bedford to
the south and Roanoke to the west on my visit.
The views are superlative and the breeze is refreshing, but you likely
will not be alone up here especially if the shuttle is running when you
visit. After taking in the view and
having a trail snack, retrace your steps back down the Sharp Top Trail to the
Camp Store to complete your visit to the Peaks of Otter’s pointy top.
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