Mount Verstovia Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Views

Signs currently indicate that hikers should only park in the spots closest to the trailhead sign, not in the overgrown private lot to the east of the building.

The Mount Verstovia Trail starts at a small pull-off from Sawmill Creek Road. Look for a few cars parked in a gravel lot and a trail sign. The lower section of the trail has sections of boardwalk that transport hikers across some mucky areas as the trail passes by a hillside neighborhood mostly out of side, then quickly disappears into the secluded forest.

The steep terrain offers quite a few difficulties for trail construction and recent signs of new step construction and blowdown clearing show that local crews continue to conduct maintenance to keep the route passable. The trail offers two separate good viewpoints on the way up, usually a necessary excuse to catch your breath. Above the second viewpoint, the trail starts switchbacking up the steep slopes in earnest before gaining a ridge that delivers you to an open meadow below the summit.

Most folks end the hike at the 2,500-foot knoll known locally as Picnic Rock or simply, Mount Verstovia. Topographic maps label the towering Rocky summit above 3,000 feet as Mount Verstovia, but it is more commonly known locally as Arrowhead Peak. The trail does continue on to Arrowhead, but the scramble up the backside of the craggy peak should only be attempted in good weather by surefooted and navigationally confident hikers.