Kelly Knob Out and Back

Dogs Leashed

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This pleasant out-and-back is a great day trip or overnight. With beautiful views, an A.T. Shelter, and rewarding terrain, this is a popular spot for many visitors.

Kelly Knob is located on a ridge that bridges the valley between John's Creek Mountain and Clover Hollow Mountain and is immediately off of the Appalachian Trail. While Kelly Knob is not the highest point on the ridgelet—(the high point is densely wooded), it is still much higher than its mountain neighbors, thus affording a fantastic vista of the New River Valley.

Sandstone bedrock forms a broken escarpment along the east and south of the ridge, and the area around Kelly Knob is a particularly striking place with fifty-foot cliffs containing deep fissures in the rock. The trails to Kelly Knob are well signed and well traveled. It is a popular day trip for Virginia Tech students and there is a nice campsite right on the cliff edge at Kelly Knob

Add On:
• Heading back towards Blacksburg? Turn right onto Rt. 460 and grab a bite to eat at the Palisades Restaurant overlooking the New River (540.626.2828).
• Heading to Roanoke? Follow Rt. 311S to Catawba Valley and enjoy a home-cooked meal at The Home Place (540.382.7252).

Flora: Mountain Laurels, Flame Azaleas, fungi along river
Fauna: Flies, bees, cicadas, black vulture, deer