Parking
Park at Flat Top Manor or the Carriage Barn at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, near Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 294. Follow the signed carriage-road access from the manor area.
Overview
About Deer Park Trail (Cone)
Why go
- Historic carriage roads through meadows and hardwood forest
- Gentle grades suit an unhurried outing
Heads up
- Horse traffic can make the gravel uneven after rain
- Interconnected junctions reward carrying the trail map
This is a good pick for a relaxed outing rather than a summit push. Wide gravel roads move between hardwood forest, open estate meadows, and the historic Cone landscape. Look for formal rhododendron plantings in bloom and remnants of the estate's apple-growing story.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy walk itMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Blue Ridge Parkway map
Full mapElevation3,560–4,009 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Blue Ridge Parkway alerts
- ClosureNorth Carolina Helene-related closuresAvoid the closed Parkway section from MP 344.2–355.3; recreation of any kind is prohibited there.Official details
- ClosureVirginia Parkway closures and detourFollow the signed detour around the closed James River Bridge and avoid the closed Roanoke Mountain Loop. - James River Bridge (MP 63.5–63.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Guide
Your drive to Deer Park Trail (Cone), narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Blue Ridge Parkway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Blue Ridge Parkway audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Moses H. Cone Memorial Park and Flat Top ManorListen
“You're approaching Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, one of the grandest estates along the Parkway.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Cone’s Enduring Carriage Roads
- Trout Lake: A Quieter Lakeside Loop
- Sims Creek Overlook: A Classic Creekside Loop
- Sims Pond Trail: A Compact Loop with Lots of Variety
- 277 audio storiesacross Blue Ridge Parkway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 112 trails, 232 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“…We knew we wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. The narration was impeccably timed. The facts and info provided were meaningful. Without it, the trip would not have been near as awesome.”
Trail guide
Hiking Deer Park Trail (Cone)
The routeThis is a roughly 4.
This is a roughly 4.4-mile loop from Flat Top Manor and the Carriage Barn, following the estate's carriage roads via Deer Park Road and Duncan Road. Allow about two hours at an easy-to-moderate walking pace. The saved line includes the short access from the manor trailhead to the carriage-road junction and back, so the route starts and finishes where you park.
Before you goPark at Flat Top Manor or the Carriage Barn.
Park at Flat Top Manor or the Carriage Barn. The roads are multi-use and horse traffic is part of the experience, so yield wide and stay on designated paths. Expect mud after rain and slick spots in winter. Keep dogs leashed; bicycles are not permitted on these carriage roads.
My takeI'd choose this when you want scenery and estate history without rocky footing.
I'd choose this when you want scenery and estate history without rocky footing. Junctions connect to many other carriage roads, so take a photo of the trail map before leaving the manor. The 5.3-mile Flat Top Tower hike is a different route, so follow the Deer Park and Duncan signs for this loop.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Blue Ridge Parkway
1,208 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
1,020 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
2,257 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
200 sightingsCoyoteMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
1,126 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
255 sightingsRed-tailed HawkMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Blue Ridge Parkway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
