Parking
Use the Tompkins Knob Overlook lot along the Blue Ridge Parkway; the footpath starts near the overlook.
Overview
About Tompkins Knob Trail
Why go
- Preserved Jesse Brown Cabin adds a distinctive history stop
- Short, gentle route works well as a Parkway leg-stretcher
Heads up
- Woodland route offers few broad views
- Winter weather can affect Parkway and path conditions
Tompkins Knob Trail is an easy out-and-back from Tompkins Knob Overlook to the Jesse Brown Cabin. The 1.2-mile round trip follows a natural-surface path through the woods to a clearing and preserved mountain cabin, then returns the same way. I'd allow 30 to 60 minutes, including time to look around the cabin area.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Blue Ridge Parkway map
Full mapElevation3,596–3,734 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 Tompkins Knob Trail, 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
Tompkins Knob and the Preacher's CabinListen
“Coming up is Tompkins Knob Overlook, but the real reason to pull over here isn't for the view.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Blue Ridge Parkway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- E.B. Jeffress Park and The Cascades Trail
- American Chestnut: The Lost Giant and Its Return
- Elk Mountain Overlook and the Yadkin Valley
- Lewis Fork Overlook and Daniel Boone
- 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 Tompkins Knob Trail
Follow the path to the cabinThis is a mostly gentle walk with roots and occasional uneven ground, not a big-view hike.
This is a mostly gentle walk with roots and occasional uneven ground, not a big-view hike. The historic cabin is the payoff: a rare glimpse of a late-19th-century mountain homestead in a small open field. The mapped line stores the one-way corridor once; the listed distance counts the return walk.
Make the short walk workPark at Tompkins Knob Overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Park at Tompkins Knob Overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The footpath begins near the overlook, and the route can also be encountered from the E. B. Jeffress Park side. Pets are allowed on leash under Parkway rules. Winter weather can make both the Parkway approach and the natural-surface path icy or muddy.
Look around the cabinTake a moment in the clearing before turning back, and frame the cabin with a little of the…
Take a moment in the clearing before turning back, and frame the cabin with a little of the surrounding field for scale. This is a quiet history stop and a useful leg-stretcher on a Parkway drive, especially if you want a short walk rather than a longer waterfall outing.
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.
