Laurel Fork Falls and Watauga Lake

Monday, May 11, 2026

A feature-packed day takes me past Laurel Fork Falls, Pond Mountain, and Watauga Lake. I stretch my miles as I continue to move towards Trail days.

Laurel Fork Falls

tThe weather in the Appalachian Mountains changes more than a ping-pong table. Last night, among the hikers gathered around the Riff Raff group camp, we were assured that it would not rain much today. This statement was made by a hiker who noticed the smoke from the campfire rising. He added that if the barometric pressure was high, the smoke would not rise much and then it would mean incoming rain. Starting at 6:00 am this morning, the rain somehow started falling anyway. I opted to bring my umbrella, hoping the rain would let up at the beginning of my walk.

I was on the road by 8:00 am and soon joined Laurel Fork. I found this stream on April 24 during my hike north of Carver’s Gap. It flows past Dennis Cove Road, to the town of Hampton, Tennessee, where it empties into the Doe River. North of Dennis Cove Road, Laurel Fork drops approximately 40 feet creating the spectacular Laurel Fork Falls. The rain had temporarily let up, allowing me to get out onto some rocks to get a clear picture of the waterfall.

Dodging the rain at Laurel Fork Falls.

pond mountain

The trail follows Laurel Fork for about another mile, then turns sharply and climbs Pond Mountain. It’s a 2,000 foot, 2.5 mile climb to the top. Not long after making the hairpin turn, the rain began to fall harder than it had all day. I made the entire ascent under the dubious protection of my umbrella. With my umbrella in hand, I can’t use my trekking poles, which really would have been a huge benefit. There was some solace in the flowering mountain laurels along the path. I was grateful not to be in terrain like the Smokies, where the abundant rocks would have allowed water to pool on the trail.

I was trying out my new low cut socks and quickly realized that they didn’t protect the back of my heel from rubbing against the inside of my shoe. This was causing irritation to my skin. I felt a little silly for not thinking about this when deciding what type of sock to buy. The real mystery is why this wasn’t a problem for the first 400 miles of hiking in my Topo trail running shoes and low cut socks. The socks were pretty cheap so I think I’ll go back and buy some that will cover my heel and hopefully prevent irritation.

A look at Watauga Lake from the trail down Pond Mountain.

Watauga Lake

Once over the top of Pond Mountain, I began a long descent to Watauga Lake. There were a few pairs of geese and a baby gosling on the edge of the lake. They all entered the water, the most cautious of the goslings being the last to take the step. Some people were fishing from the shore and a boat was sailing around the lake. Mountains stretched from the lake in all directions, but clouds obscured the view of their peaks above a few hundred feet. The trail winds around the lake for a few kilometers. I was grateful to have a relatively flat trail to cover some easy miles.

A Canada goose and its goslings enjoying their day off at the lake.

Looking across Watauga Lake from the trail.

Looking across Watauga Lake from the trail.

Across Watauga Lake is the Watauga Dam.

Another view of the lake.

Modifying the itinerary

In fact, the miles were so easy that I decided to go another mile and a half to the next trailhead before turning around. While I had an itinerary planned for the next few days, it meant covering more than 20 miles a day and 30 on the Thursday before the Trail Days event in Damascus. This plan seemed too bold. Although Trail Days officially starts on Friday, the parking lot opens at 9:00 am on Thursday morning and I wanted to make sure I got a spot. I thought I would check out the trailhead and see if it would be a good idea to go there tonight. It didn’t have bathrooms like I expected, but it did have cell reception, which would be nice to have tonight.

Finally, I formed a revised plan in my head. If I started from this trailhead, I could cover 25-30 miles tomorrow. I would then move on to the next trailhead and go again for 25 to 30 miles. I was hoping that Thursday’s 20 mile limit would give me some flexibility when I got to Damascus. The only problem was that this would mean switching to day hikes instead of backpacking. I decided it was a good compromise – there are plenty of backpacking miles ahead!

The magic of Riff Raff continues

When I returned to the south side of Watauga Lake, there was a familiar canopy up next to the trail. The Riff Raff group had created more magical trails. I decided to enjoy a cold drink and a bag of chips now that I was halfway through what was going to be a 26 mile day. Jimbo Poppins told me about the group’s history and convinced me that I should check out their main setting on Dividing Ridge.

At this camp, they provided hot food to dozens of hikers. The group offers free packing services to Damascus. Hikers can pitch their tent at Dividing Ridge. They then offer a shuttle service to and from the trail. The idea is to help hikers make it easier to get to Trail Days. They provide all of this simply to give back to the hiking community that supported them on their hikes.

Wrong way

As I walked back up the north side of Pond Mountain, I passed an overlook of Watauga Lake. Then I went back to the top of the mountain and went down what I thought was more or less the south side. As I continued along the trail, I came to an overlook that looked identical to the one I had passed on the north side. My heart sank. I definitely didn’t remember any viewpoints on the way up the mountain. Logically, it wouldn’t make sense to be able to see the lake from what I assumed was the other side of the mountain. The lake was to the north and the trail headed south. I feared that I had somehow turned around and walked perhaps up to half an hour in the wrong direction.

I couldn’t think of any way I could have accidentally turned around on the way. I took out my phone to check my location. To my relief, I saw that the southbound trail down from Pond Mountain partially uses the north slope. That explained why he could still see the lake. This morning, during the rainy climb, I would not have been able to see the lake through the clouds. This was the closest I’ve come to getting lost on the Appalachian Trail so far.

A view of Watauga Dam from Pond Mountain.

Spring flowers bloom along the trail.

The trail crosses Laurel Fork.

A bit of a scramble over a rocky ledge to get over Laurel Fork.

A bit of a scramble over a rocky ledge to get over Laurel Fork.

The trail passes through a rock canyon on the way to Laurel Fork Falls.

dividing ridge

At Dividing Ridge, Chatty Cat performed on stage with original songs such as AI Girlfriend, Don’t Eat Out of the Trash and Consent. He’s a Riff Raff veteran. When he is not performing on stage, he teaches music classes.

Once I had my fill of live music, hot dogs, and conversation, I drove back to the trail to begin my hike the next morning.

Chatty Cat performs her unique and original songs at Dividing Ridge.

-See you tomorrow

Total: 26.2 miles, 57,067 steps

• Hike type: Day hike
• Campground: Minivan, Dennis Cove Road trailhead

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