Memorial Day weekend and our Pogue Creek Overlook and Upper Canyon trail made for a memorable hike. The weather was perfect – started out in the mid 60's and ended in the low 70's. We had mostly clear skies and gentle breezes on the trail. This trail is well maintained and the scenery along the trail made for a remarkably beautiful landscape. Fantastic views from the overlooks, interesting rocky bluffs that nature, over the eons, had sculpted using its powers of erosion, and plenty of blossoming flora offered good photo ops. Two hikers left Soddy Daisy at 8:30 on our 2 hour and 15 minute drive. We met up with a fellow hiker from our Eastern Tennessee Chapter. Interesting note – when we arrived at the trailhead, there was a new addition to the trailhead – a two station solar powered electric vehicle charging station has been installed. I'm not sure if it is active yet, but it appears the park system is planning to be ready to provide service for our EV hikers. \ We departed on the trail at 11:00 am and proceeded to Mesa Top Overlook 3 miles into the hike. Along the way we traveled on the western side of the Loop Trail and did the eastern side on the return. We passed through several rock houses and Killdeer Arch. We had snacks on the overlook – I must say the view of the valley below was spectacular. The mountain laurel and magnolia trees were in bloom. We came across a few blueberry bushes that yielded a few berries. We finished the hike around 5pm. It was a 6+ mile hike with a 1400' elevation gain. It is rated as moderate to strenuous. I think this rating is fair because of the elevation gain and distance. However, because the trail is very well maintained I might drop the strenuous rating and just rate it moderate.
If you would like to see some very nice photos including a map, taken during this hike, click here.