Doughton Park

12/27/20

Sherri and I

This is our 3rd trip to this park. It may be the greatest little secret. Each time we have barely seen a soul. This trip was no exception. Not one person. There were a couple cars in the lot but that’s it.

We are taking the Cedar Ridge Trail to Brenigar Cabin. This trail goes from Longbottom road and immediately takes a right and heads up to the blue ridge parkway.

This is definitely a winter hike because it’s almost no views but a very nice trail system. It’s about 32 degrees and 9 am. And there is snow on the ground! This trail is basically all uphill so off comes a layer in less than half a mile. The elevation change in 4.4 miles is nearly 2000 ft!

On both the east and west side of this park is A Game Land. The trees are marked with 2 painted red strips. Today we did not hear any gunshots. Last hike I went from bearanoia to fear of gunshots in a second. 😁

This is a great trail to clear your mind. It’s just a continue hike up. With some Appalachia history in it. After about 4 miles there is a short side trail that goes through a cool pine Forrest to Brenigar Cabin.

When you round the corner is the parking lot right on the Parkway. There is snow on the road and to our surprise the parkway is closed! We had the whole place to ourselves.

The cabin is locked but we can see inside. There are history plaques all around. After Mr Brinigar died the BRP bought the land in 1935 and let Mrs Brinigar live there the rest of her life. It said it got to noisy and she moved to her daughters house. I can’t imagine it being noisy in those years! But solitude is definitely a word to describe this area today.

It’s a much taller cabin than Caudel Cabin. It said that Mr. Brinegar was 6ft 3. I would think he was tall for that era or maybe I think that because most cabins I’ve seen were shorter than this one.

There was also a second shed for storing and cooking and a spring for water.

We sat here and had some lunch snd for the first time coffee. I actually brought a thermos of coffee. We walked on the parkway and took some pics.

Then it was time to head back down. It took us 3 hours to get up here and a little over 2 to go down. Another great day in the woods!