WNC Sierra Club is going hiking in Turkey Pen Gap on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Turkey Pen Gap is a lovely valley area accessed off of NC 280 between Asheville and Brevard. The hike will be a gentle one with little elevation gain along the stream in the valley. We will wander for a mile or two and have lunch and then return on the same trail. 

It's an easy-to-moderate hike, and if we do a total of around 4 miles it should take us about 3-4 hours. That will include time to stop somewhere along the stream for lunch! We will begin in West Asheville at 9 a.m. (meeting spot details below), start the hike around 9:45 a.m. and get back to the cars by 2 p.m.

Please plan to bring plenty of layers, rain gear, snacks and lunch, and at least one liter of water. If anyone is experiencing COVID symptoms, is still in quarantine after testing positive for COVID, is feeling sick, and/or has a fever, they should not attend this outing. Families are welcome! Any children should be accompanied and supervised by parents or other adult family members. No dogs on this hike please.

We will have two meeting spots: 

At 9 a.m. folks can meet in west Asheville at 151 Smokey Park Highway in the parking lot directly behind Chick-Fil-A. We will sort out carpooling and then drive about 30 minutes to the Turkey Pen Gap trailhead. 

If anyone wants to meet us at the trailhead at 9:45 you can find the directions with this link - Turkey Pen Gap Trailhead. Be aware that there is no signage where you turn off of NC 280 so it's easy to miss or think you are going the wrong way. From the turn-off NC 20 it's about 1.2 miles on a gravel road to the parking lot where you will see the gated trail going downhill. We should be arriving there from West Asheville at about 9:45. 

Please email or text Ed Maggart - edmaggart@gmail.com - 828-713-0541 to sign up. Be sure to indicate at which meeting spot you will rendezvous with the group.