Little Bald Knob Ridge Hike
The hike is located in the beautiful Todd Lake area of the GWNF. Excellent car camping is abundant throughout the area with sites scattered along North River, as well as the North River and Todd Lake contemporary camping areas. Little Bald Knob itself doesn't have any views from the summit, but there are many spectacular vistas along the ridge. 1/4 past the summit are the ridgeline meadows and a great place for lunch and turn around spot.
The Little Bald Knob hike heads north on the Wild Oak Trail where it crosses North River. A great way to spend the weekend is to camp along North River and hike south along the Wild Oak Trail to Hardscrabble Knob
one day, then hike up to the Little Bald Knob Ridge from the camping
area the next. There are also several other hikes located in this trail
system within a 10 minute drive, including Trimble Mountain, North River Gorge, and Sand Spring Mountain.
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Mile 0.0 - From FR95 at Camp Todd head north on the white blazed Wild Oak Trail where the trail will cross North River.
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Mile 0.2 - Pass the FR95 connector trail. Continue more steeply uphill on the Wild Oak Trail. From this point the Wild Oak Trail climbs through Horse Trough Hollow as it winds steeply uphill.
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Mile 2.3 - Make a sharp right turn, then arrive at a flat section of the ridge in another 0.25 miles.
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Mile 2.55 - From the flat on the ridge the Wild Oak Trail will descend through a saddle and pass the best vista of the hike. Look for a short side trail on the right.
If you don't want to go the the ridge meadows this is a good turn around point, making for a total hike length of 5.4 miles
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Mile 2.7 - From the vista the trail climbs through a section of Mountain Laurel and passes over the summit of Little Bald Knob. There is no overlook or 'Bald' here, and the trail will begin to descend, and shortly arrive at the intersection of the Bald Mountain Road where the Wild Oak Trail makes a sharp right downhill.
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Mile 3.25 - From the intersection continue straight on the wider Bald Mountain Road for 0.25 miles and arrive at the high mountain meadows.
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Mile 3.5 - From the high mountain meadows retrace your route back to North River and Camp Todd.
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Mile 6.4 Arrive back at the parking area at Camp Todd.
