Pisgah National Forest - Ivestor Gap OHV Trail
- Matt Overton
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Ivestor Gap Trail is a popular hiking trail in the Pisgah National Forest that is accessed via the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is also open seasonally from mid-August to January 2nd to OHV traffic. The access to the trail is via Black Balsam Knob Rd which is one of the most popular hiking destinations on the Blue Ridge Parkway. My 1st piece of advice would be to avoid this area and all of these trails on popular days, weekends, holidays, etc. The best time to go here would be on a random weekday or a weekend where the weather is not perfect. We went in the fall leaf season, and it was VERY crowded. Black Balsam Knob road has very little parking and people park on both sides of the road which make it essentially a one-way road. You have to drive to the very end of Black Balsam Knob to reach the start of Ivestor Gap Trail, so it can be pretty chaotic on a busy day. Also, Ivestor Gap Trail is TIGHT, when you come across hikers they have to move off the trail for you to keep going. If you were to come across another vehicle going the opposite direction, you would find yourself in quite a pickle as the trail is not really wide enough for two-way traffic.
We set out on this adventure mid-day in the middle of October. When we got to Black Balsam it looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. Cars on both side of the road, at times I wondered if my Land Cruiser was going to fit. We eventually made it to the start of Ivestor Gap Trail, which was not gated as it was during the open OHV season. We came across dozens of hikers, which made for a slow go. Overall the trail is fairly easy, with a few tricky spots, but nothing too crazy. It has lots of brush and is very tight, you will get custom pin-striping down the sides of your vehicle. Your first major opening is where Ivestor crosses the Art Loeb trail, which is a nice spot to park and take a break. The 2nd open area is where the trail ends for OHV access and intersects with Shining Rock Wilderness. You can camp here and I guess legally you can camp anywhere along the trail. When we reached the intersection with Shining Rock Wilderness, we parked in the open field and had a picnic. We hung out here for an hour or more and hiked some of the many trails that intersect here. The drive back down was much faster as we came across very few hikers. I also think going later in the day, even on a weekend, might also be a decent strategy. I know some local OHV clubs arrange campout weekends on Ivestor Gap, which would be quite cool. The long-range views along the trail are quite awesome! I would recommend this day trip to anyone, just make sure you time it right!
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