House Mountain

Date:  3/7/15
Distance: 5.8 mi
New Map Miles:0

Today I took a break from the Smokies and went over to House Mountain for a short morning hike.  House Mountain is situated in the very Northeast corner of Knox County.  The park consists of two very short trails at the bottom of the mountain (sawmill loops), two trails that climb the mountain and a trail along the ridge.

I started the morning by hiking the short sawmill trail to the left before heading up the mountain.  I took the left fork at the "Trailhead Junction" and started climbing the West Overlook trail.  The Trail climbs about 1000' up to an elevation just over 2000'.  The trail was fairly rocky and had many switchbacks.  Near the top there is a section that requires some boulder scrambling.  After 0.8 miles, on this trail, I reached the top and had a very nice view of the valley waiting on me.

The trail continues along the ridge after a name change (Crest Trail).  Crest Trail is a 1.5 mile section which is right on the ridge.  Much of it is a road which goes by a Cell Tower and one other communication tower.  There were a few cool rock formations along this trail.

 At about 0.7 miles on this trail, the Mountain trail leaves off to the right.  We'll get to it in a bit.  For now I stayed on the Crest Trail for another 0.8 miles to the East Overlook.  A few tenths from the overlook the trail left the road and was once again a "hiking trail".  On this section private property comes right up to the edge of the trail.  There is a road on this property as well, but numerous No Trespassing signs were also present.  Out at the end of the trail, the views were once again great.

At this point, I backtracked to the Mountain Trail.  The Mountain Trail was very similar to the East Overlook trail.  It was very rocky and had many switchbacks as it dropped the 1000' down to the valley.  Back at the bottom, I quickly did the 0.4 mi Sawmill loop trail which is to the right of the parking area.

Really nice place to take a walk in the woods, and I was home for lunch!