Bucks Elbow Mountain Hike

Bucks Elbow Mountain - Crozet, Virginia


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Length	Difficulty	Streams	Views	Solitude	Camping
6.1 mls		N/A			N/A
Hiking Time: Elev. Gain: Links: Resources:	4.0 hours plus a half hour for lunch 2,380 ft Mint Springs Valley Park Printable Topo Hike Map (PDF) Mint Springs Valley Park Map (PDF) The Hook News Article Crozet Weather Forecast Graphic Precip/Temp Forecast Current Weather Radar Loop (Java) Garmin (GDB), GPS eXchange (GPX) (What's this?) 3D View of Route!
From:	e.g. 12000 Government Center Parkway 22035 or Fairfax VA Park at the Mint Springs Valley Park 2nd parking area.

Do you need a trail with a good work out that has a great payoff at the top? Then this hike in Mint Springs Valley Park should fit the bill. There aren't many switchbacks on this out & back hike, as it's a direct assault on the mountain. About 1.4 miles into the climb it's marked only by pink survey ribbons with an occasional yellow or orange blaze, and is primarily bushwhacking with no discernable trail. Due to this, we strongly recommend using a GPS and downloading either the GDB or GPX files. For more leisurely trails, view the entire park trail map.

The payoff at the end of the trail is a great overlook and great place to have lunch. Just prior to getting to the overlook you will pass some scattered wreckage of Piedmont Flight 349 DC3 that went down in 1959. Be respectful of this site as 26 people lost their lives in the crash located about 500 feet below the summit of Bucks Elbow Mountain. Near the entrance to the park is a memorial to this crash commissioned by the sole survivor, Phil Bradley.

We parked at the lot area near the swimming lake. The Fire Trail begins just to the right of the information kiosk, visible in the parking lot photo. Stay on the Fire Trail for 0.8 miles until you reach the intersection of the Big Survey Trail. Take a right and go another 0.3 miles looking for an unmarked trail on the right, located very close to a sharp bend in the trail. Just after turning right onto this trail you will pass under a high voltage powerline. Follow the trail just below the tower, bearing to the left onto a fire road in about 10 yards.

Stay on the fire road looking for an orange-blazed trail where you will turn left uphill in 0.3 miles. The trail becomes steep at this point. Continue on the trail ignoring an intersection on the left in 0.2 miles. After passing the intersection in 0.1 miles the trail will bear right over Mad Run as it passes towards the north. In 0.8 miles and 0.25 miles before the hike high point you will start to notice the debris field of the DC3 with the largest piece being the wing at the top. To continue to the overlook bear to the right just prior to where the wing is, going 0.2 miles and follow near the edge of a steep drop off/cliff. There are actually 2 good overlooks, with the 2nd one being a great place for lunch and the turn-around point. Retrace your steps to return to the parking area.

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Hiker Reviews For The Bucks Elbow Mountain Hike (5 Most Recent)

Review the Bucks Elbow Mountain hike here! Average Review Rating:

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 08, 2010
4 hours?� Not for an overweight, out-of-shape old f**t like me.� It took me 4 hours UP and about 3 down.� But I was determined to make it because I had heard about the plane crash years ago when I started dating my wife (a Crozet resident at the time) and had always been curious about the site.� Finding my way was easy:� I had the route loaded into my GPSr and the trail was well marked with surveyor's tape.� While the views are few with the trees leafed out, they are spectacular.

By: Gaurav	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, May 01, 2010
Started at 2:30 pm on a muggy Saturday afternoon with temperature soaring to 90s. It is a relentless hike. Mostly ascent. Hardly any time to recover. Make sure to descend under the electric pole and continue on the plain part till you see orange ribbons. As I headed on that trail, it became indiscernible and it was bushwalking. Lot of bugs on the way. Just short of the wreckage, saw a wooden pole with a car key on it. That was spooky. As we reached the topmost part of the wreckage, saw a couple of people heading down. I asked them if there was any vantage point nearby. They told me that they had been lost for one a half hour and were happy to see me. I decided to head down as it was feeling dark ( it was around 4:30 p.m.) The thick vegetation is very deceptive. Definitely a great hike for workout. Not so much as far as views are concerned.

By: Jeff M	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, March 06, 2010
The Charlottesville Chapter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club took this hike as one of its Saturday hikes in March. The fact that we had a group approaching 20 hikers made this trip more difficult, especially because some hikers got ahead of the group. Immediately after leaving the established trails in Mint Springs, you find yourself under high tension wires. The land is basically denuded, but there are several trail options under these wires. The lead hikers logically took the steeper path, but this was the wrong option. We ascended at a 30% grade to the overlook rock listed on the map, then traversed across the mountain maintaining the same elevation from that rock. The problem in early March was that there was still substantial snow at that elevation. Five of us eventually made it to the wreckage, and descended more directly so as to miss the snow. On a return partial hike, I discovered the ribbons marking the route, though the suggested route is still exceptionally steep in parts - 28% by my calculation. Overall, a great workout! Researching the Albemarle Tax Maps, I believe that the land to the first overlook is owned by Albemarle County, even though it is not technically included as part of Mint Springs Park. I believe that the land that the wreck is on is owned by Nepenthe Land Corporation of Richmond. That is what the tax maps appear to say, but it is difficult to determine the wreck's exact location on those maps.

By:	Rating:	Date of Hike: Sunday, November 08, 2009
We hiked from Mint Springs parking lot to the crash site, following a route marked by pink and sometimes orange ribbons tied to trees. The only value of the GPS receiver I had with me was to verify that we were headed in the right direction. The reason for rating the hike "a great hike" and not a favorite is that Karen likes fire trails for paths and I like bushwacking where there are no paths...orienteering. It was neither.� The primary purpose of the hike was to enjoy a sunny November afternoon in the� Blue Ridge mountains while�taking on the challenge of�a� difficult�climb to the sight of a local tragedy recently recognized in the media. Besides seeing only one other couple making their way up the mountain on another� route, we saw no one else . We did manage to see a juvenile black bear that our black lab had set in motion (notice that Dixie is smart enough for a lab not to give chase). Our question of the day: where is the rest of the wreckage? All we saw was a wing section, the nacelle from an engine and a few other pieces that I could not identify with any certainty. Does anyone know what became of the the fuselage and engines? GPS fix on the crash site: N38.10396 W78.73380 2581ft HikingUpward Note: We have been told that much of the aluminum wreckage was scavenged off the mountain and sold as scrap metal.

By: tom et familie	Rating:	Date of Hike: Saturday, July 04, 2009
Great directions, THANKS! I have Phil Bradley's book and the "directions" included are worthtless.I met him at our public library when he was first promoting his book and became interested in making this trip then. Had a little tough time finding the trail leading from the Big Survey Trail toward the plane wreckage. If this helps, there was a broken piece of� brown pottery� and a rusty piece of (heavy)� cylindrical metal embedded in the Big Survey Trail (BST)� at this intersection. Not sure their story but turn off BST at that point and go under power lines. Also, the power lines and vegetation cut for power lines are visible from BST. I didn't check time well leaving from parking lot but got back in exactly 2 hours. A hiking stick will help, especially on the way back down. As a few said, an UPHILL trek! Enjoyed on the 4th of July.

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