This hike is the the sister hike of Raven Rocks. Starting at Bears Den it heads south on The Appalachian Trail for 4.5 miles to the top of Buzzard Hill. Although the length is only 9.0 miles the vertical ascents over the ridge spurs add up to over 3000 feet of vertical gain by the time you get back.
From the parking area head up the dirt road towards the house where you turn left on the blue blazed nature trail just before the stone gates. In 50 yards pass a small nature trail on your left and in another 50 yards turn left at the intersection where a 20 foot trail connects to the Appalachian Trail (AT).
Turn left onto the white blazed AT and start your descent where in 0.6 miles you cross a stream over a old wooden foot bridge. Continue on the AT and in 1.0 miles cross the first fork of Spout Run. Begin another ascent as you cross another spur before descending and arriving at the Sawmill Spring/Moore Shelter blue blazed trail that heads left uphill.
Stay straight on the AT and shortly cross the second fork of Spout Run and and intersection of the other end of the Moore Shelter trail. The trail connects with the trail you just passed and is a small loop to the shelter. You can see the shelter through the trees in the winter.
Turn right remaining on the AT for another 1.6 miles as it crosses another spur before passing a short flat area and beginning your final ascent up Buzzard Hill.
At the top of Buzzard Hill the AT heads slightly left, turn right on a short side trail that goes to a lookout area and great spot for lunch. To return just retrace your route.
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Reviews For The Buzzard Hill Hike (5 Most Recent)
Long out and back hike, with one really nice veiw of the Valley and not much else. I was hoping to see some fall color, but a fluke snow-storm the night before had stripped the leaves and buried the trail. Raven Rocks across Rt. 7 was a much more enjoyable hike.
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Date of Hike: Thursday, September 22, 2011
I do this hike on a regular basis but with 2 vehicles. I generally start at bears den an hike to morgans mill rd (rt605) which is around 6.5 - 7 miles . This is usually a 2.5 hour hike . If you like solitude an a good workout this is a great hike. If you pay close attention when you top the hill above an north of sam moore shelter there is a decent overlook (albeit small) which provides some good views an when you top buzzard hill heading south a small side trail to the right takes you to a decent overlook when the leaves are gone . this is one of my favorite hikes due to the fact that its not that crowded.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, July 16, 2011
My girlfriend and I had only hiked a few of the mountains in the region before, but we both wanted a challenge. We were looking for a very difficult trail that did not involve bushwhacking, since both of us are a bit paranoid about ticks. After reading some descriptions, we decided on Buzzard Hill.
We did this in July during mid-afternoon, which should also theoretically be the most difficult time to do a hike like this. However, since you're under a canopy of trees almost the entire trail, the heat is not as overwhelming as it could be otherwise. In spite of this, Buzzard Hill certainly lived up to expectations in terms of difficulty. This was a pretty brutal hike, made even harder by the fact that we both ran part of the way up.
What makes this trail so difficult is a combination of the constant ups-and-downs coupled with the rocky terrain. If this were dirt or grass, it would have been a bit less difficult, but the rocks made force you to use a lot of different lower body muscles.
While Buzzard Hill certainly didn't disappoint as a physical and mental challenge, the views were a bit on the disappointing side. There is a rocky overlook near the beginning of the trail and that provides the best view you will see the entire time. This is especially true if you do this trail in the summer like we did. Maybe the views are a bit better when the trees are bare in the late Fall or winter.
The top of Buzzard Hill is very non-descript, with no signs or anything of the such. Many previous reviewers on here have suggested they passed the top without even noticing it. We nearly did the same thing, but luckily, my girlfriend found it. However, the view from the top is really not as good as it was from the rocky overlook. Supposedly, there was a waterfall a little bit further on, but we were not aware of that at the time.
We only encountered a handful of passerbys on the trail. The bottom of the trail was much more crowded than the middle or top. In fact, after getting past the first mile or so, we only encountered maybe 4-5 other people the entire time. Most of them seemed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail, overall, rather than doing this particular hike.
Overall, I'd say consider this hike if you're looking for a physical challenge. It's a very great lower body workout. Make sure to bring lots of fluids with you we both filled up water bottles with fluids and it still wasn't enough. If you're looking for views, you should probably opt for another hike.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, December 04, 2010
I had an experience similar to dfdesigner. I was hiking along, expecting to see some marker or promontory which would indicate I reached Buzzard Hill. When it got closer to dusk I had a "am I there yet?" moment. I looked at my phone (thankfully I had the "My Tracks" app tracking my hike - an awesome app for android phones). I was surprised to see I had hiked past Buzzard Hill. So be forewarned: for this hike, the journey really is the destination. You're not doing this one for the views.
This hike was a great work-out. It is strenuous, but totally doable. While i haven't hiked this at any other time than December, the fall strikes me as the perfect season for this hike because a) you gain so much elevation you'd be sweating yourself to death if it was any warmer and b) the views are poor enough without leaves on the trees - you won't see anything at all after they've bloomed.
The trail is rocky, but not nearly as rocky as its sister hike, Raven Trails.
I'll certainly do this one again. In the future, though, I'll be looking to get a better work out by doing this one faster - maybe even jogging as much of the route as I can.
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Date of Hike: Sunday, October 31, 2010
http://www.meetup.com/hiking-162/calendar/15212208/ If you're looking for a challenge, this is definitely it. I tried it last January & had to turn around because it was too much. Today, however, all 11 of us made it to Buzzard's Hill & back. Read a review about the waterfall. Sounds like it would have been worth the extra mileage. Amazed one of our hikers found the turn to Buzzard's HIll. We had to call others as they passed it. Lunch after @ http://www.magnoliasmill.com/ was super.
Good thing we had a nice cool day for this hike. The total elevation gain is over 3000 ft and by the time we were on the last ascent back to Bears Den our legs had just about had enough.
This was the first time we have hiked to Buzzard Hill and as we expected on this out and back hike the few people we did see were Appalachian Trail thru-hikers.
The one great vista is right at Bears Den, instead of turning south on the AT go north for just 100 yards and the view to the west is great. The hike itself had the streams full with melt water and Buzzard Peak itself has a nice south west view.
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