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Local Trails: Grey Ledge Road

Local Trails: Grey Ledge Road

Feb 07, 2026

Have you ever had “that trail?” The one you’ve stared at on the map, wondering what’s hidden beyond the squigly line or blurry trees of the satellite photo? For me, that’s Grey Ledge Road, and to mix it up, I’ve actually been on this road before, but it was during a long weekend with multiple trails. However, even though that weekend was full of awesome trails, Grey Ledge always stood out to me. In the years since, I’ve been meaning to revisit it, and on at least two occasions I’ve driven right by one end or the other, and once I headed out to retrace this part of the route only to find Grey Ledge closed for repairs.  However, it wasn’t until Logan and I came up with an idea for some videos that I finally made it back out there.

We decided to make this the first in our new series of videos highlighting excellent trails for overlanding and exploration in the Blue Ridge Mountains that surround the BROG shop. Given the response to this video's initial release, we actually plan to link a number of these trails together to develop a route that will take you through 100+ miles of two-track, forest roads, and rural areas to give anyone looking to visit a great sampling of the communities, camping, and more.

To get a good idea of what you can expect on Grey Ledge Road, check out the full video above. Beyond that, there are a few things that make it unique. For starters, it’s not actually a forest road, but a state-maintained route. That state maintenance is actually what caused it to be closed the last time I was in the area. Along the route, you'll find the remains of the Grey Ledge Estate. The most obvious evidence is the four chimneys visible amongst the collapsed structure about halfway up the road.

Even though the majority of the creekbed and creek crossings have been dry on both of my visits, it’s more than apparent that during heavy rains, lots of water comes tumbling down from the northern terminus and the aptly named Purgatory Creek occasionally overtakes Grey Ledge Road. I say aptly named because on my first trip along this route, the creek was flowing at both ends of the route, but in the middle, the creekbed was bone dry. I just so happened to notice a spot in the higher elevations where the creek appeared to flow into the bedrock, totally disappearing from view.

Along the way, Logan and I tracked the GPX file for future reference using the Garmin Tread 2, which I discovered fits perfectly into the Medium GP Pouch on my Seatback Panel. The Garmin is rather large, and it’s nice to have a place to stash it that’s also in arm's reach. Anytime we’re filming, we use a couple of Midland handhelds to make sure everyone is ready and clear on the plan, so it’s great to have those handy in Radio Pouches, also on the Seatback Panel.

If you enjoy this video, let us know in the comments. We want to continue to develop this series, but we also want to make sure people are interested in it.

Rick Stowe