We last hiked Beech Mountain about thirteen years ago. So, we thought it was about time to return.

Today we parked near the circle between Reservoir Drive and Winding Hollow Drive. We incorrectly started in on the Yellow trail, and had to backtrack to the Orange trail (which begins on the western side of the circle). This Orange trail used to be part of Yellow trail. In fact, the map on the page cited above is out-of-date and shows it as such. For the new map click here. After getting back to the circle, we found the trailhead for Orange and took it. The trail ascends heading south, zig-zagging. There is a partial view at the top, which is not indicated on the map, and you have to go off the trail to find it. Near the trailhead for Blue, we turned back, following the old Yellow trail (no longer blazed), which runs parallel to the current Yellow trail for about ten minutes, and then retraced our steps all of the way back to the car.