Linville/Grandfather Mountain: Dobson Knob Location: Burke and McDowell Counties, NC, 15 miles north of Marion, Grandfather Ranger District Pisgah National Forest USGS Topographic Maps: Ashford, Little Switzerland Dobson Knob is a key connecting area between Woods Mountain and the Linville Gorge Wilderness. A majority of this area is inaccessible and likely to remain so. The hollows drained by Black Fork and Yellow Fork, and below their confluence, Paddy Creek, are laurel and rhododendron "hells." Anyone seeking to traverse them should be prepared to crawl for much of the way. Because of this dense undergrowth, most of this treasure is in old growth forest. A recently constructed portion of the North Carolina "Mountains-to-Sea" Trail that climbs the western slope of the area gives access to it for the first time. Consisting of boulder fields and stands of never-harvested Virginia pine this slope forms a rare, dry habitat in this part of the state. Download this Map Linville/Grandfather Mountain: Dobson Knob 2.6 mb pdf file Approximate size: 11,787 acres Roadless acreage: 6,128 acres Old growth acreage: 5,002 acres In addition to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, we find here a segment of the Overmountain Victory Trail. Tennessee Volunteers used this historic trail to reach the Revolutionary War battlegrounds at Kings Mountain and at Cowpens. Forest Communities Dobson Knob: Acidic Cove*, Dry Oak, Dry Oak-Pine, Pine-Oak Heath, Subxeric Pine, and Carolina Hemlock Forest. The Deals Creek area has Acidic Cove forest with quartzite boulderfields. Eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock grow next to each other in some riparian areas. Linville Mountain: Acidic Cove, Hemlock Forest, Submesic Oak, Dry Oak, Dry Oak-Pine, and Pine-Oak Heath. Soils tend to be quick draining and acidic in this area. Forest community listings clearly reflect this. Largest Diameter Tree of Its Kind in Nantahala-Pisgah: * White pine, 47.6 inches (Pond Branch) Unusual Plants and Animals * The NCNHP did field outings to a rough and rocky section of Linville Mountain in 1995. This area is opposite Linville Caverns and is east of highway 221. A dolomite window exists near the caverns. Uncommon or rare herbs are likely in this area. * Small-flower pawpaw was found in Submesic Oak forest in the Laurel Branch watershed. * Boulderfield areas with seeps were found above 2,600 feet on the southwest side of Dobson Knob. Pockets of ferns, herbs, and mosses were associated with these seeps. Trees in this area showed evidence of woodpecker activity. * Small copperheads were found on the southwest side of Dobson Knob and surveyors encountered a rattlesnake on lower slopes on the southwest side of the mountain. * Fourteen-inch diameter shortleaf pine trees were found to be in the 150-year age range on the northwest side of Dobson Knob. These trees were in a Pine-Oak Heath community. * Turkey beard is present in this roadless area, as it is in Linville Gorge. Aquatics * The Stillhouse Branch claims high-quality water ratings. Unique mussel species have been found in this watershed. Some parts of the upper section of this watershed may remain uncut, but a large clearcut has occurred near Kistler Memorial Highway, and two stands may have been logged on the low end of the watershed. Access to the latter stands would have been from a Forest Service logging road that was punched onto a ridge slope. * Observers noted high water quality with very little sediment in upper Deals Creek.

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