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In Kelsey’s Footsteps
Written By: Ran Shaffner | Issue: October 2023
There may still be spots available for Highlands Plateau Greenways’ October 14 biennial hike through history – check online at highlandsgreenway.com.
The Kelsey Trail Biennial Hike, sponsored by the Highlands Plateau Greenway, returns this year! This 4.5-mile trail was carved through the primeval forest from Highlands to Whiteside Mountain 140 years ago. Built by Samuel Kelsey and others, it opened to the public in 1883 and was a favorite walk for every Highlands resident and visitor for the next 60 years. It was originally ridiculed as Kelsey’s trail to nowhere because it ended at Whiteside Mountain, but it passed through Bear Pen Gap, above the thundering cascades of Highlands Falls, past Garnet Rock laden with inexhaustible rose-red crystals, past the legendary Soldier’s Cave, onto astonishing overlooks from Wildcat Ridge, and ended at the Cherokee campground near the summit.
The public was invited in September to join the hikers on the morning of Saturday, October 14. The hike, which has proven very popular since 2009, takes place only every two years, so reservations fill quickly. They may be closed now for this year’s hike unless any openings are still available online at highlandsgreenway.com. The hike is an enjoyable way to relive history like early Highlanders, who came to appreciate the extraordinary beauty of Kelsey’s Trail to nowhere.
