Claiborne County High Point Trip Report
Bryson Mtn (3,200+ ft)
Date: May 5, 2001
Author: Ken Oeser
From Middlesboro, KY at the intersection of Highways 25E and 74, zero your odometer and drive west on
Highway 74 for 2.5 miles, turn left onto Highway 186 and follow it to mile 6.4. Turn right onto the gravel
road, and U-turn left at 6.6, pass a road left to a cemetery at 6.8, then go straight at 7.1, bear left at 8.5 and
8.9 miles. Up to this point from the cemetery, the road is on the north side of Cabin Hollow, to the
northwest fork of it. Follow the strip mine gravel road left at 8.9 miles, then bear right (uphill) at 9.5 and
continue on this road to a saddle at mile 10.4 at the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. I pulled out my topo and
compass at this point, and using Cabin Hollow as a reference, figured out that Bryson Mountain is about a
mile due south. At this point the better road goes straight ahead for about a mile north to a radar tower.
From talking with Mike Beavers, it seems he went about 0.25 mile this way to the large green, terraced,
grassy ridge knob (just across the KY state line) that stands out in front of you at this point. From the
saddle at mile 10.4, turn left and ascend the ridge by going straight at 10.5, left at 10.6 and summitting at
elevation 3040+ on a grassy bald (strip-mined hill) at mile 10.8. Follow this road, which now becomes
mostly dirt/dust, and at mile 11.5 pass a black slate gravel pile at elevation 3080+,
take a right fork uphill at 12.2 (the left fork goes around the knob and connects back in)
and summit elevation 3160+ knob at mile 12.3).
I took a clinometer reading to Bryson Mountain from here and read +0.5 degrees, so Bryson seems to be
near its original height. Both this knob and Bryson Mountain are forested on the sides, with clearings on the
tops, which probably haven't been disturbed or lowered very much. Continue south along the ridge road
downhill and cross the saddle at mile 12.7, then go uphill to a flat spot near the summit of Bryson Mountain
at mile 13.0. Walk up the dirt road on the right about 100 yards to the summit of Bryson Mountain. I could
have driven up this also, but decided we should hike it and leave the 4-wheel drivers in our group some way
to beat my old front-wheel drive Toyota Corolla. (This last 2.5 miles of road could be very slick in wet
conditions.)
We walked around on the summit and couldn't find any remains of the lookout tower. The highest spot
seemed to be a near some 15-20 foot tall trees at the edge of a grass/blackberry field. Another spot 100
yards west seemed to be slightly lower. The topo and compass confirmed the location as Bryson Mountain
due to the directions of Cabin and Mingo Hollows, plus the ridge bend north that leads to another obvious
3140 contour. The big green plateau that looms at mile 10.4 stands out 1 mile to the north. Several radio
towers are visible north/northeast of that. This route seems complicated, but after the left turn at mile 10.4,
it is easy to just follow the most-used gravel/dirt road all the way to the summit.