Back to Teanaway this weekend. This time we camped at Teanaway Campground, which is a great campground. Big, spread out sites, clean pit toilets, and river access. Saturday morning we set out to find Cheese Rock. A popular(with locals) sandstone formation hidden in the Teanaway Community Forest.
Following directions from an old trip report, we drove a little past the campground on W Fork Teanaway Road to a yellow gate and parked there. We walked around the gate and veered left past a potentially new campground (?) and over a bridge. We followed the forest service road continuing to veer left as we climbed a gradual slope up. At the top of the ridge the road opened up into a large turnout. We took a trail leading off to the left. The trail led to Cheese Rock and a large sandstone formation beyond. Watch stats showed 1.5 miles and a 400 ft gain from the car to this point.
Cheese Rock is really cool! Unfortunately it has been vandalized with carvings & spray paint. The sandstone slab leading away from it is super cool! Expansive views of the forest, the Stuart’s, and distant ridges. We ran into two other groups making their way up from the bottom of the slab. Based on Trailforks it looked like there was a loop and we could return to our car the way they came. The other hikers warned of a steep and slippery descent. We stayed on the slab and made our way down slowly, staying along the top edge. About 3/4 of the way down we saw a trail leading into the woods in the direction we wanted to go so we followed it. It was a nice, well-trodden path with short switchbacks. In approximately 1/2 a mile we were back to the forest service road we had started on. And not only that, we were near the bridge at the start. To take this short cut, follow the forest service road over the bridge and right before it starts to climb, take the trail to the left through some torn up tree trunks and over the creek. It will lead you to the base of the slab in 15-20 minutes. Really fun little adventure!
Comments
Cleo on Teanaway Community Forest - Cheese Rock
This trip report is in the wrong place. This refers to a short hike off W. Fork Teanaway Rd, near the Teanaway Campground.
This is a different location than the West Fork Teanaway Trail, on Forest service land, that the trip destination is describing.
To access the trail described in the category, you follow middle Fork Teanaway Road all the way to the very end. (Past Indian Camp Capfround). The road takes a sharp turn west, and deadends at the parking lot for the trail head, next to the West Fork Teanaway River. The trail head goes north, immediately entering a narrow gorge with steep trails.
Posted by:
Cleo on Jul 10, 2021 04:29 PM
I believe you are referring to the Middle Fork Teanaway River
The trail you describe past Indian Camp Campground is the Middle Fork Teanaway River Trail. I backpacked it last year. If you look at a map showing the rivers in the area, you will see this trip report correctly identifies the West Fork as the river nearest the trailhead to Cheese Rock.
Posted by:
Alexepsol on Jul 26, 2021 02:38 PM
MyCrookedPath on Teanaway Community Forest - Cheese Rock
Wrong trail, bruh. West Fork Teanaway trail is exactly where @Cleo has described. Middle Fork is on the way, but the West Fork is where the road ends (and doesn't show on a lot of maps). Parked there this morning. Cheese Rock is across the river from the Teanaway CG and while it may be along the West Fork of the river, it's not on the West Fork Teanaway River Trail.
Posted by:
MyCrookedPath on Jul 23, 2022 10:56 PM