Finley Cane TrailEasy

Finley Cane Trail is a 2.8 mile fairly easy hike that begins at Laurel Creek Road about 5.5 miles from the Townsend Wye. You will see trail signs on both sides of the road here. Limited street parking is available.

The trailhead for Finley Cane Trail is located right next to Lead Cove Trail and across the street from Turkeypen Ridge Trail. If you start from here, you'll run into a slightly confusing intersection within the first tenth of a mile or so where the trail branches off to your left. The only sign here reads "Turkey Pen Ridge Trail" indicating that it is 0.1 of a mile to your left. This is actually Crib Gap Trail, and it leads through a hiker tunnel. Ignore this sign and continue straight.

Finley Cane Trail is a forest hike that is excellent in the springtime for wildflowers. A portion of it winds through a mature forest with tall tuliptrees, oaks, and Eastern hemlocks. There are 3 water crossings on Finley Cane Trail: Sugar Cove Creek, Laurel Cove Creek, and Hickory Tree Branch. They are all fairly easy to rock hop; it's rare that the water gets too high.

This is a great trail to pair with several other surrounding trails for a nice day loop hike. At the end of Finley Cane you can continue up Bote Mountain Trail and then back down Lead Cove Trail for a 7 mile loop. You can also begin your hike across the street at Turkeypen Ridge, take a right at the intersection with Schoolhouse Gap, then cross the road to get to the Bote Mountain Trail trailhead, and finish your hike on Finley Cane.