Patriot Path

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fishing · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Views

The nearest restrooms and water are at the visitor center. There are warnings that water can rise swiftly and flood the trail after rain storms, so be on the lookout if it has been raining recently.

The trail is level and easy for running. It is the busiest trail in the park, but plenty of people can be seen running along it in the evening.

The Patriot Path starts at the parking lots that surround the visitor center at Sycamore Shoals State Park and descend downhill on a wide crushed gravel path. The trail passes the junctions with the Sycamore Shoals Trail on the right and views of Fort Watauga can be enjoyed on the left. After 1/5 of a mile, the trail arrives at a junction along the Watauga River where the Sycamore Shoals Trail goes to the right and the Patriot Path breaks off to the left.

From this point, the trail meanders alongside the Watauga where there is seating on the left side of the trail so you can sit and take in the beauty of the river. The trail moves past Fort Watauga and there are informational signs talking about the history of area, specifically how important Sycamore Shoals was as a meeting place on the frontier and the importance it played during the Revolutionary War as a place where the Overmountain Men mustered. At this location at Sycamore Shoals, hundreds of men from western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia assembled on September 25, 1780 before marching to Kings Mountain to fight and ultimately defeat the British.

The trail passes a butterfly garden on the left that you can run around via a narrow, gravel path before arriving at a trail split. Going to the right, the trail follows the river before it crosses a small bridge where a small fork of the river breaks off and runs inland before running to the main channel. There are several benches where you can enjoy the view and a picnic table if you want to sit and enjoy a meal.

The trail is busy so you probably won't find yourself alone, but it is a nice place to run throughout the day. As the trail approaches the park boundary, there is a small round about where you turn around and retrace your steps for a short distance. Here, there is a path that breaks off to the right that follows that small part of the river that moved inland.

The trail crosses that bridge again, moves inland again before meeting back up with the trail you traveled earlier close to the butterfly garden. From here, you can follow the trail back to the parking area and your vehicle. Since this is the longest and best maintained trail in the park, it is also the busiest, so prepare to be around people, no matter the day or time that you run.