Off-road on the Goat Trail to Buzzards Roost and Cataloochee Valley

We ride the Goat Road to Buzzards Roost and then on into the Cataloochee Valley. The ride features water crossings, vintage bridges and awesome views.
As noted in the video, the overpass at Cold Springs Creek Road (Harmon Den WMA) on I-40 is being rebuilt so you can’t access I-40 from FR 288 at this time.
00:00 Intro
00:14 Waterville Road
00:31 Mt. Sterling Road (Beginning of the Goat Trail)
00:38 New Jeep Friends
01:14 We meet another Biking Jeep
01:38 Flat Branch Creek crossing
02:06 Stinking Camp Branch
03:00 Mud Hole
03:46 We meet a Subaru
04:40 Forest Service Road 288
04:55 Buzzards Roost
07:22 Steel Truss Bridge over Cataloochee Creek
08:04 Small Waterfall
08:38 Small Truss bridge over Cataloochee Creek and Cataloochee Valley
08:53 Jarvis Palmer House
09:06 Elk
09:22 Palmer Chapel Methodist Church
09:36 Trail Map (Pause for better viewing)
09:42 Thanks for Watching :-)

[@Ridesaway24]

Looks like a great place to visit. Thanks for sharing!

[@TealOxAdv]

We are glad you enjoyed it. It is a fun ride and a pretty cool experience.

[@chuckbessels6084]

New Subscriber from SC and love all of your adventures!! This is a beautiful area!

[@TealOxAdv]

Thank you for subscribing. We are from Florida and love it as well.

[@PaulSmith-vq5hf]

Would I need to bring an extra gas can for this trip?

[@TealOxAdv]

You should be fine as long as you fuel up reasonably close to the trailhead.

[@MercersJeep78]

Awesome looking ride!! I am wanting to do that ride also. Where does the Goat Trail start on Mt. Sterling Rd.? Do you turn onto FS288 off of Mt. Sterling, or do you keep going? That part had me confused.

[@TealOxAdv]

You take Mt Sterling up the hill and bear left when it meets FS 289. Take FS 289 to FS 288. You can either go left on 288 to Buzzards Roost or right to Cataloochee. Feel free to email me and I can send you our route for Gaia. [e-mail]

[@chrisschmidt146]

You say “HIGH” clearance Vehicle. Is your Jeep modified a lot over stock? How would a Stock 2020 Willys Edition do with a stick on these trails?

[@TealOxAdv]

Hi Chris, thanks for reaching out and commenting. You should be fine on this trail in your Jeep. The Jeep behind us is the same setup you have. As you noted in your email, a stock Subaru would do okay other than the creek crossing and possibly done of the rutted sections.

[@timflaherty2731]

I am a subscriber and I really enjoy your videos, but if I could offer a bit of constructive criticism, the music is really loud and jarring and makes it hard to regulate volume between speaking and music. The scenery and your narration are great, just not sure the music adds anything.

[@TealOxAdv]

Thank you very much for subscribing and the feedback. We can definitely make some adjustments to future videos.

[@TealOxAdv]

Thanks again. I listened to that video and definitely agree. Please do watch a more recent video and share your thoughts on the sound quality. We’ve learned more about the audio mixing capabilities of our software since that video was made. Hopefully the newer videos are better, but we welcome your feedback if not.