Jackie Steffan If we are looking for a hike and are short on time or just don’t want to drive far, this Park is a great option. In less than a 10 minute drive from downtown Johnson City, you can hit the many trails at Buffalo Mountain Park, finding great views and wildflowers.
Getting There
From I-26:
- Take Exit 24
- Turn left onto TN-67 W / US 321 S / University Parkway
- After 0.9 mile, at the light, turn left onto Hwy 67 W
- Take an immediate left onto Buffalo Road
- After 0.6 mile, turn right onto Rolling Hills Drive
- After 0.7 mile, turn right onto Highridge Road
- Travel 0.5 mile and reach the park entrance. Continue into Park to find two main parking areas:
- First parking area will be a slight left to find a large gravel parking area.
- Second parking area will involve taking a right up a very steep hill and taking the one-way route close to the end of the loop. About a 4-5 car parking area will be on the right with a hiking information sign.
https://www.johnsoncitytn.org/residents/parks_and_facilities/residents/buffalo_mountain_park.php
White Rock Loop
— 4.4 miles — 2.5 hours — Moderate — 1000 ft. Elevation Gain/Loss —
White Rock Loop is the longest trail in the park that winds around the edge of the entire mountain. It’s our favorite trail in the park. You can start from either parking area, but we recommend hiking clock-wise. If you start from the first parking area listed above, you’ll take a quick jaunt on The Noggin Trail which follows Catbird Creek.
For whatever reason, we usually start from the upper parking area (second parking area listed above). The trail markings and intersections are signed well, so you’ll follow the white blazes. The trail initially passes through forest, but at roughly 0.75 miles from the second parking area, you reach a choice. You can take the Wimp shortcut or take the White Rock Trail to the left. The left is obviously more fun, but involves a little rock scramble. After this, you shortly begin getting some views.
Continuing on, once you reach about 1.6 miles clockwise from the second parking area, you reach the best view on the trail, the White Rock overlook. This is where The Noggin Trail ultimately leads, just shorter and steeper than the White Rock Loop.
After another mile after the White Rock overlook, you’ll reach an intersection with the Tip Top Trail. This is a 0.3 mile trail (one-way) to the highest point in the park. Unfortunately the views are not great here due to many large trees. The winter provides a little better views. We generally skip this, but if you decide to do it, it’ll add 0.6 miles to the trip, rounding you out to an even 5 miles.
See the Lone Oak Trail post for an alternative way, outside of Buffalo Mountain Park, to reach Tip Top.
As you continue on the loop, you’ll eventually reach a few other viewpoints at Sunset Point and Huckleberry Knob before finishing out the loop. One really neat feature of the park, specifically the area around Huckleberry Knob, is the abundance of lady slippers in early May. There are also other lovely wildflowers throughout the spring to enjoy on this trail.
There are several other trails in the park to explore, as seen on the map above, plus you could do any variation of the White Rock loop with others if you need a shorter excursion.
