Trade, Mountain City, Roan area in winter (Roan Mountain, Watauga: 2015, to rent)

[Wes59]

possibly a weird question about winter in the mountains. We are looking at a relocation from Houston, Tx to one of the mountain areas of Roan, Trade, MC, or Beech Mt, NC. In winter, are we going to have to get a snow plow to clear the drive, or is it often melted in a day or so? What do you think of these areas- favorites, etc?

[Wes59]

Add in Shady Valley and Butler as options too.

[Serious Conversation]

I'm assuming you're talking about a plow you could put on front of a truck. I haven't really seen those in east TN.

Lower elevations typically will melt in a couple of days, or at least crews clear roads well enough to make them navigable. If you're up in the mountains off the main roads, obviously it will both snow more and you're a lower priority.

[Wes59]

So I can assume I will be needing to by a blower or something like that to clear the sidewalk and drive, since it might sit for a bit. We will both be retired so I could just get another cup of coffee and just look out the window. :-)

I think we have narrowed it down to the Butler, Roan, Mountain City, TShady Valley, and rade areas. We WANT mountains, some snow, and much cooler temperatures than ever imagined in Houston, Texas.

[Jim37680]

Something to keep in mind if you have always lived in a flat area like Houston, none of the areas you are considering have much surface terrain that is flat and that includes the road system- especially the secondary county roads. This means that snow and ice can still have considerable impact on your mobility once you are off your property. I'm not sure about Carter County roads, but Johnson County plows, but does not salt treat, their county maintained roads. They do deposit fine granite based gravel on persistent shaded areas where ice lingers. State maintained roads are plowed and treated in a very prompt fashion. AWD is a good idea to have on at least one vehicle when living in these mountain counties. If you are really concerned about winter travel on mountain roads then I would advise looking for property on or near the state maintained highways which are generally in good shape within a day of a significant snowfall.

I have seen folks buying property then putting in a long, uphill driveway (starting uphill at edge of the road) and located on the shaded north side of the hill (or mountain). When it snows there may be nowhere to park nearby and they can't get up the grade- it makes for a long hike in the snow. Just keep this in mind when looking at existing driveways or contemplating construction of one. Try to keep it on the sunny side and try to plan a parking space at the bottom to use until the slope can be cleared.

Also, the frequency of snow (vs rain) and persistence once on the ground is largely a function of elevation. In Johnson County the lowest elevations are found in Laurel Bloomery (2400 ft along Laurel Creek valley) and near Mountain City (Doe Valley and Roan Creek valley at about 2400 ft) whereas Trade is about 3000-3500 ft. Trade sometimes still has a lot of snow on the ground when Laurel Bloomery has cleared. Shady Valley is an isolated high valley (2800-3000 ft) with three of the four highways crossing mountain passes in the 3500-4000 range and the other a long winding downhill drive into Damascus, Virginia. Shady is a beautiful place in summer but I don't think I would want to winter there. Watauga Lake is about 2000 ft but most of the available property around the lake is significantly higher in elevation.

[Wes59]

Jim: Thanks so much for the insight. We knew we were going to get a 4WD before we left Houston, figuring we would need it. Being retired, we don't HAVE to leave the house if we don't need to. Eventually, we would have to hit the store for groceries or risk becoming a 2 person Donner party. I keep bouncing between going for a condo or a house (preferred) just because of the winter house and auto maintenance situations. We strongly prefer to be in the 2,500+ elevation range because we want to be in the mountains and experience a new climate, but do not want to finally be discovered at Spring thaw... :-)

[Jim37680]

It is amazing how different the world can appear here in northern Johnson County between a snow covered landscape and a sunny day in the same week in a different year in late February. This year, 2015, was unusually cold and snowy- probably the coldest I recall for late February here with four significant snowfalls in two weeks. In this video Ron was starting at about 2,600' on Branch Road and ended recording at about 2,300' at Taylor's Valley Road that appears to have been plowed and treated.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D5mizGUGlQ

This was recorded coming out of Shady Valley, Tennessee on the way to Damascus, Virginia about the same week of February in 2011- spring was in the air.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7xbgkqR1L4

This was recorded in the valley of Laurel Creek (actually headwaters of the Laurel) about midway between Mountain City, Tennessee and Damascus, Virginia in very early March 2010.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW8-VkkBsXQ

Finally this was recorded in late August 2014 at a newly opened trail section in the Cherokee National Forest only about a mile (as the crow flies) from Ron's snowy road trip video location. The Virginia state line is about two miles north down the trail.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hma-xGnj0Qg

The good days overwhelmingly outweigh the bad days, but the older I get the more I hate the cold, snowy ones.

[jabogitlu]

Those videos are gems. I miss Northeast Tennessee in a lot of ways. Thanks for sharing.

[Wes59]

Jim, I love that snow video. I had to put a sweatshirt on down here in Houston to watch it. Roan Mountain is really starting to get the top spot of my attention, and I'll just watch the snow instead of YouTube driving it...

[Jim37680]

Originally Posted by Wes59

Jim, I love that snow video. I had to put a sweatshirt on down here in Houston to watch it. Roan Mountain is really starting to get the top spot of my attention, and I'll just watch the snow instead of YouTube driving it...

About 1-1/2 miles south-west of the town of Roan Mountain (by air, not by road) and roughly 1000' feet higher at about 3,600 elevation is an alpine valley called Ripshin with a man-made lake called Ripshin Lake. There are cabins on the far side of the lake from the county road. Some folks I know used to rent or borrow a friend's cabin about once a year in summer. From Google street view the valley appears to be very rural. I have only driven through there once. Driving up the road below the dam the stream coming out sounds like one continuous "waterfall" all the way from US19. Here is a street view and map reference:
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1804...!5m1!1e4?hl=en

Are you looking for a house and lot fronted by a sidewalk in a more civilized environment or something remote such as Ripshin Valley?