Blue Ridge Running

Moses H. Cone Park is a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The National Park Service (NPS) does a good job of managing the Parkway.  The Cone Park includes over 20 miles of carriage trails.  Elevations in the park vary from 3100 feet to over 4500 feet.  This is one of the best places to run in North America!

For more information on the park, visit the NPS website by clicking here.  Maps are available for download.  But, note that the discrepancies of distances on the map and on the park signs are the reason that this website was created.

Distances

All of the following distances are for carriage trails in the park.  The carriage trails are 100 percent runnable.  Except for the asphalt service road in front of the manor house and the driveway at Trout Lake (both of which are shown in red on the map), all of the trails are  dirt and gravel surfaces.

Bass Lake (0.93 mile loop)
    0.79 mi. Duncan Road to Deer Park Road (clockwise)
    0.02 mi. Deer Park Road to The Maze
    0.12 mi. The Maze to Duncan Road

Duncan Road  (2.36 mile one-way distance)
    0.60 mi.  Service Road to Mayview connector
    1.53 mi.  Mayview connector to US 221 pedestrian entrance
    0.23 mi.  US 221 pedestrian entrance to Bass Lake

Service road / Carriage Barn (0.85 mile one-way distance)
    0.42 mi. Parkway / US 221 connector to Duncan Road
    0.22 mi. Duncan Road to Watkin Road
    0.21 mi. Watkin Road to Flat Top Road / Trout Lake connector

Deer Park Road (1.16 mile one-way distance)
    0.68 mi. Watkin Road to The Maze
    0.48 mi. The Maze to Bass Lake

 The Maze (2.41 mile one-way distance)
    0.27 mi. Deer Park Road to Black Bottom Road
    2.14 mi. Black Bottom Road to Bass Lake

Watkin Road (3.77 mile one-way distance)
    0.55 mi. Service road to Deer Park Road
    2.12 mi. Deer Park Road to Black Bottom Road
    1.10 mi. Black Bottom Road to US 321

Black Bottom Road 0.49 miles from Watkin Road to The Maze

Mayview Connector & Pinkney Hill
    0.82 mi. Duncan Road to Laurel Lane
    0.54 mi. Round trip from Mayview Connector, around the top of Pinkney Hill, and back [signed as “0.5 MILE LOOP”]

Flat Top Road (2.42 mile one-way distance)
    0.73 mi. Carriage Barn connector to Cemetery turnoff
    1.69 mi. Cemetery turnoff to Observation tower

Rich Mountain - Long route (3.57 mile one-way distance)
    1.61 mi. Trout Lake (west) to Lower Pasture
    1.23 mi. Lower Pasture to Upper Pasture
    0.73 mi. Upper Pasture to final loop
    0.13 mi. Loop around top of mountain

Rich Mountain - Short route (1.79 mile one-way distance)
    0.11 mi. Trout Lake parking lot to Shull's Mill Road gate
    0.48 mi. Shull's Mill Road gate to Lower Pasture
    0.47 mi. Lower Pasture to Upper Pasture
    0.73 mi. Upper Pasture to final loop
    0.13 mi. Loop around top of mountain

Trout Lake/Manor House Connector (1.41 mile one-way distance)
    1.04 mi. Flat Top Road to Trout Lake east trail
    0.37 mi. Trout Lake east trail to west trail / Rich Mountain trail

Trout Lake (1.27 mile loop)
    0.28 mi. Entrance road (east) to Manor House connector
    0.37 mi. Manor House connector to Rich Mountain trail
    0.37 mi. Rich Mountain trail to Entrance road (west)
    0.25 mi. Entrance road from west trail to east trail

Shull's Mill Road
    0.19 mi. Trout Lake trail (east) to Manor House service road

I think that covers all of the carriage trails and their connections within the park. There is also some additional detail near the Manor House - including how taking the equestrian cutoff rather than passing by the Manor House steps will cut 0.29 miles off of a loop from Bass Lake.