Hiking Sharp Top Mountain in Bedford, VA

The view of Flat Top from Sharp Top Mountain in Bedford, VA, near Roanoke

Related posts: Want to read more about Virginia? Check out all our Virginia posts here. Or, looking for more Roanoke-area hikes? Check out our Compendium of Hikes in and near Roanoke. For hiking gear recommendations, check out our Ultimate Guide to Hiking Gear. For this hike, I’d recommend hiking boots and a hydration backpack at a minimum.

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WHERE IS sharp top mountain trail LOCATED?

Sharp Top Mountain is located about 50 minutes north of Roanoke, VA, in Bedford. It is part of the area known as Peaks of Otter and is located right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. For more information on the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, which travels through Virginia and North Carolina, check out our post here.

To access Sharp Top Mountain Trail, visitors can park at the visitor’s center and walk across the Blue Ridge Parkway to catch the trail near a camp store; or, there is a small parking lot near the camp store. During our visit, we parked in the visitor’s center parking lot and so added about 0.3 miles to our total hike by doing so.

Sharp Top Mountain is the most popular hike in the area and while it was certainly well traveled during our visit - a Sunday in the summer - we had no difficulty finding parking with multiple parking lot options.

The Sharp Top Trailhead is to the left, behind this camp store.

what else is there to do near sharp top mountain trail?

Sharp Top is part of the area known as Peaks of Otter, which is home to the Peaks of Otter Lodge and Lake View Restaurant, a national park visitor’s center, picnic areas, campsites, and several hikes. The hikes at this spot include Sharp Top, which is the trail we’ll describe in this post, as well as Flat Top, Harkening Hill and Johnson Farm Trails (two trails that we did together - read our post here), Abbott Lake, and a few other nearby spots like Fallingwater Cascades and Apple Orchard Falls (read our post here).

The picnic area deserves an honorable mention. There is a large wooded area along a creek that has a large amount of parking, picnic tables scatted throughout the woods and is - in our experience - barely used! Every time we hike in the area, we bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after our hike. The signs to the picnic area make it easy to find. If you’re driving up to the Sharp Top camp store, the road curves to the left with clear markings for the picnic area.

sharp top mountain trail’s BEST KEPT SECRETS

There is a bus/shuttle option! While we love hiking and wouldn’t have it any other way, we know others may prefer not to hike or have mobility limitations. For the last few years, the park has been offering a bus that gets near the top. While we have not taken it ourselves and so have no experience, this is a good option for others. The bus offers people the option to take the bus both directions or to only take it one-way to be able to hike the downhill portion. You can find more information on the current price and schedules here. It’s important to note that while the bus gets visitors much closer to the top, there is still a shorter uphill hike from the bus stop.

With an elevation of 3,875 (which isn’t high for everywhere but is for Virginia!), Sharp Top Mountain rises above most mountains in the area and provides 360 degree views from the top. Nearby Flat Top Mountain, is about 26 feet taller but without sweeping views.

The trail is a straightforward up and down with one loop off called Buzzards Roost. During our visit, none of the other hikers seemed to be heading over to Buzzards Roost, and we’d recommended this short addition. It has beautiful views itself and provides some cool views of the top of Sharp Top. While the park materials say to add 30 minutes onto your hike for this short loop, it only added about 8 minutes to our time, including enjoying the views at the top.

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN HIKING AT sharp top mountain

Sharp Top Mountain Trail is labelled - appropriately - as strenuous. The trail does flatten out a little bit at points along the way but it is a steep upward climb, gaining over 1300 feet in elevation in 1.5 miles. Large segments are basically carved rock stairs. One way to think about this in a different scale: this is basically like climbing 130 flights of stairs over a 1.5 mile distance.

The top of the mountain hosts a series of additional staircases and various viewing spots, almost as if there was a small fortification built at the top, which was unexpected and cool.

What goes up must come down! Remember that as much energy as up-hill hiking takes, downhill hiking can be surprisingly taxing on the body, especially knees! The full hike is about 3 miles round-trip. The park website recommends visitors allow 2 hours to climb up, 30 minutes in additional time for those checking out the loop to Buzzards Roost, and 1 hour to climb down. We parked at the slightly further parking lot and did the entire hike (up, Buzzards Roost, and down) in about 1 hour 50 minutes. We are in above average shape and experienced hikers.

We would definitely recommend hiking boots. Between the significant number of stairs, rocky sections, and some tree roots, sturdy shoes are important for comfort and safety. If you’re at all inclined towards twisting your ankle like I am, hiking boots that cover your ankles are a must-have! Hiking sticks would be helpful to those wanting extra stability. Some sections of the stairs require good balance and agility. You absolutely should bring water, which is a must on a hike of any length in our book, and we always hike with a couple of Kind bars in case we need to re-energize.

The trail itself has no blazing, nor does it need it. For the most part, the trail is wide enough for 2-3 people to walk side-by-side, and it is really clear where the trail goes. Until the very top, the trail winds through the woods with little to no view (at least in the summer).

Sharp Top Mountain Trail is popular at sunrise and sunset due to its views and is also popular in the fall to see the beautiful autumn colors in the surrounding mountains. Because of the higher elevation, even in the summer, the hike is cooler than the surrounding areas. The day we went was supposed to get up to 90 degrees by noon, but the morning hike was not too hot. While there are sections without tree cover, most of the trail has trees overhead so it is not a trail with the sun beating down on the hikers, which helps prevent overheating.