Walker Sisters Place

According to the National Park Service, John Walker obtained the house and property after his 1866 marriage to Margaret Jane King, through her family. They had eleven children, seven girls and four boys. Six of the daughters, Margaret, Polly, Martha, Nancy, Louisa and Hettie, never married and stayed on the farm. They spun and wove, raised sheep and gardens, and went on living there as the park came into being around them.

The log house was made of tulip-poplar logs, insulated with mud and rock. The property also included a barn, a corncrib, a smokehouse, a pig pen, an apple barn, a blacksmith shop and a springhouse on a nearby creek. Several of the buildings survive. The house is viewed from outside, and the springhouse is a short walk away.

The NPS says to park at Metcalf Bottoms and walk about a half mile to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse. The homestead is just over a mile farther, by way of the Little Brier Gap Trail. Plan on about three and a half miles round trip with the school.

• Time: 2 to 3 hours.
• Facilities: restrooms at Metcalf Bottoms.
• Parking: a parking tag is required for stops over 15 minutes.
• Conditions: check the park conditions page for trail status.

John Walker and his son James Thomas helped build the Little Greenbrier School in 1881, so the walk ties together the family and the community around them. Laurel Falls Trail is closed, so this is a good moderate alternative near Metcalf Bottoms. In late October the trail is quiet and the creek low. See the NPS Walker Sisters page.