The Merrill’s Cove 4 Miler

My typical training run starts at home and is an out and back run with a round trip distance of about 4.1 miles.  I have mapped the route with USATF’s America’s Running Routes website:

http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=78086

This is in southeast Asheville.  There is no simple way to categorize its location.  It is northwest of Fairview, south of Reynolds and north/northeast of Skyland.  If you visit the link above you can zoom out and get a frame of reference in terms of where this is and how to get there.  Visitors who would like to run this route can find parking spots on the side of the road at the intersection of Merrill’s Cove Road and Concord Road.

The route is in a cove/valley known as Merrill’s Cove.  The route starts at the intersection of Merrill’s Cove Road and Chestnut Mountain Ridge.  The course goes due south along a winding and moderately hilly country road to Concord Road, where the course doubles back and follows the same route back to the start.  There is an elevation decline of about 200 feet going out (and, of course, a corresponding elevation increase of about 200 feet coming back).  Vehicle traffic is light; this is quiet country road.  There are occasional runners, cyclists, a wild turkey, a stray gunshot now and then and some loose dogs.