The Bowl

The trail starts at the back corner of the parking lot behind the UVA Wise David Prior Convocation Center. It descends to a saddle between a small pond to the south and a larger pond to the northwest. It goes uphill and takes a sharp turn to the southeast at around 0.2 miles. The trail continues through an area that has been reforested with native hardwoods on a reclaimed surface mine. At 0.32 miles the trail goes to the east at an intersection near a bench. At 0.4 miles the trail turns south at a T-intersection and goes steeply downhill. At the bottom of the slope, the trail levels out and continues through an area of Autumn Olive tress that hem in from both sides. At 0.6 miles the trail turns back uphill and continues until the gravel road that leads to the UVA Wise Observatory. At the observatory there is a view of High Knob, Eagle Knob and Pickem Mountain.