After a long day on the trail, some/lots/most/all hikers like to kick back with a nice cold beer, preferably a craft or microbrew. The good people over at Blue Ridge Outdoors recently developed the Southern Appalachian Beer Guide to point us in the right direction after we step off the trail.
Grassy Ridge on Roan Mountain is the longest stretch of grassy bald in the Appalachian Mountains, and is an easy hiking destination starting out of Carvers Gap.
Nearly the entire length of the four-mile (one-way) hike to the summit of Mt. Rogers passes through open country, offering sweeping views of the surrounding wilderness as far as the eye can see. With the rocky outcroppings and the open views, it seems more like hiking in some places out west rather than in the Appalachian Mountains.