Blood Mountain Shelter on the Appalachian Trail

I love the blood Mountain shelter atop of blood Mountain on the Appalachian Trail! Rock built with a fireplace and the views are spectacular!

All I heard about BMS was that it smelled horrible. It’s actually not that bad. Views at the top of the mountain were OK better views coming off the mountain on the north side. Must see.

It is not advised to p at the top of blood mountain. It's an amazing hike to the top but once there it can get very windy at night and the shelter has nice and other critters. There are a few good primitive spots down the other side of the mountain if you are hiking the AT.

We hiked up to Blood Mountain from the Byron Reese Trailhead. We didn't stay in the shelter and instead set up our tent near an overlook nearby. Perfect place for sunrise and sunset. It was a little buggy until the wind picked up -- it definitely cooled down at night even in the summer due to the wind so make sure you set up in a spot with a windbreak or bring layers!

We were past bear canister season so we hung our food nearby and had no issues.

We saw tons of lightning throughout the night over nearby towns but nothing hit us and we had no rain.

We are beginner backpackers and had a great time -- definitely recommend this for a quick one night trip if you're new to backpacking! The payoff of hiking uphill for ~2 miles is worth it, we loved the views.

The hike up to the campsite might be a lot but once you're up there the views are worth it. While most AT shelters have a bathroom nearby, this one doesn't. Also there isn't any water available. I've heard plenty of horror stories about the mice at this shelter so we stayed in our tent nearby. The tent spots aren't really the greatest - the few flat spots get taken pretty early and there really is only a few. We ended up sleeping at an angle and pretty uncomfortably considering the rocky terrain, but the view makes up for it!

The hike is moderate to the top and there is a shelter and awesome scenic views. Love going up here!

Large flat rocks nestle amongst the vegetation on top of Blood Mountain. This is one of the highest climbs in this southern portion of the Appalachian Trail. This is a shelter that must be hiked to but it is worth the work. With no water source at Blood Mountain shelter, I could see carrying up a large load of water and hanging out. There are plenty of places to seclude yourself and ponder life's mysteries. Large flat rocks sloping sharply made up the trail to get here. Thankfully there were frequent markings on the rocks to show the way. At some points the trail appeared to go right off the edge of the mountain. Scrambling over the boulders, going through skinny passageways, what a great hike. Eventually the large steps started up again. These are taller than my knee and meant that we all slowed down. It was a great hike through and through.