Climbed Mt. Pisgah - 5,722 feet at summit. Tower on top is 339 additional feet high. Mount Pisgah is a mountain in the Appalachian Mountain Range and part of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, United States. The mountain's height is 5,721 feet (1,744 m) above sea level, and it sits approximately 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Asheville, near the crossing of the boundaries of Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Transylvania counties. It is located on the border of Buncombe and Haywood counties, close to the point where Henderson and Transylvania meet them, but not actually within the latter two counties. The mountain is easily accessible via a hiking trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway, near the Pisgah Inn.
Mount Pisgah Hike
Synopsis
A classic Blue Ridge Parkway hike, this trail continues onto National Forest land to climb to the summit of one of the area's most well-known peaks. Easily visible from most of downtown Asheville, Mount Pisgah's 5721' summit supports the transmission tower for WLOS-TV, channel 13. The trail itself is a rocky, steep climb through Northern hardwood forests, and rhododendron and mountain laurel tunnels, to the summit, where 360 degree views await!
Hike Statistics
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Total Length: 3 mi
- Trail Tread Condition: Moderately Rough
- Climb: Climbs Moderately
- Lowest Elevation: 4980 ft
- Highest Elevation: 5730 ft
- Total Elevation Gain: 750 ft
- Trails Used: Mount Pisgah
- Hike Configuration: Out-and-back
- Starting point: Mount Pisgah Parking Area, Blue Ridge Parkway milepost 407.6
Hike Description
The trail starts at the back of the parking area behind the large sign board. At the parking lot, you are just shy of 5000' in elevation and you are in the midst of the high-elevation northern hardwood forest. You will be in this forest, largely dominated by oaks, all the way to the summit - although you will see some birches, maples, beeches, spruce, and many other less common species mixing in at times.
In the first half of the hike, you will gain about 200' in elevation. The other 550' are gained in the second half, so the second half is much steeper. The entire hike is very rocky. There are some rooty and wet sections as well.
The trail begins a gentle climb along the slopes of Little Pisgah Mountain. The trees are a bit taller here than on the summit, but still quite gnarled and twisted. Some of them are hollow, and you may see animals (or people!) inside. As usual in these mountains, the sound of a rushing stream not far away can be heard. This particular stream is in the valley to your left as you wrap around the upper part of its watershed.
This stretch of trail offers wintertime views of Mt. Pisgah itself. In the summer, the cool, high-elevation woods offer a nice respite from the heat even if you don't hike all the way to the top.
You will reach the crest of the ridge between Little Pisgah Mountain and Mount Pisgah itself, and begin the more difficult part of the climb. This is where many turn back. The trail ahead travels up the ridgeline for a while where it becomes moderately steep. Then, you'll slip off the south side of the ridge onto on a very steep section of trail. There are some difficult step-ups and off-camber rocky sections. This is the steepest part of the climb.
After the climb moderates some, the trail will enter a long mountain laurel tunnel. It's not as steep, but it is still very rocky - almost one big rock staircase. The trail achieves a side ridge, switches back and then follows this ridge to the top of the summit, making a few turns through a stand of American Beech trees.
At the summit, you'll find the transmission tower for WLOS-TV, channel 13, and an observation deck. This kind of ruins any feeling of being in the wilderness, but the view is spectacular. On a clear day, you can see the parking area, the Campground & Pisgah Inn to the east; the Shining Rock Wilderness Area to your west (with Cold Mountain at its northern end); the Great Smoky Mountains farther to the west; and to the north, the city of Asheville, Craggy Mountains, and Mount Mitchell.
When you're finished soaking up the views, return to your vehicle on the same path.
Connecting Trails: Those staying at the Pisgah Inn can walk from the Inn north on the Buck Spring trail for 1.4 miles, past the old Buck Spring Lodge site, to the Mt. Pisgah Parking Area. From there, you can hike on up Mt. Pisgah itself. From the parking area, the Shut - In trail also heads north along the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Asheville. The Shut-In trail is the original route from the Biltmore Estate to the Buck Spring lodge, built as a mountain getaway for George Vanderbilt, owner of the famous Biltmore. The North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail follows both the Buck Spring and Shut-In trails, and connects to trails in Pisgah National Forest in both directions.
View more photos in this hike's gallery.
Map
Here's an interactive GPS map of this hike. Yellow highlight indicates the route followed by this hike within the trail network. Only the trails and points of interest along the hike, and those in the immediate vicinity, are shown. For expanded maps, see this hike's Trailhead area.
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Day 2:
Climbed Mt. Mitchell - 6,683 feet at summit. Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It was the highest point in any state of the United States until Texas joined the union in 1845. The nearest higher point is Lone Butte in Colorado, 1,189 miles (1,914 km) west, which is only eight feet higher. Mount Mitchell is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina, in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians, and about 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Asheville. It is protected by Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest.
Old Mitchell Hike
Synopsis
Don't be like the rest of the tourists and drive to the top: take a real hike to the summit of Mount Mitchell! This moderate trail climbs from the Park Office roughly 2 miles to the summit along a beautiful trail that is both historic and yet newly-completed. The entire trail is above 6000' in elevation, meaning even during the summer you'll stay cool and refreshed. See the changing ecosystem and examples of the spruce-fir forest zone close-up. You'll pass the park restaurant and campground on the way. Return through historic Camp Alice, a former tourist and logging camp, on an easy old roadbed back up to the park office.
Hike Statistics
- Difficulty: More Difficult
- Total Length: 4 mi
- Trail Tread Condition: Moderately Rough
- Climb: Hilly
- Lowest Elevation: 6040 ft
- Highest Elevation: 6700 ft
- Total Elevation Gain: 975 ft
- Trails Used: Summit, Camp Alice, Old Mitchell, Commissary
- Hike Configuration: Loop w/ Out-and-back extension
- Starting point: Park Office at Stepps Gap
Details
Hike Description
Start by taking the Old Mitchell Trail up the hill beside the park office. You will ascend moderately through fields and brambles where large Fraser Fir trees once stood. Thanks to Balsam Wooly Adelgid infestation, all that remains in this area are tall, dead gray skeletons or fallen logs, and succulent saplings. This is one of the most evident things along this hike: the changing forests.
As you continue to climb, you reach the remaining edge of a standing, live forest. The trees start out thin at first, but then you enter a relatively healthy stand where it is possible to imagine what these mountains must have looked like before the adelgids began ravaging the fir forests. The trail levels out, swings left and skirts around this unnamed peak. This section, like much of this trail, is quite rocky and rooty. Some wet and muddy spots may exist as well.
The trail will then descend into the gap occupied by the park restaurant, where you'll get your first view of Mount Mitchell's summit, straight ahead. Go straight across the lawn and continue straight on the walkway over to the parking lot. At the lot, turn right and pick up the trail again behind the map and sign board, turning left. You'll pass the employee barracks on your right.
The trail then heads uphill again through another open area filled with blackberry bushes. Some good views, back toward the restaurant and surrounding mountains, can be seen from here. You'll enter another intact stand of firs and cross directly over the next summit along the ridge, but it's not very high. On your left will be a park water tank. You'll descend slightly into the next gap, and then bump into the park road on your left.
From here, the trail veers right and drops just off the crest of the ridge. This section of new trail, which I helped build as a park employee in the summer of 2001 and which was completed in summer of 2003, goes up-and-down as it winds around some large rock outcroppings. You'll encounter several sets of log and rock steps.
Up to this point, the trail has been going up and down, but about now it starts decidedly downhill. It will lose a couple hundred feet in elevation before it starts climbing again. Many sets of wood and rock stairs carry you up and around rock outcroppings along the way, and there's a large bridge structure that carries you over one of them.
The trail descends, sometimes steeply, and the surroundings get more wet. There may be lots of slippery mud after heavy rains in this area. Along this section, you'll get lots of views of the summit as you approach it. And to your right, there are some great views down to Camp Alice itself. Camp Alice is an old logging and tourist camp, which you will be visiting later on during this hike.
Several very large Red Spruce trees survive along this area which is slightly lower in elevation, though there are many dead ones as well. Taking the place of the dead spruces are mountain maples, mountain ash, birch, and beech, as well as young spruce and fir. The trail resumes climbing in earnest again shortly, and you'll reach the intersection of the Camp Alice/Mountains to Sea trail in a dense stand of almost pure, young Fraser Fir trees.
Turning right here would take you down to Camp Alice. But first, you'll want to go to the summit itself - it's not far. So turn left to begin the out-and-back portion of this hike. You will return to this intersection after exploring the summit area.
The trail climbs moderately through a couple of switchbacks, after emerging from the stand of firs into a clearing of sorts. But vibrant, young firs are starting to grow in abundance between here and the summit and may eventually take back over the landscape. It doesn't take long, at the rate they can grow in good conditions, for them to block out light and form a dark canopy over the trail.
At the top of the clearing, you'll pass through a switchback and reach another intersection. The park road is beyond a former stand of firs straight ahead of you. This flat spot is the location of the old summit parking area - before the road was extended, carrying tourists up to the larger parking area closer to the top. A whole forest has grown up and died here since that old parking area was abandoned.
The trail to the left leads down to the campground, so turn right here to go up toward the summit. You'll enter another stand of Fraser Firs, which get shorter the higher you go. This very rocky section of trail climbs alongside the park road so you may hear cars to your left. You've reached the developed summit area once you get to the wide, paved path.
You are now 1 1/4 miles above sea level! There used to be a sign stating as much, although it was gone last time I visited. Though you probably won't notice any thinning of the air, you're in an alpine environment here and it can get quite harsh at times, even if conditions were mild up to this point. It's a rather exposed mountaintop, so do come prepared for the weather.
There are a few things to explore in the summit area. Turn right and follow the pavement a few more steps to reach the new observation platform on the summit itself. Or go left to reach the concession area, museum, restrooms, and picnic area. An optional loop around the Balsam Nature Trail will provide more insight into the high-elevation forest - and the path ends back at the main parking area. Take some pictures, maybe enjoy a snack from the concession stand, or a lunch in the picnic area. Especially if you are not driving up later, be sure to check out the excellent new museum.
There's more to see in the park, so when you're done exploring the summit, head back down the Old Mitchell trail the way you came to continue the hike. Turn left at the with the campground spur, toward Camp Alice.From here it is 3/4 mile down the mountain to Camp Alice. Keep straight at the intersection with the Old Mitchell trail on your right. The trail becomes the Mountains to Sea/Camp Alice trail, and that resumes the loop portion of the hike.
This stretch of trail descends steeply through a mixed forest of spruces, firs, and hardy deciduous trees, such as mountain maple, birch, and mountain ash. You'll hear the trickling of water during wet weather, which increases to a rushing sound as you descend. After crossing some tributaries, you'll emerge from the forest onto a gravel road called the Commissary Trail. There is another directional sign here.
To the right, as the sign states, it is 1 mile back to the park office, your vehicle, and the end of the hike (see below). But you may want to explore out to Camp Alice and Commissary Ridge first. Doing so will add up to 1.4 miles to the hike's overall total.
To the left, it's 0.7 miles to a popular National Forest campsite on Commissary Ridge. The way is nearly level, and travels through spectacular alpine scenery, making it a highly recommended out-and-back side trip. Almost immediately, you'll cross cascading Lower Creek as it flows over the road, but it should be an easy rock-hop to keep your shoes dry. You'll then pass through the area known as Camp Alice, which is the open clearing on the other side of Lower Creek.
This is the site of the terminus of the Mount Mitchell passenger railroad. This railroad operated through the early 1900's, after being used as a logging camp in the years before. Several structures, both logging and tourist related, were built in the area over time. Most traces of the camp itself have vanished, except the old road/railroad beds and the clearing.
A gravel park road veers left shortly. Continue straight on the unimproved road bed which becomes more of a trail. This level old railroad grade is an incredibly scenic, easy walk. Thick, intact patches of spruce-fir forest line the edges of grassy clearings, and clumps of blueberries and rhododendrons grow along both sides of the road. This side trip is especially recommended when the blueberries are ripe, but do be aware: bears love the sweet ripe fruit too! (The area is marked and closed when bear activity is high here, so you may want to check with the park office before your hike).
When you're done exploring, return to the Camp Alice trail intersection back across Lower Creek.
(Continued) The Commissary Trail, from the Camp Alice trail to the park office, is a gravel road with a slightly uphill grade. This easy walk takes you back into a forest of mostly northern hardwoods, before returning into an area mixed with spruces and firs. You'll go around the open, grassy ridge below the park's restaurant. There is an excellent view back toward the summit from here. After skirting the unnamed peak behind the park office once again, you'll arrive back at your vehicle and the end of this hike.
View more photos in this hike's gallery.
Map
Here's an interactive GPS map of this hike. Yellow highlight indicates the route followed by this hike within the trail network. Only the trails and points of interest along the hike, and those in the immediate vicinity, are shown. For expanded maps, see this hike's Trailhead area.
Download GPS Data
In the heart of the Black Mountains of western North Carolina stands Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Named for the dark spruces and firs that cover the slopes of the higher elevations, the Black Mountains contain more than 20 peaks that rise above 6000 feet. Six of those peaks are among the ten highest in the eastern United States, making the Blacks the highest mountain range in the Appalachians.
Mt. Mitchell is also the namesake and centerpiece of the 1,946-acre Mount Mitchell State Park, located 33 miles north of Asheville off the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile marker #355. The mountain and park encompass an environment that is more similar to Canada than the Southeast. As a result of the high altitude, many of the plants and animals in the park are similar to those found in the boreal forests of Canada.
The mountain is named after Elisha Mitchell, a professor from the University of North Carolina, who determined its height in 1835. On a return trip in 1857 to verify his earlier measurements, Mitchell fell to his death at nearby Mitchell Falls. His body is buried next to the platform where a stone marker recounts his work in the Black Mountains.
In 1915 a bill was introduced in the state legislature establishing Mount Mitchell as the first state park, and in the process created the North Carolina State Parks System as well.
Six games of bowling. Brian won game #2.
Visited Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest. Sliding Rock is a rock and small slide-type waterfall on Looking Glass Creek, in the Pisgah National Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina. It has a gentle slope and is about 60 feet long, ending in a large, deep pool (between 6-7 feet deep) at the bottom.
Visited Looking Glass Falls in the Pisgah National Forest. The name comes from Looking Glass Rock, which resembles a wintertime mirror (or looking "glass") of sunlight, as water freezes on its sides and reflects the sun. The falls are open to the public and are accessible on the side of U.S. Highway 276, approximately 5.6 miles north of the intersection of 276, U.S. Highway 64, and NC Highway 280 in Brevard, North Carolina. It is an extremely popular waterfall, due to ease of access to the falls directly on the side of the road. There is a path that leads to the plunge pool. According to local Emergency Services personnel, there have been many injuries and deaths at the falls, mainly due to individuals who rock climb near the edge of the falls and accidentally fall in the plunge pool, or persons who jump in the plunge pool. Persons who visit Looking Glass Falls should take care to respect both basic safety rules and the fragile environment that exist at the falls.
Day 3: Whitewater rafting on the French Broad River. The French Broad River was named by white settlers centuries ago because it was one of the two broad rivers in western North Carolina. The one which flowed into land claimed by France at that time was named the "French Broad River", whereas the other, which stayed in land claimed by England – the Colony of North Carolina – was named the "English Broad River". (The latter was later renamed simply the "Broad River"). The name of the French Broad River in French was the Agiqua River, the Native Americans of this area – the Cherokee Indians – called it different names: Poelico, Agiqua (broad) in the mountains, Tahkeeosteh (racing waters) from Asheville down and Zillicoah above Asheville.
Sliding Rock: Brian starts down after 1:00 mark
French Broad River - very shaky