Day Hikes and Backpack Trips

The MST offers many great places for day hikes and short packing trips.  We’ve selected some of our favorites in the mountains, piedmont and on the coast. Please hike safely.

Mountain Day Hikes and Backpack Trips

Descriptions of mountain hikes are given north to south. Hike difficulty ratings are based on the Carolina Mountain Club's estimate for a hiker of average ability, and the first letter in parentheses refers to the difficulty of the hike in a north-to-south direction and the second for the hike in a south-to-north direction (E=Easy, M=Moderate; S=Strenuous). Thus, (E/M) signifies that the section is an easy hike in the north to south direction, and moderately difficult when hiked south to north. Milepost mileage for the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) is given to help in locating trail access points. The BRP mileage will often differ from the trail mileage. Trail miles are one way only (double them when planning a round-trip hike).

Day Hike: U.S. 74A to U.S. 25A. 4.1 miles. (E/E). Some views and easily accessible. Popular trail close to Asheville. MP 384.7 to 388.1. N. access: on BRP at southern end of 74A overpass. S. access: on BRP just north of 25A overpass.

Day Hike: Craven Gap to BRP crossing. 4.4 miles. Trail crosses BRP. Views, wildflowers, and views of the Haw Creek community. (E/M). From MP 377.4 to 381.0. Both accesses: BRP

Day Hike:. Bee Tree Gap Road to Rattlesnake Lodge. 5.7 miles. (S/S) Views, varied forest, and hike over Lane Pinnacle. (S/S). From MP 367.6 to 374.4. N. access: 200 yards from BRP on Bee Tree Gap Road at junction of FS Road #63. S. access: to Rattlesnake Lodge is one-half mile trail from Tanbark Tunnel on BRP. Suggested short hike: one-half mile from Tanbark Tunnel to Rattlesnake Lodge and Return.

Day Hike: Mt. Mitchell Road to Balsam Gap. 5 miles. (S/S) Over Blackstock Knob. Varied trail, good views of the mountains and the BRP and unusually fine examples of rock work in trail building. MP 355.4 to 359.8. A suggested shorter hike is to hike south one and one-half miles from the Mt. Mitchell Road and return. N. access: Hwy. 128 one-half mile to intersection of MST. S. access: Intersection of MST and BRP at MP 359.8.

Day Hike: Mt. Mitchell (highest point in eastern U.S.) to Mt. Mitchell Road. 4.7 miles. (S/S) Views and streams. N. access: Parking lot at terminus of N.C. 128 (3 miles from BRP). S. access: NC. 128 one-half miles to intersection of MST and N.C. 128 from BRP.

Day Hike: Woods Mountain Trail. 13.0 miles. This MST section starts at Buck Creek Gap at the intersection of NC-80 and the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 344.1. The second half of the trail follows old forest roads before reaching Woodlawn Picnic area at HW-221. The Picnic area has water and bathrooms.

Backpack Trip: Linville Mountains and Gorge. 34.0 miles. This section makes a beautiful and very strenuous 3-4 day backpacking trip. It is the most remote and perhaps the most scenic section on the MST. You will need to wade the Linville River (no bridge) which can be dangerous during high water. The climb up Bald Knob has 37 switchbacks with views of Shortoff Mountain and Table Rock. Descend into the Linville Gorge, cross the river and ascend sharply for about 2 miles to the top of Shortoff Mountain. Campsites with a seasonal spring are available on Shortoff.  Reach the Table Rock parking area at mile 23.0. Descend into Steels Creek area for scenic waterfalls. Parking is available at NC-181. Topo maps are a must for this area. No-trace camping is permitted anywhere on US Forest property.

Backpack Trip: Waterfall Backpack through the Pisgah National Forest. 25.0 miles.This MST section offers another great weekend backpacking trip full of scenic waterfalls. Be prepared for several stream crossings. The trail starts at the intersection of NC-181 with the Blue Ridge Parkway and ends at Beacon Heights.

Backpack Trip: Tanawha and Boone Fork Trails to Moses Cone Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 25 miles. The MST follows the Tanawha, Boone Fork and Rich Mountain trails through this extremely scenic area with Grandfather Mountain in the background. Start at Beacon Heights near milepost 303 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The only campground is at Price Park at mile 13.5. Visit the Cone Manor in Cone Park before reaching Blowing Rock at US-321.

Day Hike: Laurel Springs to Devils Garden Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. 14 miles. The MST follows the Bluff Mountain Trail through Doughton Park where camping is available. On clear days you can see Mt. Rodgers in Virginia. The restaurant at Doughton Park offers great food. The blackberry cobbler is worth the hike!

Piedmont Day Hikes

Day Hike: Sauratown Loop. 6 miles. North of Winston-Salem, the MST follows the Sauratown Trail. a 20+ mile trail network that runs west to east from the Surry Line parking area at Pilot Mountain State Park and to the Tories Den parking area of Hanging Rock State park. An excellent map (1.8 MB) of the entire trail network is available through the Sauratown Trail Association, an equestrian group which built and maintains the trails.

Dayhike: Townsend Trail on Greensboro’s Watershed Lakes. 5.1 miles.The MST follows Greensboro’s watershed lake trails for more than 20 miles. This dayhike on the Townsend Trail is a portion of the MST in Guilford County. A map of the entire watershed trail system is available. The Townsend Trail has trailheads at Yanceyville Road in the west and Southshore Road in the east. Roadside parking is available at the Yanceyville Road trailhead and on Southshore Road, 0.3 miles from Townsend Road.

Dayhike: Falls Lake, North Raleigh. The MST now runs more than 50 miles along the south shore of Falls Lake from the Eno River in Durham County to the dam in north Raleigh. One beautiful 8.2-mile dayhike runs from the Falls Lake Dam on Falls of the Neuse Road to the dead-end of Possum Track Road. Many other day hikes are available as the MST has many access points in this area.

Coastal Day Hikes and Backpack Trips

Day Hike or Backpack Trip: Neusiok Trail - Croatan National Forest near Havelock. 20.4 miles. Easy. Trailheads: Parking lot at Pinecliff Recreation Area to parking lot at Newport River. Maps are available through the Carteret Wildlife Club which built and maintains this section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

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