Trail Sections

We think of the MST in 38 sections—numbered west to east—thanks to Allen de Hart, who devised the route and hiked it with his friend Alan Householder in 1997. He first used these sections in his book Hiking North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail (UNC Press 2000). Follow each link below for more information about that section.

Section 1-3: Great Smoky Mountain National Park to Balsam Gap South

Section 4: Balsam Gap South on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Bear Pen Gap in the Nantahala National Forest

Section 5: The Mile-High Section in the Pisgah National Forest

Section 6: Beech Gap to the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Section 7: Pisgah Inn to Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Section 8: Folk Art Center to Balsam Gap North on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Section 9: Mount Mitchell and the Black Mountains

Section 10: Woods Mountain Trail

Section 11: Linville Mountains and Gorge

Section 12: Waterfall Backpack through the Pisgah National Forest

Section 13–17: Blue Ridge Parkway North: Beacon Heights to Devil’s Garden Overlooks

Section 18: Stone Mountain State Park

Section 19-20: From Stone Mountain through Pilot Mountain

Section 21: The Sauratown Trail from Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock State Park

Section 22: Hanging Rock State Park to Walnut Cove

Section 23: Walnut Cove to Summerfield

Section 24: Greensboro’s Watershed Lakes

Section 25: Greensboro’s Bryan Park to Durham’s West Point on the Eno

Section 26: Durham’s West Point on the Eno to Shinleaf State Recreation Area at Falls Lake

Section 27: Falls Lake from Shinleaf Recreation Area to the Dam

Section 28-34: Falls Lake Dam to New Bern

Section 35: Bridgeton to the Ferry Landing at Minnesott Beach

Section 36: The Neusiok Trail

Section 37: Mill Creek to Cedar Island and the Ocracoke Ferry

Section 38: The Outer Banks from Ocracoke to Jockey’s Ridge State Park

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