State Highpoints - Mt Mitchell, NC

The quest continues... another month, another state, another high point. It is time to tackle the State Highpoint of North Carolina - Mt. Mitchell. At 6684 ft, Mitchell is not only the state highpoint but also the highest peak in the US east of the Mississippi River. Best part - Why do only one 6000 ft peak if you have another five 6000+ ft summits within reach?!?

We will start at the Black Mtn. Campground (2680 ft) and follow the 5.6 mile Mount Mitchell Trail (USFS #190) to reach the 6684' summit of Mitchell. After taking the obligatory summit picture(s) and a short snack/drink, we turn left for a short detour southward on the Old Mitchell Trail to Mount Hallback (6300 ft). After looping back to Mitchell, we will continue northward on the Black Mountain Crest Trail (USFS #179). We will pass Mount Craig (6647 ft), Big Tom (6580 ft), Balsam Cone (6596 ft), and Cattail Peak (6584 ft - you noticed, we kept the little one until the end!) to Deep Gap, the follow the Colbert Ridge Trail (USFS #178) down to Colbert Creek Rd from where we take gravel roads back to the campground.

Note:  This hike is ~20 (twenty) miles, and it has a lot of elevation gain.  We will not be rushing through this but please don't sign up for it unless you know you can complete a long hard hike at a reasonable pace. The tripleader will reserve the right to remove folks from the sign-up list that lack the necessary hiking experience.

IMPORTANT: This is a long hike with an early carpool departure time (the Saturday carpool meets at the Indian Trail P&R at 4 AM).  If you would like to avoid getting out of bed at 3 AM, I suggest that we meet on Friday afternoon for the drive up to Black Mtn. Campground (around 1 PM at Indian Trail P&R).  The plan is to camp there for one or two nights (no reservation required. Campground is first come, first serve!)  (see Black Mtn. Campground). The trip leader will be staying at the campground (there can be eight people/two cars per site and there are bathrooms and hot showers at the campground - let me know if you would like to share a spot).  If you choose to drive on Saturday morning, please make sure that you are ready to hike at the campground parking lot no later than 8 AM.

We will start the hike at 8 AM! The estimated hiking time will be 8 to 10 hours, so we should be back at the Campground before darkness. However, this is an exploratory hike and it might be worth carrying a headlamp. 

After the hike, some folks might choose to spend another night at Black Mtn. campground. Alternatively, we can head back to ATL. 

Get on I-85 North and follow I-985 towards Gainesville/Clayton. Continue until Franklin NC where you take US23N/64E. After ~20 miles, continue on US23N/US74E until you reach I-40. Drive eastwards on I-40 and take exit 72 to US70 towards Old Fort/Mountain Gateway Museum (~10 miles), then turn left (north) onto NC-80 for another 14 miles. The Black Mtn Campground is located off South Toe River Rd.