Tagged Richland Balsam, Lickstone Ridge, Reinhart Knob, and Mount Hardy.

The sunset pictures at the end are my favorite. Was insane running down the parkway with those views

I had planned a loop hike in the Snowbird Wilderness Study Area this week and wanted to give some insight into how it’s looking out there. This hike was not for the casual hiker and portions of this trail system could be dangerous with the state of trail maintenance at the moment.

The plan was to hike out from the trailhead at Hooper Bald off the Cherohala skyway to take the slow downhill King Meadow trail to The Junction and hop on trail 64 (Big Snowbird Creek Trail) that loops back up to a connecting trail called “Mitchell Lick” which completes the loop. Part of Mitchel Lick connects the nice Hooper Bald paths with the King Meadow trail.

Well, we made it about 100 yards onto Mitchell Lick before the trail was completely gone. It’s so overgrown we could not find a trace of it. We decided to pivot and drove to the Junction trailhead up by Robbinsville instead, which connects the King Meadow trail, Big Snowbird, and Snowbird Mountain trails.

There are nice campsites along the road that runs along the creek up to the trailhead, as well as great fishing spots.

Big Snowbird trail was great. We took it from the trailhead headed west. The only issue we ran into was that these are not blazed trails, making some of the dozen or so stream crossings less intuitive than expected. A few spots had some ribbon markers that made things easier (thanks!). The crossings themselves weren’t too bad. I’m 5’3” and the deepest I had to wade in was just over my knees. I could tell they could be rough if the water was higher or after a heavy rainfall.

There are two alternate trails that branch north and south of the 64 to head to some waterfalls. We took the southern trail, 65, the sassafras falls trail to the waterfall. Beautiful cascades. From there, we hit the 65A, which was supposed to loop up a ridge and back down to meet back up with the 64.

64A is also called Burntrock Ridge Trail. I would not recommend this trail to anyone inexperienced in its current state. It’s listed as moderate and maybe it is in the fall or with better maintenance. We headed up at a 30% grade for about a quarter mile which was rough but at the top of the ridge, the trail is so overgrown we had to navigate it mostly by bushwhacking and with GPS. The plants are so thick we lost the trail a few times and had to rely on GPS and literally guessing until we spotted something that looks like the trail. I don’t think even with my experience that we could have stayed on the trail with just a map. The ridge is incredibly steep, making all the many large downed trees potential slides for you to fly off into the holler below if you’re not careful when climbing over. The ridge did not provide any views or anything else other than victory for climbing it. And it was a victory haha.

We made it down and camped down by Middle Falls. Definitely check them out. The pool below them is very nice.

Overall, highly recommend the main Big Snowbird Trail (64). Bring your trail sandals and enjoy getting wet, beautiful mushrooms and trees, and waterfalls. Anything deeper than that, I would download your offline maps and bring a machete.

I’m planning a labor day backpacking trip with some friends, current itinerary is to take the Colbert Ridge Trail up to Deep Gap and summit Mitchell, fill up water there, then head down Commissary Ridge to the Commissary Hill campsite, camp for the night, then head the rest of the way down the Mt Mitchell trail. We would leave a car at each trailhead. Is this reasonable for a generally fit group in their 20s with some backpacking experience?

Additionally, is it possible to just dispersed camp in the woods near either Colbert Ridge trailhead or Black Mountain Campground? I know the campground itself is closed, but we want to get started early.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/lick-mountain-via-uwharrie-and-dutchmans-creek-loop?p=-1&sh=0pzyzo&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

I am considering driving nc 105 this weekend in my fwd ram promaster high roof. I have read that it is sometimes passable in regular sedans. If that is the case I should be ok, but looking for opinions. I would be coming from the south. My biggest concern is probably the long wheel base.

I'm trying to plan out a short 2-day hike in PRD, somewhere in this area pictured. I've done Art Loeb and stuff in Shining Rock, so I could just go back there, but I will have more time if I stick a little closer to Asheville. I've never been to these trails down around Grindstone Ridge, Squirrel Gap, Soapstone Ridge. Are these cool? easy tent sites? water?

I could go to Middle Prong or something but I'd like something a little easier, since my AT thru I've kind of let myself go. But I still want to get out there and chip away at the Pisgah 400.

Youngest and I did Jonas Ridge to Hawksbill today. Started off cloudy but cleared up nicely. 4.5 miles or so out and back.  Pretty sure we saw 2 Peregrine Falcons from Hawksbill too. 

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/moores-knob-via-hanging-rock-to-moores-wall?p=-1&sh=0pzyzo&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

My wife and I are headed to the Crystal Coast again. We love it there and this will be our third visit.

Every time we do the drive from the airport to the coast I see people wading in rocky streams and it looks like the best day ever.

We'll be traveling along US 70 for the most part. Any places you'd recommend stopping along the way?

Hi all! Has anyone been to stone mountain recently, and if so, is the part of the loop by the falls stil unpassable? Thanks!

Weather kept us off this one a while back. She does not handle cold well. She had a few days off and wanted to knock this one out. All told, amazing hike. And a real butt kicker. It might have been easier as a straight out and back. But we dropped down to Buncombe Horse Trial and climbed Mt Mitchell Trail on day 2.

The white TeePee was by the trail on the way in near Cattail Peak. We broke it down and packed it out. Along with some USB fairy lights and handful of paracord from Deep gap.

Deep Gap had a small seep flowing about 100 yards down Colbert Ridge. Took forever but managed to get enough water to get us back to Buncombe Horse Trail. Also managed to summit Winter Star.

I just moved to the Greensboro area and am looking for good weekend overnight backpacking locations where I can pitch my tent and get good views of the mountains. I am an experienced backpacker, I’ve done multiple 2+ week treks out west so a strenuous trail isn’t a problem. Just looking for any good advice on something 2 ish hours away where I won’t see a ton of people, can camp with good views and can set up camp off the trail, thanks! Any other tips are welcome!

Did a peakbagging route, started at walker knob and followed the MST to craggy dome, then also kept going to craggy pinnacle, ran back on the parkway. 11 miles

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/moores-knob-cooks-wall-cole-gap-and-hanging-rock?p=-1&sh=0pzyzo&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

I’m going with a couple friends to the gorge tomorrow for a 2 night backpacking trip. We have 2 options we’re considering-

Option 1: Start at Conley cove and hike down to the linville gorge trail. Set up camp by the river tomorrow, xplore the area Saturday, hike back up Conley Sunday AM. We would probably keep the same campsite both nights with this option.

Option 2: Park one car at pinch in and another at Conley Cove. Start at pinch in, head down and set up camp tomorrow night, hike north Saturday and find another spot to camp Saturday night. Sunday head up Conley cove.

Curious to know other people’s thoughts as we are experienced but haven’t done the gorge before. Looks like some scattered storms tomorrow but not much else this weekend. Thanks

Hi all!

I am planning to do a backpacking trip from black mountain campground all the way to Celo Knob and back. I understand water is an issue and I'm prepared for it but I want to know if any part of the trail is impossible by a dog. I have a very fit doodle and he's done great in many backpacking trips we've done. I read about some possible and scrambling at times and that might be an issue.

I would appreciate all information.

Thanks and happy hiking :)

I know they’re supposed to have been extinct in the eastern US for a century, but I keep seeing people online talk about how they swear they’ve seen or heard them and that they’re definitely here, but that the authorities won’t admit it. Mountain lions scare me because I’m interested in going solo hiking in pisgah national forest and I REALLY don’t want to be stalked by one if they are out there. Has anyone seen or encountered one in this region before? Is it pretty silly for me to be worried about them in NC?

Where the H*ck do yall find people to do hikes with? I work out every day, am super social, have plenty of friends in every other regard, but I cannot for the life of me find people willing to go spend the night on a mountain. Granted, most of my hikes are ones that you could easily be in a bad situation if you were to get injured or lost. But still, it’s NC, not the Rockies. Most people seem to be turned off by the slight “danger” or just straight up don’t feel like doing 8-10 miles, yet I see them workout every day and they could easily do it. I guess just looking for answers on where yall met your hiking buddies, was it out on the trail? At the gym? At a group event? Or just random people in your life that you did other stuff with and ended up finding out they hiked?

Thought I'd share here. I finally upgraded to a 4k capable camera last year and hope to keep doing more of these as I refine my videography skills. See my channel if you want to see more like it 🙂

Hey all! I’m planning a 15 mile 3 day 2 night loop through Grayson Highlands/Mount Rogers from 28-30th. Plan on hitting Wilburn Ridge, Mount Rogers, Scales, etc. I’m relatively new to backpacking and trying to find someone to potentially join me if anyone’s interested.

Also wondering if anyone knows any good waterfalls around the area that might be worth checking out. Thanks!

44M, any good spots to hike, swim that’s secluded near Bryson City, Fontana Lake … etc.

FT new to area