North Carolina trails · Anst - Nantahala Rd
Anst - Nantahala Rd
A 52.6-mile point-to-point in North Carolina, with 3,712 ft of climbing. Reaches Wayah Bald and other pass/summit destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the first third: 49% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 17.5. It gives back about 9,463 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Wayah Bald (summit)
- Deep Gap (pass)
- Carter Gap (pass)
- Beech Gap (pass)
- Albert Mountain (summit)
- Coleman Gap (pass)
- Tellico Gap (pass)
- Burningtown Gap (pass)
- Wallace Gap (pass)
- Glassmine Gap (pass)
Heads up
Getting there
ROCK GAP TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. 35.09407, -83.52244 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:39 a.m., the sun rises at 7:05 a.m. and sets at 8:02 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:28 p.m. (EDT) — 12 h 57 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 52.6-mile route works out to roughly 21 h 21 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Across the border
- Continues into GA as Appalachian Trail — view on the map
Nearby trails
- Chunky Gal — 6.2 mi
- Anst - Tusquitee Rd — 8.3 mi
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail — 12.3 mi
- Bartram Trail — 15.2 mi