North Carolina trails · Big Butt

Big Butt

A 5.8-mile out-and-back in North Carolina, with 1,531 ft of climbing. Reaches Point Misery and other pass/summit/viewpoint destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

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Length

5.8 mi

Elevation gain

1,531 ft

Difficulty

Hard

Max grade

38%

Steepest mile

+866 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

3.4 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Bikes

yes

Horses

yes

Managed by

U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

Most of the climbing sits in the first third — 60% of the ascent, between mile 0.0 and mile 1.9. It gives back about 1,095 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Point Misery (summit)
Little Butt (summit)
Cane River Gap (pass)
Flat Spring Knob (summit)
Balsam Gap (pass)
Big Butt (summit)
Walker Knob Overlook (MP 359.8) (viewpoint)

Getting there

BIGG BUTT TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. 35.81013, -82.34822 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:34 a.m., the sun rises at 7:00 a.m. and sets at 7:58 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:24 p.m. (EDT) — 12 h 58 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 11.6-mile round trip takes roughly 5 h 49 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:49 p.m. — 7 h 09 min before sunset.