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North Carolina trails · East Ridge Trail

East Ridge Trail

A 2.2-mile out-and-back in North Carolina, with 420 ft of climbing. Reaches Lookout Mountain and other pass/summit/viewpoint destinations.

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Length
2.2 mi
Elevation gain
420 ft
Difficulty
Moderate
Max grade
43%
Steepest mile
+377 ft
Tread at ≥10% grade
1.3 mi
Shape
out-and-back
Surface
Ground
Bikes
no
Horses
no

Elevation profile

3,582 – 4,003 ft12

The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 716 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

3-D terrain view of East Ridge Trail

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

Reaches

Heads up

Terrain graded T3 (SAC scale) — exposed or hands-on hiking reported on part of this route.

Getting there

East Ridge Trail access. About 51 min drive (25 mi, 5 of them unpaved) from Asheville. 35.66111, -82.28538 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:08 a.m., the sun rises at 7:34 a.m. and sets at 6:55 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:20 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 21 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 4.4-mile round trip takes roughly 2 h 03 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 9:38 a.m. — 9 h 17 min before sunset.

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