North Carolina trails · Mountains to Sea Trail

Mountains to Sea Trail

A 17.9-mile out-and-back in North Carolina, with 3,979 ft of climbing. Reaches Bunches Gap and other pass/viewpoint destinations.

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Length

17.9 mi

Elevation gain

3,979 ft

Difficulty

Expert

Max grade

47%

Steepest mile

+691 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

5.1 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the middle third: 54% of the ascent falls between mile 8.5 and mile 16.9. It gives back about 4,283 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

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

Reaches

Bunches Gap (pass)
Docks Gap (pass)
Wolf Laurel Gap (pass)
Soco Gap (pass)
Big Witch Gap (pass)
Mollie Gap (pass)
Pedestrian Overlook (viewpoint)
Thomas Divide Overlook (MP 463.9) (viewpoint)
Big Witch Overlook (MP 461.9) (viewpoint)
Bunches Bald Overlook (MP 459.5) (viewpoint)

Heads up

Terrain graded T2 (SAC scale).

Getting there

Mountains to Sea Trail access. 35.50920, -83.16961 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:37 a.m., the sun rises at 7:03 a.m. and sets at 8:01 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:27 p.m. (EDT) — 12 h 58 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 35.9-mile round trip works out to roughly 17 h 17 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.

Loop options

Mountains-to-Sea Trail + Mountains to Sea Trail — 1.1 mi loop, 143 ft gain
Mountains-to-Sea Trail + Mountains to Sea Trail — 2.4 mi loop, 558 ft gain
Rattlesnake Lodge Trail + Mountains to Sea Trail — 1.7 mi loop, 727 ft gain