North Carolina trails · Mst - Appalachian Rd
Mst - Appalachian Rd
A 35.1-mile point-to-point in North Carolina, with 3,643 ft of climbing. Reaches Wolfden Knob and other pass/summit destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 7,758 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Wolfden Knob (summit)
- Bull Mountain (summit)
- Balsam Gap (pass)
- Rainbow Gap (pass)
- Lane Pinnacle (summit)
- Blackstock Knob (summit)
- Pinnacle Gap (pass)
- Walker Knob (summit)
- Buck Creek (pass)
- Locust Knob (summit)
Heads up
Getting there
MT. MITCHELL TRAILHEAD — parking nearby. 35.75124, -82.22442 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:33 a.m., the sun rises at 6:59 a.m. and sets at 7:57 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 35.1-mile route works out to roughly 14 h 49 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- MST - APPALACHIAN RD + HIGGANS BALD — 5.5 mi loop, 648 ft gain
- MST - APPALACHIAN RD + BUNCOMBE HORSE — 3.1 mi loop, 1,001 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Black Mountain Crest — 2.5 mi
- East Ridge Trail — 7.1 mi
- Big Butt — 8.0 mi
- Mst - Grandfather Rd — 10.3 mi