North Carolina trails · North Boundary
North Boundary
A 4.9-mile out-and-back in North Carolina, with 1,219 ft of climbing. Reaches Mease Gap and other pass/summit destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Mease Gap (pass)
- Ingles Fields Gap (pass)
- Billy Cove Gap (pass)
- Yellow Gap (pass)
- Sheep Gap (pass)
- Billy Cove Knob (summit)
- Little Hickory Top (summit)
Getting there
NORTH BOUNDARY access. 35.47780, -82.66693 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:35 a.m., the sun rises at 7:01 a.m. and sets at 7:59 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:25 p.m. (EDT) — 12 h 58 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 9.7-mile round trip takes roughly 4 h 50 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 11:51 a.m. — 8 h 08 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Three Humps + NORTH BOUNDARY — 1.0 mi loop, 174 ft gain
- Little Hickory Top + NORTH BOUNDARY + GREENS LICK — 5.2 mi loop, 1,260 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Mst - Pisgah Rd — 4.4 mi
- Laurel Mountain — 5.8 mi
- Squirrel Gap — 8.4 mi
- Turkey Pen Gap — 9.3 mi