Best Hiking in North Carolina

This list represents the most popular hiking in North Carolina (learn more about Top Trails). Use this list to plan your next North Carolina hiking trip. Select a state and/or activity below to find even more top trails.

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#1. Mount Mitchell

Mt. Mitchell—the highest peak east of the Mississippi—is a crowning part of the Blue Ridge Parkway experience. The only motorized access to the mountain is from the Parkway, at Milepost 355.3, and the…

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Asheville , NC - Hiking - 12 miles

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#2. Uwharrie National Forest Trails

Uwharrie National Forest is an increasingly attractive “best kept secret” where state-designated Scenic Byways meander through the undulating remains of North America’s oldest mountain range. The stat…

From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Asheboro , NC - Hiking - 66.5 miles

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#3. Black Mountain Campground

Black Mountain Campground has been around a long time. Over the years it has been taken care of well. Now it is like an antique, treasured by families that have been returning to Black Mountain throug…

From the guidebook "The Best In Tent Camping: The Southern Appalachian & Smoky Mountains"
Burnsville , NC - Campgrounds

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#4. Mount Pisgah Area Trails

Driving the Parkway from Asheville to Mt. Pisgah is a humbling experience —especially if you stopped by Biltmore House and Gardens on the way through town. George W. Vanderbilt’s fascinating palatial…

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Brevard , NC - Hiking - 6.4 miles

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#5. Gregory Bald Overnight Loop

This hike combines the best that the high and low country have to offer. First, you'll travel up the Twentymile Trail past Twentymile Cascades to the Upper Flats streamside camp. Then an arduous climb…

From the guidebook "Day & Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park"
Fontana Village , NC - Hiking - 15.7 miles

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#6. Appalachian Trail: Clingmans Dome to Spence Field

This hike is a long, difficult, beautiful hike, and by the end, you will have your own definition of a southern Appalachian knob. The trail follows an easy descent for about 3 miles; then a short roc…

From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Cades Cove , NC - Hiking - 22.1 miles

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#7. Appalachian Trail in North Carolina

Each spring nearly 1,500 people hoist unbelievably heavy packs onto their backs and strain down a misty trail, intent on accomplishing the most difficult task of their lives: going the length of the A…

From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Bakersville , NC - Hiking - 318 miles

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#8. Craggy Gardens Trails

How can names like Craggy Gardens, Craggy Dome, and Craggy Pinnacle not inspire hikers? Visible from all over northwest North Carolina, these barren crests offer awesome views. As the Blue Ridge Parkw…

From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Asheville , NC - Hiking - 9.6 miles

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#9. Standing Indian Campground

The Nantahala River is born on Standing Indian Mountain just upstream from this outstanding, high-country campground, where cool breezes from the ridgetops temper the warm summer air. With sites on fi…

From the guidebook "The Best In Tent Camping: The Southern Appalachian & Smoky Mountains"
Franklin , NC - Campgrounds

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#10. Shining Rock Wilderness Trails

Shining Rock—like the Craggy Mountains and Mount Mitchell just north of Asheville—is where the Parkway delivers some of the southern Appalachians’ most stunning scenery. The horizon peels back on an a…

From the guidebook "Hiking North Carolina"
Waynesville , NC - Hiking - 68.5 miles

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#11. Shining Rock Wilderness

As you drive south out of Asheville and climb past Mt. Pisgah, the Shining Rock Wilderness can’t help but catch your attention. The horizon peels back on an almost Western scale, and meadow-covered m…

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Brevard , NC - Hiking - 8.8 miles

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#12. Linville Gorge Wilderness

A 12,002-acre tract of designated wilderness, Linville Gorge lies between Jonas Ridge to the east and Linville Mountain to the west. The Blue Ridge Parkway skirts the head of the gorge on the northwes…

From the guidebook "Hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway"
Crossnore , NC - Hiking - 14 miles

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#13. Pisgah Forest Waterfalls

Transylvania means “across the woods” in Latin. Most of Transylvania County’s 250,000 acres are forested, so the translation is a fitting one. The county’s small community of Pisgah Forest exists beca…

From the guidebook "Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge"
Brevard , NC - Waterfalls

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#14. Appalachian Trail: Allen Gap to Devil Fork Gap

The northern half of this hike borders the Bald Mountain Ridge Scenic Area in the Cherokee National Forest, and the AT runs along a rugged, isolated crest. Outstanding views, masses of rhododendron a…

From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Hot Springs , NC - Hiking - 20.2 miles

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#15. Camping on Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Camping is the logical extension of any outdoor experience, and it’s the best way to get deeper into the nature of the Outer Banks. Sleeping on the soft barrier island sand, feeling the constant stick…

From the guidebook "Exploring Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores"
Buxton , NC - Campgrounds

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#16. Linville Falls Campground

A mixture of white pine, hardwoods, rhododendron and open grassy areas allows campers to choose the amount of sun and shade they want. A sizable grassy meadow is free of campsites and makes for a grea…

From the guidebook "The Best In Tent Camping: The Southern Appalachian & Smoky Mountains"
Spruce Pine , NC - Campgrounds

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#17. Appalachian Trail: Carvers Gap to Roan High Bluff & Rhododendron Gardens

Roan Mountain is a place of mystery, legend, wild beauty, and superlatives. The largest of the southern Appalachian grassy balds, it also boasts one of the most beautiful displays of Catawba rhododen…

From the guidebook "Exploring the Appalachian Trail: Hikes in the Southern Appalachians"
Bakersville , NC - Hiking - 5.6 miles

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#18. Yadkin River

The Yadkin River begins at an elevation above 3,600 feet near Blowing Rock, on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It flows southeast toward Lenoir, but near Patterson and Happy Valley it…

From the guidebook "Paddling Eastern North Carolina"
Wilkesboro , NC - Flatwater Paddling & Canoeing - 147.3 miles

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