North Carolina High Peaks Trail Association & Friends of Mount Mitchell State Park

Celebrate Earth Day on Monday, April 22 by joining the Mt. Mitchell State Park staff and NC High Peaks Trail Association in a tree-planting project high atop the tallest mountain in the Eastern U.S.

The group will assemble at the Park Office at 9 a.m. and will be planting spruce and fir seedlings.

Join the NC High Peaks Trail Association on Friday, April 5 for a challenging Spring hike along the Appalachian Trail from Devil Fork Gap to the I-26 crossing. The hike should offer nice views to the north and west from this section, which roughly follows the NC/TN border.

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, the NC High Peaks Trail Association will partner with Mt. Mitchell State Park to offer two invigorating hikes on Friday, March 15.

The easier hike will start at 11 a.m. and consist of a 2-mile out-and-back from the summit to Mt. Craig. This hike is rated as moderate-to-strenuous and does involve scrambling up and down some rock faces and a steep set of rock steps. 

HIKE CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER and will not be rescheduled.

Join the NC High Peaks Trail Association for a moderate hike from the Celo Community to scenic Crabtree Falls on Friday, March 1. This out-and-back hike will cover about 6 miles.

Assemble at 9 a.m. at the Celo Community soccer fields, about a mile down Hannah Branch Rd. from the bridge and right turn off Seven Mile Ridge Road.

HIKE RESCHEDULED TO SATURDAY, FEB. 24

Hikers are invited to join the NC High Peaks Trail Association for a moderate hike of four miles on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail on Saturday, Feb. 24.

The outing will go from Buck Creek Gap (NC 80) on the MST to Singecat Overlook, a round-trip of about four miles. There will be an option to hike part-way on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which would add another 1.5 miles to the hike.

Fit, experienced hikers are invited to join the NC High Peaks Trail Association for a very challenging climb up the Mt. Mitchell Trail on Friday, Feb. 2.

This extremely strenuous outing is not for beginners - the all-day hike will cover 12 miles, including a climb of about 3,700 feet up a rugged track that may be icy, followed by a tough, possibly slippery descent back down the same trail.

The N.C. High Peaks Trail Association recently purchased, donated and installed two bear-proof steel food storage boxes at Commissary Ridge, a popular backcountry camping spot on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail not far from the Mt. Mitchell summit.

The roughly 3-foot-square, 330-pound boxes have bear-proof door latches that should enable campers to store food and other bear-attractive personal items locked away from the prying claws and powerful noses of the area’s black bears. 

Join the NC High Peaks Trail Association for a hiking featuring views of a couple of remote waterfalls on Saturday, Jan. 20.

The 6.5-mile hike includes a climb of about 1,200 feet and is rated as moderate to strenuous.

The First Day Hike at Mt.

Fit, experienced hikers are invited to join the NC High Peaks Trail Association on Friday, Dec. 8 for a fun but challenging 8-mile hike to the historic Isom Mine below Celo Knob. This hike was postponed a week due to rain forecast for December 1.

The deep-shaft mica mine was worked steadily throughout much of the last century and is a notable landmark of the Black Mountains.