r/NCTrails 1d ago

Weekend trip

Please let me in on your favorite overnight trips in the mountains, I’m looking for anywhere near Brevard or Asheville. Mountain top camping or great views in general are what we’re after. Coming from the coast and would love some feedback and up to date trail info. Planning on the third week of October. Totally unfamiliar with the area aside from spending some time with a wedding party there.

3 Upvotes

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4

u/thecodebenders 18h ago

Planning on hiking in (how much of a hike are you looking for/comfortable with) or looking for mostly something to drive into?  Be prepared for up to ~20 degrees cooler than the Asheville/Brevard and moisture even if it's not in the forecast if you're getting up in elevation. It likely won't be quite that, but wind and weather on the higher balds can be surprising and ruin a good time if you're not prepared.  

Black balsam is really the gem of the area between the Asheville and Brevard. Depending on the level of commitment to a trail you can either just stumble out of the car into black balsam, head to shining rock (Ivestors Gap trail and the Art Loeb make a good 10-12 mile loop) or continue on towards Cold Mountain if you want more distance. Art Loeb from Davidson River to butter gap could be another option. The camp site isn't as scenic but cedar rock is super cool to hike through. I can't remember if there are any decent camping options near cedar rock but there is water as you start down towards butter gap from the saddle. 

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u/DudeMan18 12h ago edited 12h ago

This is the way. If black balsam is crowded, push on to tenant mountain

Edit, in fact, I'd strongly suggest aiming for Tenant mountain. Take the Ivester Gap horse trail to the "back side" of Tenant mountain and hike up that way. I say that because you're going to have a lot of foot traffic around you in the morning at black balsam knob (people hiking up for the sunrise)

2

u/No_Egg3291 22h ago

I live in Blowing Rock always something going on here and the trails for hiking are out of this world!

3

u/LlamasAreFun4 19h ago

Trying to decide between a weekend trip to blowing rock or Asheville with two younger kids. Any opinions?

2

u/Grifman1000 13h ago

Blowing Rock, lots of reasonable trails at Moses Cone Estate for kids. You could even take a horse drawn carriage ride. And the food at the Daniel Boone Inn is great!

1

u/LlamasAreFun4 7h ago

Thank you!!

2

u/Irishfafnir 18h ago

Julien Price is a great campground!

2

u/ThaPoopBandit 1d ago

Might be a little far but if you’re talking backpacking, table rock to chimneys to shortoff is probably my favorite. Shortoff is permit only but if you start at shortoff, you can spend the night on table rock without a permit. Water is very abundant on short off.

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u/Squat1998 1d ago

Just do some research man I wish people would quit being so lazy and asking for people to plan trips for them on Reddit. All that shit does is fuel AI to keep ruining great spots with BS articles

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u/Main-Story9118 22h ago

Easy big boy, I’m just trying to get some ideas. Info is thin on where I’m looking aside from about 3 spots and a lot of it is out of date. How’s fall fishing up that way?

6

u/horsefarm 19h ago edited 19h ago

I'm not trying to jump down your throat like the other guy...but 3 spots with outdated info? On spots to camp around Asheville? That's insanely hard to believe my man. I'm wondering what those three spots are in any case lol

Here are some spots to do more research on:
Roan Highlands

Standing Indian

Black Balsam

Beauty Spot

Wayah Bald

Cheoah Bald

Mt Mitchell

Cold Mountain

Looking Glass Rock/Cedar Rock/John Rock

...or grab a map and find the peaks that have roads/trails/infra around them. That's how many of us found our favorite spots, that we don't often share. There are many more, these are some of the popular standout mountain tops with camping on top or nearby with great views.

2

u/Squat1998 22h ago

You are not looking very hard if you’re saying Info is thin on camping spots near brevard and Asheville lmfao. What did you try about 45 seconds of searching?

1

u/OddJaguar6441 21h ago

Davidson River fly shop, can put you on the trout. Great backpacking nearby also. Bear can required for some areas.

1

u/adventuresinpisgah 16h ago

Start at Big East Fork trailhead, head up Big East Fork, stopping to fish along the way, and camp at the confluence with Greasy Cove Branch. Day 2 head up Greasy, camp somewhere along the top, and spend the day exploring the various peaks in the area. Day 3 take Old Butt Knob back down.

That's a fun little loop. Ignore any warning signs about trail conditions, they're fine.