Mount Pisgah Trail (#355)
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Route map of the Mount Pisgah Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app and depicted a la Google Earth...
Route map of the Mount Pisgah Trail as tracked by the Gaia GPS app...
Mount Pisgah Trailhead -- 4,950'
From the parking lot you get a good look at where you're headed. Eventually the trail will be taking you up the face of the summit seen from here, nearly 1,000 feet above...
Mount Pisgah Trailhead -- 4,950'
The view to the north at the trailhead is quite beautiful, with the massive Shining Rock Ridge and pointed summit of Cold Mountain (6,040') rising directly across the valley...
Mount Pisgah Trailhead -- 4,950'
It's steep in places...you've been warned...this is the trail sign which greets hikers as they step onto the Mount Pisgah Trail from the parking lot...
Starting out, the trail follows the side of the ridge at a fairly even grade allowing your legs to warm up a bit before the serious climb...
The wide footprint of the path tells of its immense popularity. Even so, watch your footing as the trail only gets more uneven and rocky as it goes...
At the point where the trail turns in a more southerly direction you get some nice looks up through the treetops at Mount Pisgah's summit cone...
Upwards through a forest of oak and rhododendron...
After about a half mile the trail decides to gain a bit more elevation as it turns towards the crest of the ridge...
Gaining the crest of the ridge you'll notice a noticeable, rocky, change to the trail beneath your feet. Believe it or not you're actually atop the Blue Ridge Parkway here, which tunnels beneath the ridge in this area...
There won't be any confusion as to where the 'strenuous' part of the trail, as advertised at the trailhead, begins...