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...
The rock-work used to maintain this trail is quite amazing to see in places...
Two-thirds of the way up the main climb, a sharp turn in the trail opens this view back to the west. The peak on the right is that of Fryingpan Mountain (5,340'), who's summit lookout tower makes for another nice family hiking destination. In the shallow gap to the center is the Pisgah Inn...
A much more tightly zoomed shot from the same location reveals the Pisgah Inn, perched along the edge of the Pisgah Ridge...
The trail is heading, pretty much, straight for the top now...
Gnarled beech trees reach above the the thick groves of rhododendron here, high atop the summit cone...
Beneath one of the larger trees on the upper slopes, the summit tower comes into view...
It wasn't all that long ago that the summit of Mount Pisgah was completely devoid of trees. Thick laurels and young beech trees now thickly cover it, hiding the summit area ahead until you literally step out onto it...
The Mount Pisgah Trail seen as it arrives at the summit...
The 300'+ communications tower is a bit distracting upon your arrival, to say the least...
The U.S.G.S. summit benchmark at Mount Pisgah...
The open manway running down the north face of the mountain offers this view across the valley of the East Fork Pigeon River, nearly 3,000 vertical feet below. Across the way, the towering pyramidal summit of Cold Mountain (6,040') is once again seen...
This small wooden observation deck sits alongside the summit tower. It's quickly becoming surrounded in young trees but still provides stunning views to the south, west, and north...