Mt. Mitchell Loop

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
6/6/2022	4.3 miles	3 hours 45 minutes	1,020'	1.4 mph	501.2

Parking: 

• Mount Mitchell State Park, at the end of NC 128

Maps:

• Mount Mitchell State Park map (for navigation)
• 100 Favorite Trails of the Smokies and the Carolina Blue Ridge (for directions)

Directions:

• See 100 Favorite Trails map

Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:

• 100 Favorite Trails Challenge, hike #87

I wanted to take my sister to see Mount Mitchell, so we chose this short loop on the summit. On the drive up, we saw rhododendrons in bloom. Nice! I forgot how rocky the trails are here. This isn't a beginner friendly hike, but my sister was a trooper and did well. We saw some recent trail work, which we assume is from the Carolina Mountain Club's quarterly trail crew event. This looks like a really complicated area to maintain! We left the visit to the actual summit to the very end of our hike. By that time, clouds were rolling in and we had limited views.

The Commissary Trail was an easy trail - a break from the rocks and roots

Krumm lives for dips in the water

Lots of rocks

On the return trip, when we were supposed to be re-doing the lollypop portion, 
we temporarily got off trail onto a herd path. Even rockier and rootier. 
We ended up on the Campground Trail briefly before returning to the Old Mt. Mitchell Trail.

Mt. Mitchell summit

Ella

Oops...in the clouds