Top Mountains in North Carolina

North Carolina's mountains are the highest in eastern North America. The Black Mountains, Great Smokies, and Blue Ridge form a complex of ranges where multiple peaks exceed 6,000 feet — terrain more comparable to the Colorado Rockies than anything else east of the Mississippi.

Mount Mitchell (6,684 ft)
The highest peak east of the Mississippi River, located in Mount Mitchell State Park near Burnsville. The road to the summit is paved — making it unusually accessible for an eastern high point. The summit itself is in the spruce-fir boreal forest zone, giving it a Canadian feel. An observation deck and small museum mark the top. Elisha Mitchell fell to his death here in 1857 while trying to verify his own elevation measurements; he is buried at the summit.

Mount Craig (6,647 ft)
The second-highest peak east of the Mississippi, just 37 feet lower than Mitchell. Part of the Black Mountains chain, Mount Craig is reached via a 4-mile hike from the Deep Gap trailhead. The Black Mountains ridge traverse (10 peaks above 6,000 ft in a single ridgeline) is one of the premier ridge hikes in the eastern US.

Clingmans Dome (6,643 ft)
On the NC-Tennessee border at the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A half-mile paved trail (steep) leads to a futuristic concrete observation tower above the spruce-fir forest. Views extend 100+ miles on clear days; the tower is frequently above the clouds.

Grandfather Mountain (5,946 ft)
A privately owned attraction near Linville with the famous Mile High Swinging Bridge (5,305 ft elevation), wildlife habitats for native species (black bear, river otter, bald eagle), and a museum. Hiking trails reach the summit rocks above the bridge. The mountain has some of the rarest plant communities in the eastern US.

Black Balsam Knob and Tennent Mountain
At 6,214 and 6,040 feet respectively, these bald summits along the Art Loeb Trail near the Blue Ridge Parkway's milepost 420 offer expansive 360-degree views across the Southern Appalachians — and they're accessible via a 2-mile trail from the Ivestor Gap parking area.