• Nature Walks & Hiking Trails
• Walking and Hiking at Grandfather Mountain
• Nature Walks - Trail Descriptions
• Backcountry Hiking - Trail Descriptions
• East Side Trails
• West Side Trails
• Crest Trails
• Rates & Hiking Permits
• Download Trail Map-13MB

• Tips, Safety & Regulations
• Safety on the Trail
• Mountain Regulations

 

Backcountry Hiking - Trail Descriptions:
Crest Trails

Crest Trails are accessed from the summit parking lot or from the hiker parking lot, three curves below the summit parking area. Also from the Profile Trail or Daniel Boone Trails.

Trail name	Rating	Blaze	Length (miles)
Grandfather Trail	Very strenuous, cables and ladders	Blue-Blazed	2.4 mi. (3.8 km)
Underwood Trail	Strenuous and rocky	Yellow-Blazed	0.5 mi. (0.8 km)

Grandfather Trail
An upper mountain ridge trail of astonishing variety, running in and out of wind-dwarfed spruce and fir, across or around rock walls and pinnacles, and into open spaces with views of mountains unfurling in every direction. The jumbled-up, rocky features of this trail are so massive and distinct they appear to have cropped up by mistake-then decided to hang around for another millennia or two.

The route follows the crest of Grandfather Mountain from the Hiker's Parking Area out 2.4 miles to Calloway Peak. It was along this trail two centuries ago that noted French explorer and botanist Andre Michaux broke into song thinking he had arrived at the highest point in North America. A century later, famed naturalist John Muir was inspired to describe the sight as "the face of all Heaven come to earth."

The pace is often deliberate. There are chutes where progress is hand-over-hand and some extra steep sections where hikers use in-place cables and ladders. An alternative to taking the ladders up MacRae Peak is to opt for the more sheltered Underwood Trail (see below).

Grandfather Trail Extension	0.3 mi (0.48 km)
Underwood Trail junction	0.5 mi (0.8 km)
MacRae Peak	0.9 mi (1.4 km) 2 hrs. round trip	elv. 5,939 feet
Attic Window Peak	1.2 mi (1.9 km) 3 hrs. round trip	elv. 5,949 feet
Indian House Cave	1.3 mi (2.1 km)
Alpine Meadow	1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Calloway Gap	1.9 mi (3.0 km)
Cliffside Campsite	2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Watauga View	2.3 mi (3.7 km)
Calloway Peak	2.4 mi (3.8 km) 5 hrs. round trip	elv. 5,964 feet

Underwood Trail

Splitting off the Grandfather Trail near the half mile marker, the Underwood Trail bypasses ladder climbs on MacRae Peak, rejoining the Grandfather Trail at MacRae Gap, about a mile out. The trail makes a steep, rocky loop under the crest line around Raven Rock Cliffs. Going out along Grandfather and returning along Underwood makes an excellent loop hike from the Swinging Bridge.

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