Published September 15, 2025 05:36PM
The Highest Peak in the Appalachians Reopens to Hikers
North Carolina's Mount Mitchell State Park had been closed since Hurricane Helene wrecked part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Mount Mitchell's summit (Photo: Joel Carillet / iStock via Getty)
Hikers can once again summit the highest peak east of the Mississippi after Mount Mitchell State Park reopened this week, a year after Hurricane Helene forced its closure.
The park has been closed since September 2024, when the weakening Helene walloped North Carolina, causing more than 50 landslides along the Blue Ridge Parkway and closing all 469 miles of the scenic roadway. In the aftermath of the storm, North Carolina shuttered all 13 of its state parks west of Interstate 77. Now, with the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway that accesses it open again, Mount Mitchell has become the last to welcome visitors back.
“We are all very excited all of our state parks have now reopened for visitors to enjoy before the one-year milestone marking Helene,” said North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Pamela Cashwell. “We are grateful to our partners at the National Park Service for their hard work in repairing the Blue Ridge Parkway, and we are very proud of our staff at the state park for ensuring the park was ready to reopen as soon as access through the parkway was restored.”
At 6,684 feet above sea level, Mt. Mitchell is the highest point in the eastern U.S. and the tallest peak in the Appalachians. Despite that superlative, it’s very easy to summit, with the shortest route to the top involving just a 0.2-mile stroll along an accessible paved path from a parking area. Hikers looking for more of a challenge have several other options, such as a strenuous 11.2-mile out-and-back hike that runs along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. While most of the trails in the park have now reopened, a few that connect the park with the surrounding Pisgah National Forest are still closed, including the section of the 11.3-mile Black Mountain Crest Trail that leads to Mitchell’s summit. The park’s tent camping also remains shuttered.
