Hwy 276 to Buck Spring Trail via Mountains-to-Sea Trail
1.5 mi
Distance
49 min
Time
terrain
554 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a section of the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) that begins at Hwy 276 in Pisgah Ranger District. This track ends where the MST meets up with the Buck Spring Trail. After this, the Buck Spring Trail follows the MST all the way to the Pisgah Inn.
The hike passes through pretty forests, and it drops over 600' elevation over 1.5 miles. This section of the MST gets little use, since the Buck Spring Trail is a much more popular route for day hikers headed for the Pisgah Inn. Because of this, it can be overgrown and in worse condition.
Getting Started
There is little roadside parking here at the trailhead. There is better parking to be found at the Buck Spring Trailhead.
Taking Children
This hike would be fine for children with hiking experience or leashed dogs.
Sights to See
Public Tracks
Mountains to Sea Section 2
trail_hike_comments: **Waterrock Knob to Pisgah Inn**
From Waterrock Knob to Flat Gap, the trail follows the Blue Ridge Parkway closely at most times. It gains some distance from the motor road on the southwest slope of the ridge line from there to Haywood Gap.
From Haywood Gap to Beech Gap (NC 215), the trail enters the higher elevations of the Middle Prong Wilderness and encounters sections of beautiful spruce-fir forest. It passes the Green Mountain trail which and then a high waterfall on Mount Hardy, before entering some wildlife meadows. This segment of the Mountains to Sea Trail, combined with the Green Mountain trail to Green Knob, is [one of the best hikes in the region](http://www.hikewnc.info/besthikes/middle-prong-wilderness/green-knob). Portions of the trail in designated wilderness are unblazed, but generally easy to follow.
From Beech Gap (NC 215), BRP mp 423.2, to Pisgah Inn at BRP mp 408.6: this portion of the trail travels through some of the higher mountains along the Pisgah Ridge. The trail ascends to Silvermine Bald through a moist mixed northern hardwood/spruce-fir forest, then levels out and passes through a forest of predominantly spruce until reaching Black Balsam Road. It skirts Black Balsam Knob and then the Graveyard Fields area via Graveyard Ridge, before descending significantly to cross the Yellowstone Prong at Skinny Dip Falls. It ascends again toward the Blue Ridge Parkway., trail_bike_comments: None
Mountains to Sea Section 02: Waterrock Knob to Pisgah Inn
Properties:, name: Mountains to Sea Section 02: Waterrock Knob to Pisgah Inn, segment: Mountains to Sea Trail - US 276 to Buck Spring Trail, mapid: 20, type: trail
