places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Blue Ridge Parkway, NC
The Park
The Cherokee Indians who lived here knew this mountain as Elseetoss and the ridge as Warwasseeta. There are conflicting stories of how the rounded summit became named for the biblical mount from which Moses first saw the “promised land” but by 1808 Mount Pisgah was appearing on North Carolina maps. Thomas Lanier Clingman, a U.S. Senator and Confederate General, owned 300 acres around the mountaintop for most of the 19th century until shortly before his death in 1897, when he sold this land to George W. Vanderbilt as part of the 125,000-acre Biltmore estate. Vanderbilt constructed a hunting lodge in Buck Springs Gap at the base of Mount Pisgah and carved a trail out from Biltmore for his guests. When Edith Vanderbilt sold 80,000 acres, including Mount Pisgah, to the United States Forest Service in 1914 the family retained 471 acres around the lodge. In 1918 the public began arriving at Mount Pisgah when the batten-board Pisgah Inn opened. It was rebuilt in the 1960s, about the same time the Blue Ridge Parkway was opened for travel here.
The Walks
The narrow footpath to the summit of Mount Pisgah that crosses the Parkway is a familiar trek for Asheville visitors, who can easily see the 5,721-foot peak from downtown. The first half of the 1.6-mile hike to tag the summit moves along agreeably, gaining only about 200 feet in elevation. After a couple of 90-degree right turns, however, the fangs come out with a more-or-less straight uphill 500-foot pull for the last half of this classic canine hike. This is a rock-infested trail with plenty of hops for your dog on both steps and small ledges. Northern red oaks have impeded your view most of the way but at the summit an observation deck serves up views of the Parkway, Cold Mountain to the west and the ever-popular look back at your car in the parking lot. You can also hike with your dog two miles to the next peak to the south, Frying Pan Mountain (or you can drive to the Forest Service Road 450 at Milepost 409.6) and just walk the final .7 of a mile up a gravelly dirt road to the 5,340-foot summit. Waiting for you at the top is the tallest lookout tower in Western North Carolina - a 70-foot high, five-flight steel structure. This is not a super dog-friendly tower with open steps and some rail-less stairs but even one flight will get you high enough for panoramic views. Back in the Mount Pisgah parking lot you can lead your dog south on a leg-stretcher to the foundations of the historic Vanderbilt hunting lodge that was razed in the 1960s. You can sit in the quiet clearing today and imagine what it was like to own everything you can see.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Rock steps and stony roads; no side trails to worry about.
Workout For Your Dog - Several hours of healthy climbing on tap.
Swimming - Not this trip.
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed to summit Moutn Pisgah and Fryingpan Mountain
Something Extra
The views at Mount Pisgah don’t have to end when the sun goes down. It is estimated that the night sky in the United States is brightening by 5-10 percent every year. The eastern United States suffers from the worst light pollution on the planet and spots off the Blue Ridge Parkway offer a compromise between the best accessible darkness and being able to use telescopes that cannot easily be hauled to the backcountry. The Asheville Astronomy Club, for instance, uses Mount Pisgah as its main meeting spot.
Phone - (828) 298-0358
Admission Fee - None
Directions - Blue Ridge Parkway; Milepost 407.6.
I love this trail...It's one of my all time favorites and I've hiked it many times...You brought back good memories today
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