MOUNT MITCHELL STATE PARK

Mount Mitchell State Park is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway, approximately 33 miles northeast of Asheville. This park of only 790 ha was created in 1915 as the first state park in North Carolina. Its particularity is to understand Mount Mitchell (2 037 m), which is the highest peak located east of Mississippi. From the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 4,5-mile road allows you to visit the Mount Mitchell observation tower. The latter offers spectacular views of the Black Mountains massif. Near the parking lot is Elisha Mitchell's Tomb (1793-1857), the geologist who determined in 1835 the exact altitude of the peak that bears his name. The park has approximately 13 km of hiking trails. Attention to the presence of bears that are quite numerous in this area.