Trails › United States of America › North Carolina › Great Balsam Mountains

South Mills River

In the Great Balsam Mountains

Trail23 km · 14 miBest Mar–Nov

Next nearby hike: Horse Cove Gap 0.8 mi · 1.2 kmExplore Great Balsam Mountains →

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South Mills River other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)

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USGS National Digital Trails (US public domain) · OpenStreetMap · Basemap: OpenFreeMap (OpenMapTiles, © OSM contributors).

7-day forecast

Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)

Best time to hike

Best months: Mar–Nov · highs 12–26 °C (54–79 °F)

  1. J7°-3°128
  2. F8°-2°146
  3. M13°2°145
  4. A17°6°127
  5. M21°10°129
  6. J24°14°154
  7. J26°16°151
  8. A25°16°148
  9. S22°13°137
  10. O17°7°103
  11. N12°3°123
  12. D8°-1°147

Average high °C · low °C · precipitation mm per month. Highlighted: best months.

How we pick months

Best months are those where the 1981–2010 average daily high is 10–27 °C (50–81 °F), the average overnight low is 0 °C (32 °F) or warmer, and average precipitation is 200 mm (7.9 in) or less. Values are long-term monthly averages for the ~1 km cell at the trail point on the map, from CHELSA V2.1 climatologies (Karger et al., CC0), not a forecast. Higher or more exposed parts of a route can be colder, wetter or snowier.

Trail facts

Length
23 km · 14 mi (agency length field)
Source
USGS National Digital Trails (US public domain)
Managed by
US Forest Service
Data from
U.S. Forest Service
Mountain range
Great Balsam Mountains (Blue Ridge Mountains › Appalachian Mountains; GMBA)
Nearest town
12 km N of Brevard (Transylvania County, North Carolina) · GeoNames
Park or forest
National Forests in North Carolina
Connects to
Squirrel Gap (at its start or end)
Best months
Mar–Nov
Country
United States of America
Region
North Carolina
Continent
North America
Route centre
35.3470, -82.7200
How it’s scored

Hikers can rate difficulty from 1 to 10 (1 = flat, short, easy walk for anyone; 3 = gentle hills, a little effort; 5 = moderate climbs, some fitness needed; 7 = steep or long, solid fitness required; 10 = extremely strenuous or technical; long steep climbing; experienced hikers only). The community average is shown once at least 3 people have rated the trail; until then the official or computed score is used when we have one.

More trails in the Great Balsam Mountains

All 86 →

618 Bennet Branch

4.7 km · 2.5 mi · 4.0 km away

Barnett Branch

6.2 km · 2.5 mi · 4.0 km away

Mullinax

2.3 km · 2.5 mi · 4.1 km away

Pink Beds Loop

8.3 km · 2.7 mi · 4.3 km away

Avery Creek

5.2 km · 3.0 mi · 4.8 km away

Bradley Creek

8.2 km · 3.2 mi · 5.2 km away

Nearest trails

distance from the trail centre

Horse Cove Gap

0.8 mi · 1.2 km · National Forests in North Carolina

Cantrell Creek

1.3 mi · 2.1 km · National Forests in North Carolina

Squirrel Gap

1.4 mi · 2.3 km · National Forests in North Carolina

Turkey Pen Gap

1.4 mi · 2.3 km · National Forests in North Carolina

Black Mountain

1.7 mi · 2.8 km · National Forests in North Carolina

Buckhorn Gap

1.8 mi · 2.9 km · National Forests in North Carolina

All trails in North Carolina → · All 36,834 trails in United States of America →