Round Bald via Carvers Gap

The wind hits you in the parking lot. Even on a still day in the valley, Carvers Gap has its own weather. We’ve shown up in shorts in July and put fleeces on before we got out of the car. That’s the first thing to know about Roan Mountain: it is its own climate. The second thing is that the view from the top of Round Bald, after about thirty-five minutes of walking, is one of the best in the eastern United States, and you barely had to work for it.

Karen took her sister up here last June. Sister is sixty-eight, has a bad knee, and was nervous about the climb. She made it to the top, sat in the grass for forty-five minutes, and called it the best day of the trip. That’s why we send so many guests up here.

The drive from the lake

About thirty minutes door to door from the townhouse, traffic and weather permitting.

From the property, take US-321 west toward Hampton, then turn south on US-19E through Roan Mountain town. In Roan Mountain, watch for the right onto TN-143 (signed for Roan Mountain State Park). TN-143 climbs steadily for about thirteen miles, through the park and then up into the Pisgah and Cherokee National Forests. The last few miles get tight and winding. At the top, you cross into North Carolina, and the road becomes NC-261 right at Carvers Gap.

The parking lot is on the right. There is a vault toilet, a kiosk with a trail map, and that is the entire infrastructure. No water, no rangers, no cell service.

Trailhead logistics

The lot holds maybe forty cars. Two overflow pull-offs are a quarter mile down each side of the gap, but they fill quickly on summer and fall weekends. Our rule for guests:

• Weekday in any season: show up whenever you want
• Saturday or Sunday in June, July, August, September, October: be in the lot by 8:30 AM or after 4 PM
• Rhododendron weekend in mid-to-late June: be in the lot before 8 AM or skip it that weekend

The Appalachian Trail crosses TN-143 right at the parking lot. Walk uphill (north) toward the wooden steps and the trail enters the woods immediately. The southbound AT goes the other way toward Roan High Knob and the Roan High Bluff. You want northbound, toward Round Bald.

What the trail is actually like

The first three to four hundred yards are the hardest part of the whole hike. You climb wooden steps and rocky tread through a stand of stunted spruce-fir forest. It is genuinely steep. Take your time. There is no prize for doing it fast.

The trees thin and then end. The trail levels off, and you are walking on a grassy ridge with nothing taller than your shins on either side. This is the bald. It is exactly what it sounds like: a mountain top covered in grass instead of trees, for reasons botanists have argued about for a hundred years. From here to the summit is another five or six minutes of easy walking.

The top of Round Bald sits at about 5,824 feet. There is no marker, no summit sign, no plaque. There is grass, a few rocks, and a 360-degree view. To the north and east you can see Grassy Ridge and the rest of the high balds running for miles. To the south and west you see Roan High Knob and the wooded slopes dropping toward Tennessee. On a clear day you can pick out Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the eastern United States, way off to the south.

Most people sit down for a while. Bring a snack.

Going further

If you have energy and time, the AT continues across the bald and into another stretch of forest, then back out onto Jane Bald (about a mile past Round Bald). Jane is a little lower but the views are arguably better because you can see Round Bald behind you. From Jane Bald you can also see the spur trail up Grassy Ridge Bald, the highest bald on the ridge at over 6,100 feet, about another half mile and 250 feet of climbing.

The full Carvers Gap to Grassy Ridge round trip is about 5 miles with 800 feet of elevation gain. It is the best 5-mile hike in the region and one of the best in the East. If you are in decent shape, do this one instead.

Things worth knowing

The wind. It is always windy. We have been up there on a 90-degree July afternoon and needed a windbreaker on the summit. In winter it can be dangerously cold. Plan for 20 degrees colder than the lake and twice the wind, every time.

The exposure. There is no shade on the bald. None. If you are hiking in midsummer between 11 AM and 3 PM, bring sun protection or wait for late afternoon. We have seen tourists get badly sunburned in two hours.

Lightning. A thunderstorm on Roan Mountain is no joke. If you see clouds building in the afternoon, turn around. There is nowhere to hide on the bald.

Cell service. None at the parking lot, none on the trail. Tell someone where you are going.

Best season

We tell guests there are three seasons to come and one to skip.

Mid-June is rhododendron season. The slopes below the bald light up purple-pink for about two weeks, usually peaking the third week of the month. Crowded but spectacular. The Roan Mountain Rhododendron Festival happens the same time.

October is fall foliage. The hardwood forests below the bald turn red and gold, and the view from the top into the valleys is one of the great fall photographs of the South. See our fall foliage guide. This is THE spot.

Late spring and early fall weekdays (May, September) are the sleeper picks. Wildflowers in May, comfortable temperatures, almost no one on the trail.

Winter is for experienced cold-weather hikers only. The road to Carvers Gap is sometimes closed by snow and ice. Beautiful when accessible, dangerous when not.

Pairing it with other stops

The drive back through Roan Mountain town goes right past Roan Mountain State Park itself, where there is a swimming pool in summer, a small visitor center, and Doe River trails for an easy walk. Worth twenty minutes.

The town of Elizabethton is about thirty minutes north on the way back to the lake. Stop at the Doe River Covered Bridge for the photograph and grab lunch at one of the downtown spots. From Elizabethton it is fifteen minutes back to the property.

If you are doing a single big day, you can pair Carvers Gap with the Linn Cove Viaduct Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both are short hikes; the combined day is about 100 miles of driving but covers two of the most photographed spots in the region.