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Black Mountain Trail (#127)

Difficult Difficult
 4.6 (77)
  1. Areas
  2. NC
  3. …West and Mountains
  4. …Pisgah National Forest
  5. Avery Creek
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“Pisgah's most famous trail. ”

Paul Stahlschmidt
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Map Key

8.4

Miles

13.5

KM
Singletrack

4,188' 1,277 m

High

2,223' 678 m

Low

1,106' 337 m

Up

2,705' 824 m

Down

9%

Avg Grade (5°)

33%

Max Grade (18°)

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Need to Know

This GPS track is no longer accurate! If you've ridden and recorded this trail recently, please use the "Fix/Improve This Page" button to send a new GPX file to be swapped in.

Description

Black Mountains south terminus is near the town of Pisgah Forest, across Route 276 from Davidson River Campground. The north end is at Club Gap near Avery Creek Road (FSR #477) at a four-way intersection with Club Gap, Buckwheat Knob, and Avery Creek trails. Several other trails can be accessed by Black Mountain, including Turkeypen Gap, and Buckhorn Gap.

This trail is legendary for many reasons, but mostly it is known for its downhill, which loses over 1900 ft. from its highest point. Some riders get a taste of Black by doing a short loop with Thrift Cove Trail #603 near the bottom. The more ambitious can work their way to Pressley Gap or Buckhorn Gap.

Black Mountain has plenty of technical riding. There are loads of rocks, small drops, and some eroded areas. Overall it gets less technical the closer you get toward the bottom. There is a solid amount of gnar between the summit of Black Mountain. and the Turkeypen Gap trailhead. This section is steep, with ditched-out trail and waterbars that dont function anymore. The lower section near Thrift Cove is more mellow than the upper.

If planning a route that gets to Buckhorn Gap, there are many choices at that point, including which way to descend Black. Youll find amazing views by continuing toward Clawhammer Mountain (4120 ft.) and the trails namesake peak itself (4286 ft.), but it is a slow-go to get up there with hike-a-bikes along the way. Because of this, many chose to descend down Clawhammer Road and ride back up Turkey Creek Road - FSR 5099 (aka Maxwell Cove) to join Black again at Pressley Gap. Which is better depends on who you ask. Regardless, youll eventually get on some great downhill.

From Pressley Gap, there is still some work to do by pushing a bit to Hickory Knob. After that, it is 1400 ft. of DOWN in the final 2.5 miles!

Contacts

Local Club: Pisgah Area SORBA

Land Manager: USFS - Pisgah National Forest, Pisgah Ranger District

Shared By:

Paul Stahlschmidt with improvements by Matt Jenkins
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.6 from 77 votes

#1

in Avery Creek

#27

Overall
  4.6 from 77 votes
5 Star
70%
4 Star
21%
3 Star
8%
2 Star
1%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#1

in Avery Creek

#3

in North Carolina

#27

Overall
210 Views Last Month
38,949 Since Jun 21, 2013
Difficult Difficult
0%
0%
2%
6%
80%
12%
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Photos

The last section of lower black with Christopher Langley!
Feb 11, 2018 near Brevard, NC
Spectacular view from atop Black Mountain.
Jun 14, 2017 near Brevard, NC
Lower Black Mountain super flow!
Jul 8, 2021 near Brevard, NC
A legendary downhill.
Jul 9, 2013 near Brevard, NC
The drops keep on coming at you.
Jul 9, 2013 near Brevard, NC
Watch out for rattlesnakes - on top of Black Mountain view point.
May 16, 2019 near Brevard, NC

6 Comments

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Check-Ins

Jun 11, 2024
Tri Geminy
May 20, 2023
Erik Lunde
Feb 4, 2023
Cody Bliss
middle and lower very fun and just enough chunk. lower can also be accessed by thrift cove. been told upper is not fun, dont bother
Sep 29, 2022
Jim McKee
May 18, 2022
Josh Macfarland
7.3mi — 2h 00m
Mar 6, 2022
Dan Podratsky
Dec 29, 2021
Ian Bryant
Nov 25, 2021
Garrett Stewart

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