Mount Craig, , is the second highest peak of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

and second only to

Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell, known in Cherokee as Attakulla, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the Black Mountain subra ...

in eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It is located in the Black Mountains in

Yancey County, North Carolina Yancey County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,470. Its county seat is Burnsville. This land was inhabited by the Cherokee prior to European settlement, as was much of the ...

. The mountain lies about a mile (2 km) north of Mount Mitchell and is within

Mount Mitchell State Park Mount Mitchell State Park is a North Carolina state park in Yancey County, North Carolina in the United States. Established in 1915 by the state legislature, it became the first state park of North Carolina. By doing so, it also established the ...

and the

Pisgah National Forest Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Pisgah National Forest is complet ...

. Mount Craig was named in honor of Locke Craig, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of North Carolina from 1913 to 1917 responsible for establishing Mount Mitchell State Park in 1915 as the state's first, thereby protecting the area from excessive logging.

Trails

The mountain can easily be reached via an approximately 45-minute hike on the Deep Gap Trail from the picnic area below the summit of Mount Mitchell off N.C. Highway 128. The view atop Mount Craig embraces much of the southern portion of the Black Mountain Range. A North Carolina Geodetic Survey triangulation marker is located on the summit. The Deep Gap Trail proceeds beyond Mount Craig to other North Carolina high peaks including

Big Tom Tom McBride (18 September 1936 – 17 April 2018), known as Big Tom, was an Irish country, traditional and easy listening singer, as well as a guitarist, and saxophone player. With a career spanning over six decades, he started his career in ...

, Cattail Peak, Balsam Cone,

Potato Knob The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United S ...

and through Deep Gap to Winter Star Mountain,

Gibbs Mountain Gibbs or GIBBS is a surname and acronym. It may refer to: People * Gibbs (surname) Places * Gibbs (crater), on the Moon * Gibbs, Missouri, US * Gibbs, Tennessee, US * Gibbs Island (South Shetland Islands), Antarctica * 2937 Gibbs, an asteroid ...

and Celo Knob.

Elevation designation

Formerly the third highest point in mainland eastern North America, Mount Craig is currently designated by the USGS as the second. However, there is only a 4-foot (1.3 m) difference in elevation between it and 6,643-foot (2,025 m)

Clingmans Dome Clingmans Dome (or Clingman's Dome) is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina in the southeastern United States. Its name in Cherokee is Kuwahi or Kuwohi (ᎫᏩᎯ or ᎫᏬᎯ), meaning "mulberry place." At an to ...

, the highest point in the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

. Clingmans Dome's elevation is based on a conventional 1920 optical survey. Mount Craig's elevation was revised upwards in 1993 based upon satellite

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

to an accuracy of 4 inches (10 centimeters). Until Clingmans Dome can be remeasured by GPS, Mount Craig retains its designation as second highest.

References

* Mount Mitchell State Park
Mount Craig: Credits
Retrieved Mar. 27, 2008. * Tarheel High Points

Retrieved Mar. 27, 2008.

External links

Mount Mitchell State Park

Sherpa Guide to the Black Mountains
{{North Carolina highest Craig Craig Protected areas of Yancey County, North Carolina Landmarks in North Carolina Pisgah National Forest Mountains of Yancey County, North Carolina

Trails

Elevation designation

See also

References

External links