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Big Cataloochee Mountain and Mount Sterling - Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC

3,389 views · Published 27 November 2017 · 14:44 · Indexed 11 October 2026

Channel: Zachary Robbins · 2017 · Travel & Events

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A cold front with strong winds and 0.5-1.5" of snow passed through the mountains Saturday night, so I headed off Sunday to hike in the northeast corner Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My goal was to bushwhack to Big Cataloochee Mountain, a 6K peak, and hike to Mt. Sterling to check out the lookout tower. I began at Mt. Sterling Gap and followed the Mt. Sterling Trail which steeply climbs close to 2000' in 2.3 miles to the Mt. Sterling Ridge Trail. At first the snow was intermittent, the southern sides of the ridge were melting below 4,500 feet. After climbing above that elevation the snow coverage was almost full, with around an inch on the trail for most of the hike. Since it was so windy and the rain gradually changed to snow the night before, a lot of snow and ice stuck on the sides of trees creating a beautiful setting.

I followed the Mt. Sterling Ridge Trail southwest dropping into Pretty Hollow Gap then skirting around the ridge. There's no easy way to reach Big Cataloochee Mountain, so when I reached a point on the trail where I was close to the peak and the forest was thin I left the trail. It was a steep 600-foot climb but fortunately the undergrowth was never an issue. Big Cataloochee Mountain stands at 6,155 feet, the highest peak on Mt. Sterling Ridge. Being behind schedule I quickly hiked the ~5 miles to Mt. Sterling before sunset. Mt. Sterling stands at 5,842 feet and features the highest elevation true lookout tower in the East. The steel Aermotor tower is 60 feet tall and the top cab is accessible, but the stairs have better views. Unfortunately the clouds blew in when I reached the tower, and I only had intermittent views of the region. It was frigid on the tower and was getting dark, so I couldn't wait. Since it got dark soon after I left the tower I did not shoot an outro segment because I had no light, and I didn't think it was necessary to film one days after the fact. I'll have to return another time using the Baxter Creek Trail.

Hike was 15.1 miles in 7 hours and 20 minutes.

Hike location
https://goo.gl/maps/nzsQzGjqxouGcKau7

Hike report
https://www.hikingupward.com/GSMNP/MountSterling/

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