Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain rises to 1,819 m in North Carolina. Black Balsam Knob stands 1,890 m to the south, 5.7 miles off. The nearest named place is Shining Rock Wilderness, a nature reserve 1.6 miles away. Blue Ridge Parkway passes 4.4 miles off.
The story
Cold Mountain falls in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States. The mountain is one of the Great Balsam Mountains which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. Cold Mountain and the Shining Rock Wilderness surrounding it are part of Pisgah National Forest. Cold Mountain is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Waynesville and 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Asheville. It rises to 6,030 feet (1,840 m) above sea level and is the 40th tallest mountain in the eastern United States. The peak is accessible only via an extremely strenuous branch of the Art Loeb Trail with a 10.6 miles (17.1 km) round trip and an elevation change of 2,800 feet (850 m). The vast majority of Cold Mountain falls within federal lands of the Shining Rock Wilderness of the Pisgah National Forest. However portions of the mountain, including approximately 800 acres (324 ha) of northwestern Cold Mountain in Panther Branch, are privately owned. There are about 15 residences on the northwest side of the mountain, and maintenance of access roads is funded by property owners. In 2016 the Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy purchased the 162 acres (66 ha) Dix Creek tract from private owners. The land was transferred to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission in late October 2016 and will increase the adjoining Cold Mountain Game Lands to 3,500 acres (1,416 ha) in 2017.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q5142303, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1819 m
How to reach it
- 4.4 mi off the Blue Ridge Parkway, National
- 2.4 mi off the Forest Heritage Scenic Byway
- 3.7 mi off the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway, National
- 12.6 mi off the Appalachian Medley
Overlooks nearby
Named places within 25 miles
- Stairs Mountain: 2.4 mi
- Dog Loser Knob: 2.7 mi
- Old Butt Knob: 2.7 mi
- Shining Rock: 2.9 mi
- Flower Knob: 3.5 mi
- Little East Fork Falls: 3.4 mi
- Boulderfield Falls: 3.6 mi
- Bullpen Cove Falls: 3.9 mi
- Upper Greasy Cove Falls: 4.7 mi
- Ivestor Ridge Falls: 4.7 mi
- Cradle of Forestry in America: 6.0 mi
- Canton Memorial Park: 8.0 mi
- Sorrells Street Park: 8.5 mi
- River's Edge Park: 8.9 mi
- Chestnut Mountain Park: 9.0 mi
- Buck Springs Lodge foundation: 6.0 mi
- North Carolina Confederate Veterans Memorial Forest: 7.9 mi
- the "Big Gun" Clyde Veterans Memorial: 9.1 mi
- Camp John Rock: 9.4 mi
- Ferin Fire Tower: 10.9 mi
- Rhododenron Garden: 9.0 mi
- Susanna Wesley Garden: 10.6 mi
- Brevard Community Garden: 14.1 mi
- Plant Professional Landscape Garden: 14.9 mi
- Plants of Promise Garden: 15.1 mi
- 1915 Climax Locomotive: 6.2 mi
- Historical Downtown: 9.3 mi
- M1: 14.1 mi
- Wayehutta OHV Trail System: 15.9 mi
- Marvin Popcorn Sutton's Homeplace: 16.1 mi
- Berm Park: 9.1 mi
- Chief Junaluska: 10.5 mi
- Chalice: 19.4 mi
- E. W. Pearson: 19.4 mi
- American Eclipse: 19.4 mi
- Bald Cliff: 11.5 mi
- Horseshoe Rock: 13.3 mi
- River Cliffs: 16.1 mi
- Castle Rock: 17.2 mi
- Dunns Rock: 17.5 mi
- Cradle of Forestry: 6.0 mi
- Canton Area Historical Museum: 8.6 mi
- Shook Museum: 9.1 mi
- Transylvania Heritage Museum: 13.8 mi
- Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum: 14.4 mi
- Shining Rock Wilderness: 1.6 mi
- Cold Mountain Gameland: 2.9 mi
- Bracken Preserve: 12.3 mi
- Falconhurst-West Asheville Preserve: 19.1 mi
- Collier Cove Nature Preserve: 20.4 mi
- Pisgah Picnic: 5.8 mi
- Coontree Picnic Area: 9.8 mi
- N. Mills River Picnic Area: 11.9 mi
- Sycamore Flats Picnic Area: 12.3 mi
- Heintooga Picnic Area: 21.4 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Westbound Rest Area: 11.5 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Eastbound Rest Area: 12.1 mi
- I-26 Henderson County Rest Area: 18.4 mi
- I-26 Buncombe County Rest Area: 18.5 mi
- North Carolina Welcome Center: 22.8 mi
- Crystal Spring: 21.5 mi
- Cool Spring: 22.9 mi
- Lenox Spring: 22.9 mi
- Whiteoak Spring: 24.8 mi
- Mountain Springs Lane: 7.8 mi
- Covered Bridge Trail: 15.0 mi
- Lake Powhatan Beach: 13.9 mi
- Sandbar Pool Beach: 18.9 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 8.0 miles of Cold Mountain. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Balsam Knob | S 190° | 1,890 m | 5.7 mi |
| Reinhart Knob | WSW 239° | 1,856 m | 8.0 mi |
| Tennent Mountain | S 188° | 1,846 m | 5.1 mi |
| Grassy Cove Top | S 186° | 1,844 m | 4.2 mi |
| Sam Knob | SSW 201° | 1,844 m | 5.9 mi |
| Shining Rock | S 187° | 1,829 m | 2.9 mi |
| Silvermine Bald | SSW 192° | 1,822 m | 7.1 mi |
| Chestnut Bald | SSW 195° | 1,821 m | 7.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:36 | 19:10 | 19:43 |
| June solstice | 06:17 | 20:13 | 20:50 |
| September equinox | 07:20 | 18:56 | 19:30 |
| December solstice | 07:37 | 16:44 | 17:23 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 35 | 38 | 44 | 53 | 61 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 64 | 54 | 44 | 38 |
| Precip in | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 4.7 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Waynesville 1 E, 8 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357801274
Day trips start here
- Asheville · 21 mi
Take the scenic way to Cold Mountain.
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