Mount Sterling
Mount Sterling rises to 1,781 m in North Carolina. Mount Guyot stands 2,019 m to the west, 7.6 miles off. Appalachian Medley passes 10 miles off.
The story
Mount Sterling is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Haywood County, North Carolina and Cocke County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. It reaches an elevation of 5,842 feet (1,781 m) above sea level. The summit is topped by an abandoned fire tower that overlooks other nearby peaks. Mount Sterling crowns Mount Sterling Ridge, a 7-mile (11 km) ridge that gradually descends northward from the flanks of Big Cataloochee Mountain (on the Balsam Mountain crest) to the Pigeon River valley. The ridge divides the Cataloochee area to the east from the Big Creek Valley (which represents the fringe of the Cosby area) to the west. The communities of Mount Sterling, North Carolina, and Waterville, North Carolina are located in the Pigeon River valley at the ridge's northern extreme. Geologically, Mount Sterling consists mainly of Precambrian metamorphic sandstone of the Ocoee Supergroup, formed nearly a billion years ago from ancient ocean sediments. The summit of Mount Sterling is surrounded by a stand of Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q6923866, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1780.95 m
How to reach it
- 10.2 mi off the Appalachian Medley
- 13.2 mi off the Blue Ridge Parkway, National
- 14.6 mi off the Newfound Gap Road Byway, National
- 16.3 mi off the East Tennessee Crossing, National
Overlooks nearby
- Lake Junaluska Overlook · 13 mi
- Maggie Valley Overlook · 13 mi
- Mile High Overlook · 13 mi
- Big Witch Overlook (MP 461.9) · 13 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Mount Sterling: 0.1 mi
- Scottish Mount: 2.2 mi
- Fork Mountain: 2.2 mi
- Brushy Mountain: 2.2 mi
- Indian Knob: 2.3 mi
- Upper Mouse Creek Falls: 1.2 mi
- West Prong Mouse Creek Falls: 1.4 mi
- Mouse Creek Falls: 2.3 mi
- Gunter Fork Cascades: 4.0 mi
- Gunter Fork Falls: 4.1 mi
- Harmon Den Wildlife Management Area: 8.3 mi
- Dog walking: 11.4 mi
- Elevated Creek Park: 12.8 mi
- Maggie Valley Playground: 12.8 mi
- Rattlesnake Branch Recreation Area: 13.4 mi
- Wildwater Pigeon Rafting and Zipline Canopy Tours: 8.2 mi
- Marvin Popcorn Sutton's Homeplace: 9.8 mi
- Soco Craft & Tower Inc: 13.0 mi
- Soco Falls Overlook: 14.7 mi
- Historical Downtown: 16.4 mi
- Masonic Monument: 11.8 mi
- Ghost Town Village: 12.1 mi
- Lyn Lowry Cross: 16.4 mi
- Dolly Parton childhood home: 16.4 mi
- 1983 Plane Crash: 16.5 mi
- Sutton Ridge Overlook: 5.9 mi
- Cliff: 9.8 mi
- Eagle Rocks: 10.1 mi
- Raven Cliff: 11.3 mi
- Stanley Cliff: 11.7 mi
- Cosby Picnic Area: 6.2 mi
- Cold Springs Picnic Area: 9.1 mi
- Heintooga Picnic Area: 9.5 mi
- Greenbrier Picnic Area: 14.7 mi
- Greenbrier Picnic Pavilion: 14.8 mi
- Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum: 13.2 mi
- Shook Museum: 16.4 mi
- Mountain Farm Museum: 16.6 mi
- Museum of the Cherokee Indian: 18.5 mi
- Oconaluftee Indian Village: 18.6 mi
- Chief Junaluska: 14.6 mi
- Selu Statue: 19.0 mi
- Bear: 21.4 mi
- Berm Park: 21.5 mi
- Sylva Mural: 23.3 mi
- Mouse Creek Spring: 0.2 mi
- Brakeshoe Spring: 2.7 mi
- Wildcat Spring: 7.2 mi
- Whiteoak Spring: 10.2 mi
- Big Rock Spring: 16.2 mi
- Susanna Wesley Garden: 14.5 mi
- Rhododenron Garden: 16.4 mi
- Bamboo Forest: 18.9 mi
- Vista Gardens: 21.4 mi
- Sylva Community Garden: 23.3 mi
- North Carolina Welcome Center: 4.6 mi
- Tennessee Welcome Center - Cocke County: 8.4 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Westbound Rest Area: 17.5 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Eastbound Rest Area: 18.0 mi
- Greenbrier: 15.2 mi
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 22.0 mi
- Cold Mountain Gameland: 23.8 mi
- Covered Bridge Trail: 10.5 mi
- Emerts Cove Covered Bridge: 16.8 mi
- Wasp: 15.0 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 7.8 miles of Mount Sterling. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Guyot | W 272° | 2,019.13 m | 7.6 mi |
| Old Black | W 277° | 1,938.61 m | 7.5 mi |
| Luftee Knob | W 263° | 1,894.26 m | 5.2 mi |
| Mount Yonaguska | W 266° | 1,883.44 m | 7.1 mi |
| Marks Knob | WSW 258° | 1,878.29 m | 7.2 mi |
| Big Cataloochee Mountain | SW 236° | 1,875.19 m | 3.6 mi |
| Mount Hardison | W 263° | 1,874.57 m | 7.2 mi |
| Tricorner Knob | W 267° | 1,873.11 m | 7.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:37 | 19:11 | 19:44 |
| June solstice | 06:18 | 20:14 | 20:52 |
| September equinox | 07:21 | 18:57 | 19:31 |
| December solstice | 07:39 | 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 | 45 | 53 | 60 | 66 | 69 | 68 | 63 | 53 | 44 | 38 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Cataloochee, 5 mi away.
Inside the official boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Jan and Feb; busiest: Oct.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357803762
Take the scenic way to Mount Sterling.
Byway plans around your taste, verified places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.