Hiking Grassy Knob
Hiking Grassy Knob | Driving from Carter’s Gap to Wilmington, NC | Camping in Uwharrie National Forest | August 2026
When we went to sleep at Carter’s Gap, we talked about how it might be fun to potentially get up and get an early start on our next hike to see a sunrise. Of course it’s always easy to say this at night, and much more difficult in practice when you wake up to cold mountain air and are so warm and cozy in bed… So that didn’t end up happening, and we told ourselves it’s ok, there probably wasn’t a view anyway because the mountains were most likely covered in a thick morning fog.
When we finally emerged from our bed, we had a quick breakfast and then set out on the Appalachian Trail, this time headed East towards Grassy Knob. It was hazier this morning, but we still had decent views in all directions at different points in the hike. As it was a Saturday morning, it was a bit busier than the night before.
Our hike this morning was 5 miles long round trip, and before reaching Grassy Knob at 6100 feet of elevation, we had to go up and over some lesser peaks first. The first was Round Bald, three quarters of a mile into our hike and standing at 5800 feet. To reach the peak, the trail mostly switchbacked through the forested area before emerging above the trees and up to a bald summit, as the name implies. There were two short trails that went to overlooks with information boards both to the South and North of the summit.
From here, we went down 200 feet on the other side of the summit, which was steep but a wide dirt path with unobstructed views, then up to Jane Bald which was also at 5800 feet. There were more views here, but also more people at the viewpoints, so we pushed on to continue to our main goal for today. The trail descended again briefly to 5700 feet, then made its final relentless push up to 6100 feet. We left the Appalachian trail at the trail junction for Grassy Knob, and while the trail was a bit more overgrown, it was still easy to follow as it went straight up the mountain. The summit was a wide open space, with plenty of room for everyone, and several unofficial trails that went to different lookouts and places where people were camping. We had an excellent view of Roan Mountain, which we had hiked the night before, and we marveled at the distance our feet had carried us and all the incredible scenery we had seen along the way. I hadn’t been sure if I wanted to hike to all 3 peaks, but now that most of the hard parts were behind me, I was so proud of myself for this accomplishment! Of course, it would have been a much greater feat if we had actually hiked the Appalachian trail from the base of the mountain and all the way up instead of driving to Carter’s Gap…but I’ll still celebrate this accomplishment, especially considering we’d spent most of the summer in the mountainless Midwest.
When we were ready, we made our way back the way we came, down and up, down and up, and finally down Round Bald one last time. There were dark looking clouds to the West, bringing the promised afternoon rain, and we were thankful to have gotten ahead of it. The closer we got to the trailhead, the more people we saw, including large family groups. We made it back to the trailhead having walked 5 miles. Curtis just made one big recording of our hikes starting at Carters Gap, and you can see it on AllTrails here. With that, it was time to leave the mountains for now and continue on our drive East. It wasn’t too hard to leave, knowing that we would be back in 3 weeks and would hopefully have more time to knock out some other bucket list hikes.
We descended the mountain on the highway going South, then made our way to I-40. After driving a ways East, we exited and drove to our usual “night before arrival in Wilmington” campground in Uwharrie National Forest. It was just as we remembered it, mostly empty, slightly humid, and a little rainy throughout the night. We arrived around 3 in the afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to relax and enjoy our last peaceful afternoon in our van and at a quiet campsite before returning to our “other life”, consisting of more regular work hours for Curtis, staying in hotels, and eating at restaurants.
The next morning, we packed up and finished our drive to Wilmington, arriving in the early afternoon. We picked up our rental car and checked into our hotel for the next two weeks. It was just as hot and humid as you’d expect the coast to be in August, but we’ve come to realize after our summer spent in the Midwest that almost everywhere is hot and humid in August, so it’s honestly a relief to be in a hotel, enjoying air conditioning, and not out among the other campers and vacationers enjoying their last weeks of summer. We’d be back on the road in no time, and we need this occasional break to relax and to allow us to miss being on the road, so we’ll be excited to return.
