"The Backcountry of Grandfather Mountain is now Grandfather Mountain State Park. Grandfather Mountain Rangers will continue to maintain and patrol the trails through 2009 until the state can introduce its own staff. There is no charge to access Grandfather Mountain State Park from trailheads at the base of the Mountain, but registration is required for safety reasons."
Below is a more scenic route up to Grandfather Mountain's Calloway Peak from the Boone Fork parking lot on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take the Nuwati Trail first instead of going up Daniel Boone Scout trail. Nuwati Trail is relatively flat the whole way, but when you reach the Cragway Trail head and turn left, it goes straight up by comparison and is also very narrow at points as if it was craved into the mountain, and as you climb you will see a mountain bowl or valley on your right out in the open for much of the way, and great photo opportunities, until you reach the next junction at Flat Rock View. When you come back down the mountain though, then I would take Daniel Boone Scout trail instead as originally posted, which is very wooded, but you can fly down the mountain using your poles, because this trail is much more gradual of a decent and wider all the way down to Tanawha Trail which borders the Blue Ridge Parkway. I decided to take Daniel Boone Scout trail back down because I was in a huge hurry to get back to my vehicle before it got too dark for me to see. I was ill prepared to spend the night outdoors in the winter time, and I was in a bit of a panic! Cragway Trail is a very beautiful trail though all the way up. I hiked it when it was covered in snow and ice, stopping to take photos all along the way of the views and plants, but stopping so much ate up a lot of my daylight hours unfortunately. The route to Calloway Peak from Flat Rock View is awesome too and fairly rugged. This is very much of an all day hike, and to be safe, I would suggest even packing to spend a night, even if you do not end up doing so. I hiked up and down that day in nine hours total, and when I got back to my Inn, I was totally exhausted and suffering from mild to moderate hypothermia. The day temps at the peak were in the low 20s, while in the valley the 40s, and probably near zero at the peak at night, so I am glad that I did not get stuck out there. I took a 45 minute hot shower when I got back to my room and still felt cold when I got out, which is kind of scary!
hgrapid - Jun 19, 2009 3:07 pm - Hasn't voted
Latitude and longitude are offThe latitude and longitude are off. Shows up on the mountain side far from Calloway Peak.
Scott - May 21, 2015 10:20 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Latitude and longitude are offI fixed the coordinates. If you ever notice any that are off and the page member isn't active, feel free to let me know and I can fix them.
hgrapid - May 22, 2015 3:10 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Latitude and longitude are offThanks Scott, will do.
Eleutheros - Oct 15, 2010 10:32 pm - Hasn't voted
Grandfather Mountain State Park"The Backcountry of Grandfather Mountain is now Grandfather Mountain State Park. Grandfather Mountain Rangers will continue to maintain and patrol the trails through 2009 until the state can introduce its own staff. There is no charge to access Grandfather Mountain State Park from trailheads at the base of the Mountain, but registration is required for safety reasons."
-Grandfather.com
Phil'sUP - Jul 8, 2014 9:50 am - Hasn't voted
CoordinatesAgree, coordinates are off.
I marked the peak with my Garmin eTrex-30 and read the coords at: N 36.112 W 81.810
boozoodoo - Jun 22, 2016 10:53 pm - Hasn't voted
Calloway Peak hikeBelow is a more scenic route up to Grandfather Mountain's Calloway Peak from the Boone Fork parking lot on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take the Nuwati Trail first instead of going up Daniel Boone Scout trail. Nuwati Trail is relatively flat the whole way, but when you reach the Cragway Trail head and turn left, it goes straight up by comparison and is also very narrow at points as if it was craved into the mountain, and as you climb you will see a mountain bowl or valley on your right out in the open for much of the way, and great photo opportunities, until you reach the next junction at Flat Rock View. When you come back down the mountain though, then I would take Daniel Boone Scout trail instead as originally posted, which is very wooded, but you can fly down the mountain using your poles, because this trail is much more gradual of a decent and wider all the way down to Tanawha Trail which borders the Blue Ridge Parkway. I decided to take Daniel Boone Scout trail back down because I was in a huge hurry to get back to my vehicle before it got too dark for me to see. I was ill prepared to spend the night outdoors in the winter time, and I was in a bit of a panic! Cragway Trail is a very beautiful trail though all the way up. I hiked it when it was covered in snow and ice, stopping to take photos all along the way of the views and plants, but stopping so much ate up a lot of my daylight hours unfortunately. The route to Calloway Peak from Flat Rock View is awesome too and fairly rugged. This is very much of an all day hike, and to be safe, I would suggest even packing to spend a night, even if you do not end up doing so. I hiked up and down that day in nine hours total, and when I got back to my Inn, I was totally exhausted and suffering from mild to moderate hypothermia. The day temps at the peak were in the low 20s, while in the valley the 40s, and probably near zero at the peak at night, so I am glad that I did not get stuck out there. I took a 45 minute hot shower when I got back to my room and still felt cold when I got out, which is kind of scary!