To reach the top of Mount Mitchell like they did in the late 1800s and early 1900s, venture down the Old Mitchell Trail, which is 4 miles roundtrip. Or, you could walk the strenuous 2.1-mile Deep ...

You can drive all the way up to the Mount Mitchell State Park summit parking lot, and then take a short, but steep, paved 0.15 one-way trail to the observation platform at the top. From the summit ...

With hundreds of miles of trails and numerous waterfalls and swimming ... the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) and Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.