I recently updated my list of favorite sunsets in Western North Carolina, so I thought it was only fair to also share a list of my favorite places to watch the sunrise. While sunsets get more hype, as an early riser (and someone who enjoys hiking before trails get super crowded), I end up on many more sunrise hikes than sunset hikes.
Here are my favorite hikes in the Asheville area to watch the sunrise:
Black Balsam Knob
Black Balsam Knod is my favorite place to watch a sunset and also my favorite place to watch a sunrise (I mean, it’s my favorite hike in the area overall by far). It’s not terribly far from town, easy to access, and the views are impeccable. I slightly prefer a sunrise here because it’s much less crowded than a sunset. There’s a high chance you could actually get views for yourself early in the morning.
Editor’s Note: I like to do the Black Balsam, Tennent Mountain loop hike, leaving from the Black Balsam parking area on the Art Loeb Trail and ending at the Sam’s Knob parking lot via the Investor Gap Trail.
Sam’s Knob
Sam’s Knob is located very close to Black Balsam and they share similar views. Black Balsam is a much more sweeping-views hike if that makes sense, but Sam’s Knob is still solid. I will say that the hike up to Sam’s Knob is much steeper and forested than Black Balsam Knob, so you’d want to bring boots and employ a headlamp to do this one safely.
Roan Highlands
Like Black Balsam Knob, Roan Highlands is one of my favorite hikes in Western North Carolina. Its sunrises are breathtaking, and I prefer them to the sunsets because they are an hour and a half drive from town. A sunrise here means that while you wake up early, you then have the full morning after to enjoy a lazy drive back, stopping in Burnsville, Spruce Pine, or Marshall.
The Roan Highlands is also one of the only easily accessible places in Western North Carolina that regularly gets snow. I try to do a snowy sunrise hike here at least once a year.
Bearwallow Mountain
Bearwallow is a very easy hike and a very easy drive from town. This would be the perfect spot if you want to bring a sunrise hike complete with a picnic (I’m including this on the list even though I don’t have a sunrise photo from Bearwallow; I hike it rather often but the two times I’ve done sunrises here I chose not to photograph it but rather live presently in the moment because that’s just the kind of guy I am).
Editor’s Note: Grab breakfast in Fairview afterwards (I like Daymoon Coffeeshop).
Mt. Leconte
Mt. LeConte is a two-hour drive from Asheville, firmly in Smoky Mountain National Park, but the sunrises here are too incredible not to include it. Mt. LeConte is not for a casual hike. It’s 11.2 miles, and you’ll dedicate 4-6 hours to this bad boy, but again, it’s well worth it. While much of the hike is heavily forested, there is a Sunset Point where folks gather to watch the sun rise. I love this one and would rank it much higher on my list if it were closer.
AshevilleExplorer 
1 Comment