Mount Mitchell State Park, located in Yancey County 30 miles northeast of Asheville, was the inspiration for North Carolina's state park system. The peak, at 6,684 feet, is the highest point east of the Mississippi River, and on a clear day, an observation platform affords stunning mountain vistas. A broad network of hard paths, including the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail, stretch into surrounding wilderness regions and lead to backpacking options within Pisgah National Forest.
Mount Mitchell, known in Cherokee as Attakulla, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina; in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians, about 19 miles northeast of Asheville.
