Snowball Trail

File:Placeholder.jpg Trail Name Snowball Trail Nearest City Asheville State North Carolina Trail Marking Yellow Trail Use/Features Difficulty Rating Hard Hiking Time 55 Hours <br />0.313 Days <br />300 Min <br /> Distance, round-trip 7.27.2 mi <br />11.587 km <br /> Climb/Descent Elevation 1,1201,120 Feet <br />341.376 Meters <br /> / {{{Elevation Loss}}}"{{{Elevation Loss}}}" is not a number. High Point 5,3805,380 Feet <br />1,793.333 Yards <br />1,639.824 Meters <br /> Nearest Medical Asheville, NC Trip Reports Click Here Loading map... {"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"270px","height":"180px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":8,"layers":[],"controls":["zoom"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":35.69959999999999666897565475665032863616943359375,"lon":-82.3990000000000009094947017729282379150390625,"icon":""}]} Show Large Map

Trail Overview

Without the fire tower, the primary use of this trail is a challenging climb, involving some bouldering, to Hawkbill Rock for the valley views.

How to get there

From Johnson City, TN:

1. Take I-26 south into North Carolina.
2. Take Exit 18 (Weaverville).
3. Follow US-19 south.
4. Turn left/east onto SR-1003 (Reems Creek Road) for just over three miles.
5. Turn right/east onto Ox Creek Road.
6. Turn left/east onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for 8 miles to around MM 368.
7. Turn left into Craggy Gardens Recreation Area and travel 0.5 mile.
8. Park at trailhead by Mountains-to-Sea sign at gated gravel Forest Road 63 (Stony Fork Road).

Route Description

The yellow-blazed Snowball Trail follows this general route:

Distance (mi)	Elevation (ft)	Feature
0.0	4900	Trailhead at Beetree Gap
0.1		Split with Mountains-to-Sea Trail
0.25		Stone stair switchbacks
0.7	5380	Top of Big Snowball Mountain
1.3	4800	Steep climb onto Hawkbill Rock
2.5		Snowball Gap
3	4740	Side peak on Little Snowball Mountain
3.6		Former location of Little Snowball Firetower

The Snowball Trail splits off to the right/NW from the MTS Trail. Follow the ridgeline! A common destination for this trail is to have a picnic on Hawkbill Rock which has nice valley views. Later, a jeep road is followed through turn-around area – warning: take the furthest left road to continue up to Little Snowball Mountain to where the fire tower former stood. Trees here have unfortunately blocked most of the views.

Typical Conditions

Not a heavily used trail, thus brushy growth invades the trail. Some of the route after a mile will involve climbing over boulders – maybe on hands.

Fees, Permits, etc.

Dogs are allowed, but must be on leash. They may require assistance to scramble over the boulders.

Misc. Information

The Little Snowball fire tower was purchased, taken apart and carried down the mountain in pieces, and finally reassembled at the Big Ivy Historical Campus, SE of Barnardsville (35.76112,-82.43127 coordinates), which was the site of the CCC camp who built the fire tower.

Maps

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Photos

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