Hiking to Calloway Peak: Grandfather Mountain’s Loftiest Challenge

A Summit Worth Every Step

Grandfather Mountain doesn’t hand out its views easily. If you want to stand atop Calloway Peak, the highest point on the mountain at 5,946 feet, you have to earn it. And the journey there—whether you take the Daniel Boone Scout Trail or the Profile Trail—is a full-body experience of steep climbs, technical scrambles, and some of the most exhilarating ridge hiking in North Carolina.

This is not a casual day hike. The trails leading to Calloway Peak are filled with rocky ascents, wooden ladders scaling sheer cliffs, and exposed sections where the wind reminds you just how high you’ve climbed. But the reward? A summit view that stretches for miles, rolling out across the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, and beyond into Tennessee.

From the Daniel Boone Scout Trailhead on NC 105, the route to Calloway Peak gains over 2,000 feet in 4.6 miles, passing through boulder fields, rhododendron tunnels, and rugged crags before the final push to the summit. Hikers who take the Profile Trail (7 miles round trip, 1,900 feet gain) from the west side of the mountain will face an equally demanding climb.

At the top, there’s nothing but wind, sky, and the satisfaction of standing on one of the toughest peaks in the Blue Ridge. This is Grandfather Mountain at its finest—wild, unforgiving, and absolutely unforgettable.