Bartram Trail

The Bartram Trail is a national recreation trail that travels across the mountains of South Carolina, Georgia, and the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. In North Carolina, it stretches 71 miles from near Highlands to the Snowbird Mountains, south of Robbinsville. The trail is named after William Bartram, a naturalist who roamed the southern woods in 1775. He studied plants and animals and recorded his findings in a journal published as The Travels of William Bartram. The trail is blazed in yellow in the Nantahala National Forest, with many side trails, blazed in blue, leading to views of the Blue Ridge and the Smokies.

The Trail enters North Carolina just south of Highlands, near Rabun Bald, taking up where the Georgia Bartram Trail leaves off. The trail curves in a north-to-west direction through Western North Carolina; Thru-hikers must follow a series of country roads into Franklin. In Franklin, the Bartram Trail turns west and ascends the Nantahala Mountains to Wayah Bald, which, at 5385 feet, is the highest point on the trail. The trail joins the Appalachian Trail briefly, then descends to Nantahala Lake. Continuing mainly on private lands from the Lake, the trail reaches Appletree Campground in the upper Nantahala Gorge, then climbs up and over Rattlesnake Knob before reaching the "put in" on the Nantahala River. From the river, the Trail climbs to the summit of Cheoah Bald, and ends there.