Mt. Mitchell Railroad and Toll Road

Variously named walking trails are on the abandoned 21-mile rail corridor of the Mt. Mitchell Railroad, which runs from Montreat to the mountain summit in Yancey County. At least five miles travel through Mt. Mitchell State Park.

The Mount Mitchell Railroad carried passengers and lumber for four years prior to June 1919. When the lumber supply was exhausted in August 1921, the railroad was converted into a toll road for vehicles. The toll road died in 1939 when the Blue Ridge Parkway opened, which offered free access for passenger vehicles.

Information, photos and maps are on the park Web site. The two-mile Commissary Trail starts at the State Park office’s parking area and is an easy walk to Camp Alice - a historic logging and later tourist camp below the summit of Mt. Mitchell.