Trails / North Carolina / Great Smoky Mountains (NC)

Mount Sterling Fire Tower and Campsite 38

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Mount Sterling Gap, above Cataloochee)

Mount Sterling rises above Cataloochee on the eastern edge of the North Carolina Smokies, and a 60-foot steel fire tower stands on its summit. Backcountry campsite #38 sits right beside the tower, so a short, steep climb from Mount Sterling Gap gets you a night on top of the mountain.

At 5,842 feet, Hiking Project calls the summit the highest point on the Benton MacKaye Trail.

The hike

The trail starts at Mount Sterling Gap on Mount Sterling Road (Old NC 284), where MyHikes says to park in the pullouts on either side of the gap. The park had planned to reopen Old NC 284 on April 4, 2025, after Hurricane Helene, and says it closes the road in severe weather or heavy rain.

The Mount Sterling Trail follows a former jeep road, according to RomanticAsheville, and climbs steadily. MyHikes puts the Long Bunk Trail junction at about half a mile and a Y-junction with the Mount Sterling Ridge Trail (also the Benton MacKaye Trail) at about 2.4 miles. Turn right, and the tower clearing is a few tenths of a mile farther. MyHikes places campsite #38 on the left just before the tower, at about 2.8 miles, and puts the round trip at 5.5 miles with about 2,000 feet of gain.

MyHikes describes the tower as a 1935 Aermotor lookout that the park still uses for radio communications, with a solar microgrid installed in 2017. The stairs and top cab are open to the public. RomanticAsheville says it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is the highest-elevation fire tower left in the eastern United States, and notes there are no views from the tower’s base. Our Mount Cammerer page cites the Carolina Mountain Club making a similar claim. RomanticAsheville also says early Cherokee hunters called the mountain the “Devil’s Bedchamber.” SummitPost climbers describe sunrise and sunset from the tower, and one 2024 hiker wasn’t a fan of the “wobbly fire tower stairs.”

Past the tower, the Baxter Creek Trail drops toward Big Creek. Hiking Project calls it “a steady descent 4000 feet to Big Creek Campground” and says the spring for campsite #38 is off this trail. In a 2018 HikingUpward trip report, Zachary Robbins found the rocky upper descent harder than the climb.

Before Helene, the summit anchored longer loops through Big Creek and Cataloochee. The park’s October 2026 closures list rules most of those out for now: Swallow Fork Trail is closed, Big Creek Trail is closed beyond Mouse Creek Falls with no access to campsites #36 and #37, and Pretty Hollow Gap Trail is washed out between the Little Cataloochee junction and campsite #39. The out-and-back from Mount Sterling Gap avoids all of them.

Tips

Reserve campsite #38 on Recreation.gov before you go.
Fill up at the spring early. It’s a walk from camp down the Baxter Creek Trail.
Check the road. The park closes Old NC 284 in heavy rain.
Bring layers. You’ll sleep near 5,800 feet.
Take the tower stairs carefully, especially in ice or wind.
Leave the dog home. Pets aren’t allowed in the park’s backcountry.

Camping

The National Park Service requires a permit and advance reservation for all backcountry camping in the Smokies, issued through Recreation.gov since April 30, 2026. Recreation.gov’s rules allow no more than 3 consecutive nights at most campsites, require hanging all food, trash, and scented items on the cable system, and allow fires only in established rings with dead and down wood. A parking tag is required at trailheads, and a backcountry permit doesn’t exempt you from it. RomanticAsheville places campsite #38 at the base of the tower.

Inside Intel: SummitPost climbers’ log entries describe the site. “Camp 38 near the summit was pretty but the only water source is .4 miles away,” wrote Tadberry in 2008. cwcoleman (2009) wrote that “the campsite was large - right next to the tower,” and mtsptfam (2013) said “sunrise and sunset from the tower were awesome.”

Trail facts

Distance: 5.5 miles round trip (MyHikes)
Route type: Out and back
Difficulty: Strenuous
Campsite: #38, beside the tower at about 2.8 miles
Water: Spring off the Baxter Creek Trail, roughly a quarter to half mile from camp; treat it
Permits: Required; reserve on Recreation.gov
Food storage: Bear cables at the campsite
Dogs: Not allowed
Trailhead: Mount Sterling Gap on Mount Sterling Road (Old NC 284)
Last verified: October 11, 2026

The Lowdown

Boiling water below the Mount Sterling tower:

Campsite #38 sits beside the fire tower at 5,842 feet, and its water source is a walk down the Baxter Creek Trail. See the camp stoves testers trust.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.