Join us for a group backpacking adventure through the stunning Roan Highlands, where you'll soak in panoramic vistas and traverse scenic rolling hills over 3 days and 16 miles. The timing of this trip is perfect for early fall color and less crowded trails during the week. Group tour means that you’ll meet other like-minded outdoor enthusiasts and step into the world of backpacking with ease.
Arrive in Hot Springs, NC in the afternoon or evening hours and meet your guides at their bunkhouse. Pack your things for tomorrow and have a good rest at the bunkhouse for the night.
You can also meet your guides in the morning of Day 1 if this suits you better.
No meals are included on this day.
Meet your guide and fellow hikers at 8am to start your trip! Your trip begins with a pack shakedown. Your guide will pass out your gear and food, teach you how to pack your backpack and go through what you’ve packed to make sure you don’t bring too many extra items. Around 10am, you’ll shuttle to the trailhead to start your hike (drive time is 1.5 hours). You’ll hike over Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald before arriving at your campsite.
Meals: Lunch, dinner
Hiking: 3.5 mi
Elevation gain: 650 ft
Elevation loss: 1,100 ft
Wake up and break down camp. After a hearty breakfast, hike a short distance to your second campsite and set up camp, then continue hiking to Little Hump and Hump Mountain without your backpacks. After enjoying the view, return to your campsite.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Hiking: 2 mi with and 7 mi without backpacks
Elevation gain: 200 ft with and 1900 ft without backpacks
Elevation loss: 650 ft with and 1900 ft without backpacks
After breaking down camp and breakfast with a view, we’ll return to the trailhead via the AT. The shuttle will take us back to Hot Springs, NC. The hike generally finishes early afternoon on the last day.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Hiking: 5.5 mi
Elevation gain: 1,750 ft
Elevation loss: 850 ft
Itinerary is subject to change based on a variety of factors, including weather, trail conditions, and participants needs and abilities. Please inform our admin team ahead of time if you have a time constraint on the last day of your trip.
Included:
Add-ons:
Not included:
Participants should be comfortable by themselves on trail for at least 30 minutes. While backpacking is incredibly rewarding, it’s still an endurance sport, and it can be challenging and/or uncomfortable at times. Maintaining a positive mindset, even when it is uncomfortable, is key to enjoying your time in the wilderness.
The Roan Highlands itinerary is a basecamp-style trip where most miles are hiked without heavy packs, making it the better choice for beginners or children. For a true point-to-point backpacking challenge suitable for active hikers, the Max Patch itinerary is the ideal fit.
Check out the itineraries to learn about day-by-day distances and elevation changes.
Equipment to bring:
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Group sizes and pricing
Min. age requirements
If your group has participants under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
Absolutely, your kids are welcome to join the Roan Highlands or the Max Patch tours. For the Great Smoky Mountains tour, minimum age requirement is 18.
The Roan Highlands tour is perfect for kids since it’s a basecamp-style trip where most miles are hiked without heavy packs. If they are beginners, this is the better choice, whereas the Max Patch route is a point-to-point challenge designed for more active hikers.
Regardless of the itinerary you choose, the night prior to the hike is spent at the guide’s bunkhouse. This is a shared bunkhouse and a single occupancy room isn’t available.
However, you’ll spend 2 nights camping, and your guides are providing tents free of charge—you can either choose a single or a double tent! The default is a double tent, so just leave a note at checkout if you’d like to have a single one.
Regardless of the itinerary you choose, the starting point is the same—Hot Springs, NC. To get there, most people fly into the Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), 1 hour away. From there, you can rent a car or take a taxi to get to your meeting point.
You will meet your guide at their Appalachian Trail-er Bunkhouse (200 Lance Ave, Hot Springs, NC 28743). Make sure to arrive a day prior to the start of the adventure, and overnight at the bunkhouse.
We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with insurance. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, you’ll be offered to simply insure your trip with Redpoint at checkout.
Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner—tailors protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations! Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.