Pilot Mountain State Park
Pilot Mountain State Park is the ninth park in our 2025 North Carolina State Park Challenge. We headed up to the top of the mountain early in the morning for a walk along Pilot Knob Trail around Big Pinnacle. The views of below are truly gorgeous while walking around the iconic mountain. After a stroll around the Pinnacle, we hiked up to Little Pinnacle Overlook to get a proper view of Pilot Mountain. The main access is also very popular for rock climbing, take the Sassafras Trail will let you get a good view of some climbers- even if you’re not one yourself. After we finished hiking, we headed down to the visitor center (which probably has one of the prettiest views from any visitor center) to grab a passport stamp and patch. Other than just the entrance gate into the park there is a second gate leaving the visitor center on the way up the mountain. On super busy days, when the parking up top is full, they will close this gate and allow some cars to come down before opening it back up. So my suggestion is that if it is a weekend or busy summer day, to head up top to do your hiking then stop by the visitor center for anything you might need after.
After finishing up at the Mountain Section, we headed about 10 minutes down the road to the River Section of the Park. There are 2 different access areas and a parking area in the Yadkin River Section of the Park. We headed to the Bean Shoals Access where there are 2.5 miles of hiking along the Yadkin River. Not too many people come to the River Section of the Park, so it’s a nice quiet hike. There is also fishing, horseback riding trails and paddle-in campsites at this section. I would pay attention to recent rain when booking the paddle-in sites- we went right after some recent rain when the river was moving very quickly and was completely brown because of everything being churned up by the pace of it. This is a gorgeous park with tons to offer, perfect for a day trip or overnight!
Park Details:
ADDRESS: 1721 Pilot Knob Road, Pinnacle NC 27043
Bean Shoals Access: 103 Yadkin River Park Trail, Pinnacle NC 27043
Ivy Bluffs Access: 4240 Shoal Road, East Bend NC 27018
HOURS: Nov: 7am-7pm, Dec-Jan: 8am-7pm, Mar-Apr & Oct: 7am-8pm, May-Sept: 7a-9pm
River Section Hours: Nov: 8:30am-6pm, Dec-Jan: 8:30am-5pm, Mar-Apr & Oct: 8:30am-7pm, May-Sept: 8:30am-8pm
VISITOR CENTER: Dec-Feb Open Daily 8am-4pm, Mor-Nov Open Daily 9am-5pm
PASSPORT STAMP: At the Visitor Center
ENTRANCE FEE: No Entrance Fee
TRAILS:
ACTIVITIES: Hiking, Rock Climbing, Horseback Riding, Fishing, Paddling, Camping
DOG RULES: Dogs are allowed on all trail, as long as they are on a leash. Dogs are not allowed in park buildings. Please pick up after your pet.
Check out our videos about this Park on instagram @axel.theadventurepup
