"Woke everyone up at 3am and drove 10 hours to the NC/SC border to bag Sassafras Mountain. Good to stretch the legs after 10 hours in the car. Quick hike. The observation tower at the top is located on the border of NC/SC - half of the platform is on the NC side and the other half is in SC. We’ll be spending the next few days in Bryson City and working through several Smokey Mountain trails." — wiweasel • Nov 20, 2023

"Parked in the lot and walked up to the new observation tower. Really nice day and really great views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Also provides the opportunity to be standing in SC and NC at once." — jodola • Oct 5, 2022

"This was an easy High Point snagged since the pkg. lot was so close to the summit. Wandered around a bit looking to see if I could pick up the East Peak while I was there, but the area was really overgrown and I couldn't locate any kind of herd path in that direction. This was my 4th HP on this trip. Heading to Great Smoky N.P. from here." — SteveM_StickMan • Jun 25, 2020

"Drove up to the summit to speak with the job site foreman about the progress for the observation deck. Looks like everything is on track to open to the public in early August. Currently the summit area is closed due to construction." — StoneMan • Apr 5, 2018

"Um... technically the high point is closed until the new observation tower is built. Technically it's trespassing to enter the construction site. But when someone else walked up there with their 10 year old kid... I kinda followed. Found the benchmark, about 3 feet behind a chain-link construction fence. I made this summit, darn it! But I'd suggest waiting until the observation tower officially opens in May/June 2018. State highpoint #9 for me and #3 for my mother!" — psychikingjes • Mar 30, 2018

"Solo. I think my perception of this hike was severely altered by how epic my hike up Big Bald was yesterday. I started out from Chimneytop Gap around 1145. The trail was fairly uninteresting, and frankly, mostly flat. I got bored quickly and hustled to the summit in a sort of zoned out state. There was a nice (newish?) viewing platform just below the summit at the upper most parking area, & the view was nice but mostly clouded. Nothing spectacular. On the actual summit I was surprised at how naked and industrial it looked. Sort of like a grassy parking lot. I was also surprised to see a few folks in camping chairs under umbrellas using binoculars and high powered cameras. Right in front of the summit plaque. Turns out, they were bird watchers, and this week is "International Hawk Migration week." Go figure. After one of the group obliged to take a photo for me, I snapped a couple of shots of the cloudy views, & headed immediately back into the woods and got back to my car very quickly. Overall, not great, but not bad. Another state high point in the books, at the very least. " — kellieirene • Sep 19, 2017

"Hooray for Labor Day weekend! We flew into Atlanta from Vegas with the intention of bagging 9 new state highpoints and a couple National Park highpoints in 4 days. We accomplished that and then some!" — Kevin • Sep 5, 2016

"Went to Sassafras to check on the summit condition since phase one has been completed to make way for an observation tower in the near future. It's a bit sad to see all the trees removed and the bare summit. I know I'll miss the eerie sound of the cicadas in the early evening as the sun sets up there. It'll be years before the summit area begins to look natural again." — StoneMan • Apr 15, 2016

"An amazingly misty/foggy/gorgeous day hike up to Sassafras as we travel south to Florida. Squirrel, Wild Turkey, and Chickadees were having a great time along with me. The summit was a bit depressing as it had been denuded, and unfortunately there wasn't much of a view due to the fog, but it was still a great time in the woods. " — micklongley • Nov 30, 2015

"#5 on "the southern six pack" Finally the weather was starting to clear when I arrived. There was a nice view of the larger mountains to the north. It looks like a small observation deck was recently built. It was a nice addition. Took a few photos and headed out to Asheville, NC." — hollis83 • Jul 5, 2013