2 miles
Distance
16 ft
Climb
-630 ft
Descent
00:21:11
Avg time
Trail Supporters, Builders & Maintainers of Butter Gap Trail

Butter Gap Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
    • Snowshoe
    • Backcountry Ski
    • Nordic Ski
  • Riding Area
    Pisgah Ranger District
    Brevard, North Carolina
  • Ref Number
    #123
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue rate
  • Hiking SAC Scale
    T2 Mountain Hiking
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    AM, XC
  • Trail Usage
    Multi-use
  • Direction
    Both Directions
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Trail Visibility
    Always easy to follow
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    No
  • Global Ranking
    #1182 in Mountain Biking
  • Local Popularity
    75 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 5 in Trail Running
    • 80 in Hiking
    • 5 in Snowshoeing
    • 5 in Skiing
    • 5 in Skiing
  • Land Manager
    USFS

Beautiful scenery, fun trail. Starts in Picklesimer Fields...flat, grassy area with crystal clean streamside riding, then a fast, gradual climb, and then a stiff, technical climb up to Butter Gap. Also makes a great downhill from the gap. Passes a waterfall. Part of Picklesimer Fields Best Ride.

A portion of this trail is seasonal, the segment from the intersection of Long Branch to Cat Gap is only open for riding Oct 15 - April 15, per USFS (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/recarea/?recid=48318&actid=50). This is often confused by locals who think the entire route is season, however it is not. Please do not poach this lower section during the off season as it is very popular with hikers.

Local Trail Association
More Stats for Butter Gap bike trail
  • Altitude change
    -616 ft
  • Altitude min
    2,657 ft
  • Altitude max
    3,273 ft
  • Altitude start
    3,273 ft
  • Altitude end
    2,657 ft
  • Grade
    -5.6%
  • Grade max
    -23.2%
  • Grade min
    7.9%
  • Distance climb
    732 ft
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    2,152 ft
  • Avg time
    00:21:11
  • Avg reverse time
    00:07:55
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jul 2, 2020
Ideal
Avg: 5 (7 votes)

view (786)
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  • Layers  w
  • Basemap 
  • Trail Style 
    • ?
  • Activity Type  
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Ridden Direction
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
ContributeDetails
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches

LEGEND
Trail Difficulties
  • Access Road/Trail
  • White
  • Green
  • Blue
  • Black
  • Double Black Diamond

Trail Report Status
  • Clear / Green
  • Minor Issue / Yellow
  • Significant Issue / Amber
  • Closed

  • Land Owner Overlay
  • Wilderness (typically no bikes in USA)
  • BLM (public)
  • USFS (Wildlife sanctuaries darker than usfs)
  • State land
  • Indigenous
  • Military
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
  • Map Markers
  • trail Trail Head
  • photo Photo
  • place Directory Listing
  • region Riding Area
  • TTF TTF
  • Parking Parking
  • Viewpoint Viewpoint
  • Information Information
  • Warning Warning
  • Directions Directions
  • Sight Sight
  • Restrooms Restrooms
  • eBike Charging Point eBike Charging Point
  • Water Fountain/Source Water Fountain/Source
  • Gate Gate
  • Trail Sign Trail Sign
  • Table or Bench Table or Bench
  • Ladder Ladder
  • Stairs Stairs
  • Bridge Bridge
  • Camping Camping
  • Cabin Cabin
  • Lodge Lodge
  • Bear Cache Bear Cache
  • Dock Dock
  • Ranger Station Ranger Station
  • Summit Summit
  • Other Other
      Directions to butter-gap trailhead (35.253670, -82.811820)
      update trails status or condition

      Butter Gap Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jul 2, 2020 @ 6:55am
      Jul 2, 2020
      		 reporter Couple trees that have been down but nothing crazy.
      Apr 22, 2020 @ 2:39pm
      Apr 22, 2020
      		 reporter 1st tree down
      Apr 22, 2020 @ 2:39pm
      Apr 22, 2020
      		 reporter 5th tree down. It’s a bell ringer.
      Apr 22, 2020 @ 2:34pm
      Apr 22, 2020
      		 reporter 2nd tree down
      Apr 22, 2020 @ 2:34pm
      Apr 22, 2020
      		 reporter 3rd tree down
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 4 rides
      • 21 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 92 rides
      • 17 miles avg distance
      All
      • 554 rides
      •  

      Photos

      more »
      20 |
      Dec 26, 2019 @ 11:58am
      Dec 26, 2019
      18 |
      Nov 15, 2019 @ 1:58pm
      Nov 15, 2019
      83 |
      Mar 16, 2018 @ 10:10am
      Mar 16, 2018
      321 |
      Apr 17, 2010 @ 4:34pm
      Apr 17, 2010
      | 1 comments

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titleratingdistance
      The Couch Potato
      		25 miles
      Lesser Known Pisgah Fun
      		23 miles
      CP20 - Stage 2
      		11 miles
      The Best of Pisgah
      		26 miles

      3 Reviews & Comments

      • + 1
      flag Bennnnnn (Sep 11, 2017 at 8:26)
       Fun trail with many roots. They aren't huge but pretty rough on the downhill (on a low travel hardtail) at high speeds
      [Reply]
      • + 2
      flag johnkk (Jun 4, 2018 at 17:25)
       Butter Gap is actually open to bikes year round, incorrect to call it a seasonal trail. Cat Gap is seasonal.
      [Reply]
      • + 2
      flag shinook (Aug 30, 2018 at 12:50)
       I do not know why someone downvoted you, I submitted an edit saying the same thing. The section from Long Branch to Cat Gap is seasonal, however the rest is not:

      www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recreation/recarea/?recid=48318&actid=50

      "The portion of the trail between Cat Gap Loop (#120) and Long Branch Trail (#116) is open to mountain bikes seasonally, from October 15 through April 15 only. This is to minimize safety concerns on a heavily used trail."

      Hopefully the edit will be approved shortly.
      [Reply]

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      Videos

      more »
      The Couch Potato MTB Race
      5:52 | 113 | Nov 11, 2018 , Brevard

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