2.2 miles
Distance
68 ft
Climb
-1,603 ft
Descent
00:29:45
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Pilot Rock Trail

  • USFS
    Land Manager

Pilot Rock Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Pisgah Ranger District
    Brevard, North Carolina
  • Difficulty Rating
  • Voted Difficulty
    Black Diamond (1 vote)
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    DH, AM, XC
  • Direction
    Downhill Primary
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Double Black Diamond
  • Physical Rating
    Extreme
  • Season
    Year Round
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
  • TTFs on Trail
    Rock Face, Rock Garden
  • Ride in Rain
    Yes
  • Global Ranking
    #4233 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #33229 in Trail Running
    • #20624 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    75 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 5 in Trail Running
    • 70 in Hiking
  • Land Owner
    USFS

Descends from the peak via rough technical singletrack before coming to a nice overlook of the surrounding areas. From there the dirt disappears into a descent over a massive technical rock garden following tight switchbacks down the rock face before returning to faster rough singletrack towards the bottom.

Primarily downhill, it's difficulty rating is well earned and not for the timid. A very fun route and well worth the time.

Local Trail Association
More Stats for Pilot Rock multi-use trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -1,535 ft
  • Altitude min
    3,318 ft
  • Altitude max
    4,853 ft
  • Altitude start
    4,853 ft
  • Altitude end
    3,318 ft
  • Grade
    -13.109%
  • Grade max
    -42.97%
  • Grade min
    26.689%
  • Distance climb
    860 ft
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    333 ft
  • Avg time
    00:29:45
  • Avg reverse time
    01:19:46
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Aug 11, 2023
Ideal
Avg: 4.55 (19 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (1,739)
close
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (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%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
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
Contribute Details
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

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to pilot-rock trailhead (35.402820, -82.736830)
      update trails status or condition

      Pilot Rock Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Aug 11, 2023 @ 2:42am
      Aug 11, 2023
      Despite the recent rain, the trail is running great. Good grip all the way down. What a ripper!
      May 23, 2023 @ 6:28am
      May 23, 2023
      Apr 28, 2023 @ 9:20pm
      Apr 28, 2023
      Apr 22, 2022 @ 9:10am
      Apr 22, 2022
      Rough and loose
      Mar 20, 2022 @ 8:04am
      Mar 20, 2022
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 3 rides
      • 17 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 209 rides
      • 23 miles avg distance
      All
      • 1,612 rides
      • Last: Jul 29, 2023

      Photos

      more »
      30 |
      Oct 28, 2022 @ 10:28am
      Oct 28, 2022
      28 |
      Oct 28, 2022 @ 10:28am
      Oct 28, 2022
      25 |
      Oct 28, 2022 @ 10:27am
      Oct 28, 2022
      153 |
      Mar 2, 2022 @ 8:05am
      Mar 2, 2022

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Laurel/Pilot16 miles
      Pisgah Full Send42 miles
      Laurel-Pilot loop21 miles
      Laurel Mountain to Black Mountain20 miles

      6 Reviews & Comments


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Videos

      more »
      youtuber Is that sleet!? | Hanging on and hoping for...
      11:11 | 677 | Mar 28, 2019 , Brevard
      youtuber A rainy, foggy, eerie descent of Pilot Rock in...
      11:06 | 950 | Mar 1, 2018 , Brevard
      Pilot Rock Shredding - Pisgah National Forest...
      20:56 | 26 | Jul 29, 2023 , Brevard
      Chunky Pilot Rock, Pisgah
      8:53 | 647 | Dec 6, 2021 , Brevard
      • By blowmyfuse & contributors
      • #35522 - 7,950 views
      • subscribe
      • flag
      • login to download gpx or kml files.