HIGHLIGHTS: Yellow Mountain Gap at 4,682 feet straddles the states of both North Carolina and Tennessee along the Appalachian Trail. On September 7, 1780, the Overmountain Men who were a group of self-provisioned military recruits passed through the Gap on their way from Sycamore Shoals (Elizabethton), Tennessee to Kings Mountain, South Carolina. Here they defeated the British Army during the Revolutionary War which freed the American South from British domination and was a turning point for the colonists. Overmountain Shelter is located only 0.3 miles from the gap on the North Carolina side of Yellow Mountain. It is more of a barn-like structure than a traditional A.T. lean-to but it has outstanding views of the Roaring Creek Valley and Yellow Mountain. You can either hike here from Roan Mountain or Carver’s Gap (which is a bit easier) and continue across the Hump Mountains down to 19E, or backtrack across Jane and Round Bald to the Roan Mountain area. Either way you’ll enjoy some of the best views along the Appalachian Trail in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
