A short day hike suitable for most fitness levels. Mount Pleasant has both an east and west summit, each with spectacular views. Designated by congress in 1994 as the Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area, the trails are kept in fantastic shape by the NBATC. For the campers, the ridge has several large campsites suitable for multiple tents.
At the parking area there are three trail heads. The two Henry Lanum Memorial trails pass through wooden horse gates. Take the right Henry Lanum Memorial Trail. You will return down the left one. Once passing through the gate the blue blazed trail is mostly flat for the first 1.1 miles. Make sure to follow the blue blazes at 1.1 miles as the trail turns off the old FS road to the right, then in 0.1 miles arrives at a trail junction.
Turn left uphill following the sign and blue blazed trail. This is the steepest section of the trail where it traverses up the mountain arriving at the ridge in 1.0 miles, and intersection of the Mount Pleasant Summit Trail. Stay straight on the blue blazed Mount Pleasant Summit Trail, and in 40 yards pass a trail marked 'Water' on the left that heads downhill to a seasonal spring. Continue on the Mount Pleasant Summit Trail as it winds its way up the mountain.
In 0.3 miles be alert to follow the trail back to the left, the old summit trail continues straight. In another 0.2 miles arrive at the saddle between the two peaks. Make sure to visit them both!
The westerly summit, turning right at the saddle, has two small campsites, the second just before the overlook. Keep in mind that because of its geology the Mount Pleasant summit can experience strong winds. Also, to reach the overlook at the westerly summit you have to scramble 7 feet up through a rock scree.
Return back down from the summit to the Henry Lanum Memorial Trail intersection. Turn right, along the ridge towards Pompey Mountain. There are two large campsites within the first 0.1 miles. In 0.8 miles, and at the high point of Pompey Mountain, take the unmarked trail to the right for 75 yards to a rock outcrop and views to the northeast.
Return to the Henry Lanum Memorial Trail, turn right, and now head downhill for 0.5 miles before the trail heads to the left along the ridge for another 0.4 miles, then descends the remaining 0.7 miles back to the parking area.
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Reviews For The Mount Pleasant Hike (5 Most Recent)
Hiked this on Sat 6/6/09. Arrived at 7am and wasn't a single car in the lot. The morning was cool and damp from the rains we had during the week. Three of us set out with the maps and directions from the site. We're noobies too hiking with a few previous hikes under our belt before doing this one. The first mile or so is exactly as it describes here. Pretty flat but beautiful. A nice start I thought. Then the ascent began. As stated, it's about a mile before getting to a break, this was spot on. What we didn't know or is that the trail becomes very rocky when you start the ascent. It wasn't bad and also to note, the mile ascent is a great warm up to the rest of the trail. It's not to steep but will get your blood going.
Reached the sign that said "Trail Head" to the left. We continued straight as the directions said. Saw the sign for the spring and kept going. As you start the ascent again, the trail becomes rocky. For people who are not experienced, be prepared for some tricky stepping as you climb to the top. In the directions it says to be "alert" and follow the trail to the left. This is spot on. If you hike this trail for the first time, keep your eyes open for the left turn (sharp switchback) that takes you to the sign. We missed it and continued up the part that continued to go straight. It's not a big deal, because the straight trail just takes you to the West Summit with the rock scramble. Just follow the trail to the sign in the middle and continue to the East Summit.
After that, make sure to head back down past the spring to the "Trail Head" sign. We made the mistake of looking for another intersection and not knowing that "Trail Head 3.5 -->" was the way to Pompey nor the Henry Lanum Memorial Trail. We ended up circling back up the summit and down again until running into a nice hiker who explained that's where we should be heading. The trek to Pompey was decent but we had lost a lot of energy on that extra circle. There are a couple more ascents and the downhill are full of lose rocks. So again, tricky stepping.
This hike was wonderful through and through. Given our novice status - we were happy. Felt as though we accomplished a good hike, saw some amazing views and pushed ourselves. If you haven't done this trail before, we highly recommend doing it. Its majestic rocks and thick canopy is wonderful. Thanks to the people who maintain this site and the work you all have put into it. Its outstanding!!! Thank you!
By:
Mike T.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, May 30, 2009
Hiked the Mt. Pleasant loop described on the site. Had a great day. Beautiful weather. The western overlook was definitely windy, but what a view. Also stopped by Mount Pompey on the way back. The view there is obscured by trees quite a bit.
Overall the description was pretty accurate. The trail starts out fairly easy, then ramps up in difficulty as you climb to the top of the ridge. A decent workout. We had lunch on the eastern overlook. Nice and warm in the sun, with very little wind. Glad we took the suggested trail up, because following the loop on the way back you could tell it would be a pretty tough ascent to come in that way.
All in all, a very nice trail to hike with incredible views.
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Date of Hike: Sunday, March 29, 2009
Got a late start just past 1PM the access road to the parking lot was deeply rutted but passable, and the lot was open. My first hike in 20 years, and Mt. Pleasant was the perfect choice. Starts with a walk in the woods, and gets tougher as you near the peak. Watch for the blue blazes when you turn right to cross the creek, and avoid the temptation to follow the forest trail . . . the many fallen trees are a clear sign to turn back! I wasted over an hour wandering around trying to find my way. The views from the top were spectacular with a circling carnivore flying overhead. It is windy at the top, so pack a jacket. With Mt. Pleasant as a warm up, I'm now hooked on hiking the big peaks . . . Hardscrabble and Elliot's are next up!
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Date of Hike: Sunday, September 28, 2008
I thought this hike was fantastic. Being a backpacker/hiker that enjoys mountain hikes to vistas, I thought this one was especially rewarding. The views were tremendous, and the two vistas were unique in their own way. The east vista was about 180°, and offers an excellent view of the sunrise the west view was about 270° and offers an excellent view of the sunset.
I would highly suggest doing this hike as an overnight, the camping at the top is INCREDIBLE. There were four fantastic campsites, each with their own firepit. There were two near the west vista and two near the east vista. We stayed just below the east vista, and each campsite had enough room for a 2/3 person tent + fly. I would rate the camping as a 5 not a 3 as rated on here! Camping at the summit can be rare anywhere in the east without all the rules and regulations of each particular national park, so it was very nice to be able to do so here - especially since the views were so incredible. This hike took us 1.75 hours to get to the top view the Mt. Pompey route, and about 55 minutes to hike down view the direct route to Mt. Plesant. I highly suggest doing this hike in this fashion, as the direct route up Mt. Pleasant is fairly steep and strenuous. It is not Peaks of Otter strenuous, but at least the Pompey Mt. route splits the gains in altitude with small descents. If vistas are you're thing, this is YOUR hike!
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Date of Hike: Sunday, August 31, 2008
We hiked this trail on Labor Day weekend. Started out at 10:30am and no one else was there. Didn't see a single person until we returned back to the parking lot. The day was really cloudy and foggy so we saw absolutely nothing from the summit but still loved the hike. One strange thing did happen on our hike. About 20% into the hike, a lone dog with a radio collar came upon us. The dog had some tags on it. One said "leave this dog alone." We tried to do that but it stayed with us the whole hike. Our dog was OK with him, though, so we weren't too concerned. When we returned to the parking lot (which was full by 3pm), there were some men in a pick-up truck with other dogs. They said they were waiting for our hiking buddy for a few hours. I'm not sure what else they said because the men had no teeth and had a very heavy southern accent. So, I'm still not sure what the story was with this radio collar dog. Is it legal to let your dog run around a national forest unattended? Does anybody know anything about these dogs?
A few notes of caution: The road leading up to the trail head can be a little dodgey. It's very narrow in places with no shoulder so pray that you don't have to squeeze past an oncoming car. Second, the hiking distances listed in the above description are a little off. The second half of the loop does have some significant uphill sections and is a total of 3.5 miles long according to the signs on the trail.
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