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Morganton, North Carolina

Brown Mountain OHV Area

Riding AreaATVDirt BikeSxS / UTV
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About

The Brown Mountain OHV Area occupies roughly 5,700 acres of Pisgah National Forest in Caldwell County, North Carolina, accessed via NC-181 north of Morganton near the hamlet of Collettsville at the foot of the Blue Ridge. This is the only designated OHV riding area within Pisgah National Forest: 34 miles of trail on forest roads and purpose-built single-track winding through mixed-hardwood Appalachian mountain terrain between 1,200 and 3,500 feet elevation. Trails are rated beginner to intermediate, with wide gravel forest road segments connecting narrower wooded loops with occasional stream crossings. Motorcycles, ATVs, and UTVs are permitted; no full-size 4x4 trucks. The location shares its name with Brown Mountain, famous regionally for the Brown Mountain Lights phenomenon, a scenic draw in its own right. No day-use fee or OHV registration is required for North Carolina National Forest riding. The Mortimer Campground, approximately 4 miles from the trailhead, provides primitive and developed sites for multi-day visitors. Managed by the Grandfather Ranger District.

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Park details

Vehicle Types
ATV, Dirt Bike, SxS / UTV
Access
Public land

Trails at this park

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Rider reviews

What riders are saying

4.8· 153 reviews on Google
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  • T
    Tyler Prohaska· 12 months ago

    Found Brown Mountain about 4 years ago and have been at least 6-7 times over the years and is always a fun place with variety of trails we run sxs 2 seaters 4 seaters 4 wheelers and dirt bikes. Main trail is great but pay attention if your on a side by side and take the side trails. If you miss a trail connector you may find your self starting to travel up a dirt bike trail in a sxs and it’s difficult to turn around and get back to trail. Main trail is wide and easy with some rocky bits and a few obstacles that arnt too challenging.

  • Y
    Yes, I have Bed Bugs· 2 months ago

    3rd trip this year. I lime going there sadly it is an hour and a half away.

  • K
    Keith Finnerty· a month ago

    Lots of good riding! Some very challenging trails well worth $5 day pass.

  • D
    Der Stahlhelm· 2 years ago

    I've been coming to Brown Mountain for more than 25yrs. Of course some of the trails have changed over the years, the over all premise is still the same. It's a good place to bring ATV's, dirtbikes, side-by-sides (recommend under 60in wide most places w/the exception of the main trail/road from the trailhead). This past weekend was the first time I had taken my Segway X260 down there and couldn't have been more thrilled. This review is not intended to boast or praise the X260 for it's availability to go just about anywhere at Brown Mountain OHV, but the trip was more of a reminder at how much fun can be had at Brown Mtn on no matter what you ride/drive.

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Current conditions

76Go/ 100 conditions scoreBest day: Sun, Sep 27 (97)

High today

73°F

Wind

7 kt

Gusts 17 kt

Rain chance

50%

Week ahead

Tue73°F50%
Wed63°F87%
Thu54°F87%
Fri73°F7%
Sat76°F3%
Sun77°F0%
Mon76°F3%

Forecast from Open-Meteo global models (NOAA & ECMWF).

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