The 40 Hike Challenge is a way to discover the beauty of the Mountain to Sea Trail through a curated series of day hikes. These can be found in the official Great Day Hikes of North Carolina’s Mountain-to-Sea Trail guidebook.
Great Day Hike #26 of the MST 40 Hike Challenge features the location of the largest Civil War land battle in North Carolina: Bentonville Battlefield.
Hike #26 Trip Report
It took slightly less than an hour to reach the trailhead from our home in Raleigh and despite it being a Sunday, we were the only car in the parking lot, likely because the visitor center was closed. The trail began at the edge of a large grassy field, at the edges of which is a memorial marking a mass grave for hundreds of Confederate soldiers who died during the three day long battle in March 1865; Union soldiers were later reinterred in Raleigh National Cemetery after the war. It served as an interesting backdrop the new few miles, which traversed the fields where hundreds of young men fought and died, and where many are likely still buried today in unmarked graves.
The trail into the woods parallels a series of earthworks and trenches, still clearly evident today, that Union soldiers erected as battlefield fortifications. At one point the trail crossed directly over one of the walls via a wooden bridge to protect the entrenchment. Throughout the woods were interpretive waysides, lending context to the engineers who constructive the earthworks, life at a Civl War camp, and movements of various brigades throughout the battle.
After leaving the shade of the woods, the trail continued around and through a series of agricultural fields. When we were there, one field was planted in cotton and another in soybeans. The transition from the Piedmont to the South Coastal Plain feels evident in the flat agricultural fields and sandy soil underfoot.
Day Hike Logistics
Parking: We found ample parking at both ends of the day hike, at Bentonville Battlefield Visitor Center and at Cole Plantation. The MST trailhead parking is open even when the visitor center is closed.
Distance: 2.3 miles one way along the MST, with additional 1.5 – 2 mile extensions at Cole Plantation. Extending the MST in either direction leads to road walking.
Trail tips: The Bentonville Battlefield Visitor Center is closed Sunday and Monday but there was still a great shaded picnic area out front. Free wifi was available through NC Student Connect.
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