Elk Knob is a prominent mountain in North Carolina’s High Country, north of Meat Camp, reaching 5,538 feet and standing as the highest point in Watauga County. Part of the northwestern Blue Ridge, it plays an important role in regional watersheds as the headwaters of the North Fork New River and a source of streams feeding the South Fork New River through Meat Camp Creek. Its slopes include Elk Knob State Park, which preserves part of the mountain and its high-elevation environment. The mountain’s rugged character is shaped in part by amphibolite bedrock from the Ashe and Alligator Back metamorphic suites.