Continuity: When Sara rests her head on Inman's chest, Inman's right hand is down by his side. The angle changes and his hand is on her shoulder.

Factual error: Inman appears to be hospitalized in some capital in late summer of 1864. The capital cannot be Richmond, which is under siege, so it must be Raleigh. In the hospital's yard are well-dressed ladies having tea and slaves picking cotton, both of which are highly unlikely in the final months of the war. Raleigh is quite a distance west of the North Carolina coast, and Cold Mountain is at least 250 miles almost due west of Raleigh. Yet, Inman went east to the coast. In the very next scene after wandering on the coast, he has somehow arrived in the mountains, which are less than 50 miles from Cold Mountain in Haywood County. Thus, the majority of his adventures had to have taken place in the last 50 miles of his quest, which is not what is implied by the plot.

Other: Inman yells at the escaping slaves because he wants to buy an egg, and then spits blood from his throat afterward and we can tell that it hurts him to speak but then we see him in the swamp and he yells at the minister, but his voice does not crack and it doesn't seem to hurt him. Then when they are escaping in the ferry, he rubs his throat from talking. It should have hurt his throat badly when he yells "I should have shot you." but his throat seems fine.

Factual error: When Inman is escaping the war and returning home, on his journey we see him cross several mountains which go above tree line. However, Virginia and North Carolina don't have any mountains that go above tree line.

Revealing: When Inman is staying in Sara's corn crib, the "corn" cobs are plastic.