Day and Overnight Hikes: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

by Molloy, Johnny

• ISBN13: 9780897325608
• ISBN10: 0897325605
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-10
• Publisher: Menasha Ridge Press

Summary

Designed to fit easily in a back pocket or pack, Day and Ovenight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park points hikers to over 40 of the Park's best and least crowded trails. At-a-glance information quickly conveys each trail's difficulty, scenery, solitude, and appropriateness for children, and concise driving directions help readers spend more time on the trail than in the car.

Author Biography

Johnny Molloy is an outdoor writer based in Johnson City, Tennessee. He has averaged over 100 nights in the wild per year since the early 1980's, backpacking and canoe camping throughout the country. He has written numerous hiking and tent camping guides for the southeastern states, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Overview Map	viii
Map Key	ix
Preface	x
Introduction	1	(1)
How to Use This Guidebook	1	(1)
Weather	2	(1)
Clothing	3	(1)
Safety Concerns	3	(2)
Tips for Enjoying Smoky Mountains National Park	5	(5)
Part I: Great Out and Backs
Tennessee
Abrams Falls from Abrams Creek Ranger Station	10	(2)
Walker Sisters Place via Little Greenbrier Trail	12	(2)
Gregory Bald via Gregory Ridge	14	(3)
Rocky Top via Lead Cove	17	(2)
Buckhorn Gap via Meigs Creek	19	(2)
Blanket Mountain via Jakes Creek	21	(3)
Silers Bald	24	(2)
Injun Creek from Greenbrier	26	(2)
Albright Grove	28	(2)
Sutton Ridge Overlook	30	(3)
Brushy Mountain	33	(2)
Ramsay Cascade	35	(2)
Mount Cammerer via Low Gap	37	(2)
North Carolina
Andrews Bald	39	(2)
Mount Sterling via Mount Sterling Gap	41	(2)
Flat Creek Falls	43	(2)
Little Cataloochee Church	45	(3)
Cabin Flats via Bradley Fork	48	(3)
Kephart Shelter via Kephart Prong	51	(2)
Shuckstack from Twentymile Ranger Station	53	(5)
Part II: Great Day Loops
Tennessee
Pine Mountain Loop	58	(2)
Rich Mountain Loop	60	(3)
Finley Cane Loop	63	(2)
Cucumber Gap Loop	65	(3)
North Carolina
Boogerman Loop	68	(2)
Big Fork Ridge Loop	70	(3)
Hyatt Ridge Loop	73	(2)
Smokemont Loop	75	(3)
Indian Creek Loop	78	(2)
Goldmine Loop	80	(3)
Twentymile Loop	83	(5)
Part III: Great Overnight Loops
The Backcountry
Fontana Overnight Loop	88	(4)
Chasteen Creek Overnight Loop	92	(4)
Little River Overnight Loop	96	(3)
Maddron Bald Overnight Loop	99	(4)
Mount Sterling Overnight Loop	103	(4)
Fork Ridge Overnight Loop	107	(4)
Clingmans Dome Overnight Loop	111	(5)
Newton Bald Overnight Loop	116	(4)
Springhouse Branch Overnight Loop	120	(4)
Gregory Bald Overnight Loop	124	(4)
Index	128

Excerpts

This hike is the epitome of the old adage, "You reap what you sow." You will burn a lot of calories on the climb to your destination, but the view is as good as views get. Leave the lowlands via Lead Cove to intersect Bote Mountain Trail up to the Appalachian Trail, pass through Spence Field, and climb further still to the storied Rocky Top.

Leave Laurel Creek Road behind and step into history on the Lead Cove Trail, for what is a hike in the Smokies without a little history? Lead Cove derived its name from the ore that was extracted in the 1800s. Soon you pass an old homesite that lingers among the cool forest of the cove. Keep climbing somewhat steeply, leaving the bottom land behind to arrive at Sandy Gap and the Bote Mountain Trail at mile 1.8.

Turn right on the ridge-running jeep trail Bote Mountain. Ascend steadily through the fairly open pine-oak forest that allows intermittent views of Defeat Ridge to your left. At mile 3.0, you'll pass through the Anthony Creek Trail junction, then come to a jeep turnaround at mile 3.7. The trail becomes furrowed and narrow, passing through a seemingly continuous rhododendron tunnel to arrive at a saddle on Spence Field at mile 4.7.

Turn left on the famed Appalachian Trail, skirting Spence Field's eastern flank. Continue alongside the grassy meadow, passing the Jenkins Ridge Trail at mile 5.1. You'll descend briefly only to begin the final 0.6-mile climb to Rocky Top (elevation 5,441 feet) and its awesome views. Once at the summit, you'll understand why the view inspired the famed country song "Rocky Top." The tune doubles as fight song for the University of Tennessee, which lies a mere 30 miles away to the northwest. To your west, the meadows of Spence Field and the western crest of the Smokies, all the way to Shuckstack Mountain, stand out in bold relief. The views into Tennessee and North Carolina extend to the horizon. To your east, the prominent peak with the imposing name of Thunderhead competes with the sky. Take in the view from this rock outcrop just as others have done for generations.

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Excerpted from Day and Overnight Hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Johnny Molloy
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.