Top Trails: Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 50 Must-Do Hikes for Everyone

by Johnny Molloy

Overview

Discover classic destinations and lesser-known jewels of Great Smoky Mountains National Park through 50 incomparable hikes.

With its secluded mountain waterways, awe-inspiring views from grassy balds, diverse plant and animal life, and impressive stands of old-growth forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers countless opportunities for outdoor adventure. To find the best of them, follow expert author Johnny Molloy—who has spent more than 900 overnights in the Smokies, hiking and camping!

Leave the roads to explore the heart of the park—whether you’re looking for an easy family stroll to a soothing stream, a seven-mile trek through a spruce forest atop a peaceful ridge, or a panoramic 22-mile overnighter. You’ll experience the best of the treasured national park that lies along the border of North Carolina and Tennessee in Top Trails: Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Inside you’ll find:

• 50 favorite routes for hikers, backpackers, and cyclists
• Detailed maps and elevation profiles
• Trailhead directions and “don’t get lost” milestones
• Key at-a-glance information, including trail length, difficulty, features, and facilities
• Expert trail commentary

Johnny considers the Smokies his home stomping ground, so he makes sure you have the necessary information to enjoy Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Whether you’re looking for a scenic walk to stretch your legs, a full-day hike, or a rewarding backpacking trip, you’ll find it here.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643591018
Publisher:	Wilderness Press
Publication date:	09/12/2023
Series:	Top Trails
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	41 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Johnny Molloy is a writer and adventurer who lives in Johnson City, Tennessee, and spends his winters in Florida. His passion for the outdoors was ignited on his very first backpacking trip in Great Smoky Mountains National Park while he was a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. That initial foray unleashed a love of the outdoors that has led the Tennessee native to spend most of his time backpacking, canoe camping, and tent camping for the past three decades, including more than 900 nights backpacking in the Smokies.

The results of his efforts are more than 85 outdoors guidebooks. His writings include hiking, camping, paddling, and how-to guides, as well as books about true outdoor adventures throughout the eastern United States. Johnny continues to write and travel extensively throughout the United States, endeavoring in a variety of outdoor pursuits.

Away from the trail, Johnny’s interests include Christian studies, American history, and University of Tennessee sports. He is also a Gideon and an active member of Christ Community Church in Johnson City.

Read an Excerpt

Twentymile Loop

• Trail Use: Day Hiking, Backpacking, Horses
• Length & Time: 7.6 miles, 3.5–4.5 hours
• Vertical Feet: +/-1,300
• Difficulty: 3
• Trail Type: Loop
• Features: Stream, Waterfall, Autumn Colors, Wildflowers, Backcountry Camping, Swimming, Secluded
• Facilities: Picnic table

Leave a quiet trailhead to circle past Twentymile Cascades. Bisect dry ridges to reach Moore Spring Branch watershed. Numerous footlog bridge stream crossings present panoramas of deep pools and frothier cascades.

Best Time

Late winter and spring offer the most water to enjoy Twentymile Cascades and all the other unnamed falls on Twentymile Creek and Moore Spring Branch. The watersheds are also rich wildflower areas.

Finding the Trail

From the junction of US 321/TN 73 and East Lamar Alexander Parkway in Townsend, Ten-nessee, take US 321 west and then north 7.5 miles, and exit left (west) onto Foothills Parkway. Follow Foothills Parkway 16.9 miles south to its end at US 129 in Chilhowee. Turn left (south) onto US 129 and follow it 15 winding miles into North Carolina to reach NC 28. Turn left (east) onto NC 28 and follow it 2.6 miles to the signed turnoff for the Twentymile Ranger Station, on your left. The ranger station will be 0.2 mile ahead, on your right.

From the intersection of US 19 and Veterans Boulevard in Bryson City, North Carolina, take US 19/US 74 south for 8.8 miles. Then veer right (west) and follow NC 28 for 11.4 miles to the intersection with NC 143. Turn your trip odometer to zero here, and continue 17.7 miles west on NC 28 south to the turnoff for the Twentymile Ranger Station, which will be on your right about 6 miles past the turnoff to Fontana Village Resort & Marina and the Fontana Dam Visitor Center.

Trail Description

This streamside loop hike never gets too far from the sound of falling water—a key ingredient that makes the Smokies what they are. First, walk along Twentymile Creek, with its big pools that far outsize the amount of water the creek carries to Cheoah Lake. Stay with the Twentymile Trail, shortly reaching tiered Twentymile Cascades, an easy-to-reach waterfall that is fun to play around. Continue up the stream, bridging Twentymile Creek numerous times, getting looks into the fast-dropping stream as it dashes white through a green cathedral. Make a trail junction at now-grown Proctor Field Gap. Veer left on the hiker-only Twentymile Loop Trail, bridging Twentymile Creek one last time. Rise into silent wooded Long Hungry Ridge. Moore Spring Branch, a fine trout stream, serenades your downgrade. A short backtrack leads you to the trailhead.

Start your circuit on the Twentymile Trail on a wide, roadlike path. Twentymile Creek stairsteps south for Cheoah Lake. A forest of beech, black birch, and rhododendron rises from the ferny forest floor. Your hillside vantage allows views into the deep pools of Twentymile Creek, bordered by mossy rocks. The stream carries a higher amount of sediment relative to other Smoky Mountain streams and thus has a brownish tint. The sediment also causes the stream to cloud up after thunderstorms. It doesn’t affect the fishery, though. Feisty rainbow trout can be found in every pool. A skilled angler will have a ball battling these colorful fish. At 0.5 mile, bridge Moore Spring Branch just before it meets Twentymile Creek. Reach a trail junction.

Turn right, staying with Twentymile Trail as the Wolf Ridge Trail, your return route, leaves left. Make a short, quick climb, then reach the spur trail to Twentymile Cascades. From the main path, you can already gain a wide perspective of the cascades as they drop 40 or so feet over a distance of 30 yards, making multiple falls and rockslides into multiple pools divided by multiple ledges. The largest descent is the last one, as the creek pours over a sloped rock slab. Ample dunking pools beckon. Smooth gray sunning rocks give you a spot to dry.

Resume your ascent along Twentymile Creek, which continues splashing over big boulders into shadowy pools, backed against a rising wall of rhododendron. Scan for big boulders scattered in the forest. Bridge the stream at 1.5 miles and then again at 1.7 miles to reach recommended Twentymile Creek backcountry campsite 93, located in a flat on the curve of the stream. The main trail bridges Twentymile Creek again at the upper end of the campsite at 1.8 miles.

Cross a stream flowing out of Turkey Cove at 2.2 miles. Rise deeper into the mountains. Span Twentymile Creek at 2.5 miles, just below a boulder-strewn cascade. Watch for a big gravel bar and pool before bisecting the stream again at 2.6 miles. Here, the path turns away from the creek into piney woods to reach Proctor Field Gap and a trail junction at 3.2 miles. The forest has overtaken the field from which it drew a name. Here, the hiker-only Twentymile Loop Trail leaves left, while the Long Hungry Ridge Trail keeps straight for Campsite #92. The Twentymile Trail leaves right for the Appalachian Trail.

Take the narrow Twentymile Loop Trail as it drifts downhill to bridge an unnamed streamlet. Next, cross Twentymile Creek on a footlog. Here, the force of the stream pounds into a mossy stone bluff then slows as a pool before pushing over boulders. The path weaves up Long Hungry Ridge in a dry forest of white pine, oak, and hickory. The secluded woodland is an ideal place for contemplative solitude, to absorb the essence of the Southern Appalachians. Split a gap on Long Hungry Ridge at 4.5 miles. Continue in upland forest, and surmount a second gap at 4.9 miles. Views open across the valley of Wolf Ridge.

Descend to reach Moore Spring Branch at 5.8 miles in a rocky glen, where a 5-foot aquatic curtain drops into a deep pool. Turn down Moore Spring Branch and join the Wolf Ridge Trail at 5.9 miles. Keep downstream, bridging Moore Spring Branch on classic Smokies footlog bridges at 6.0, 6.3, 6.6, 6.7, and 6.8 miles. The spans are fun to cross because they also give you enhanced vistas into the water. Deep pools, rockslides, and white frothy cascades cloaked in greenery characterize this superlatively scenic Smoky Mountain stream. Pass by a rare-for-the- Smokies dry rock overhang just before your loop ends at 7.1 miles. It’s just a half-mile backtrack to the trailhead.

Table of Contents

The Top Trails Series

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Map

Map Legend

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Trails Table

Using Top Trails

Introduction to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

On the Trail

1. Abrams Creek and Cades Cove Area

• Pine Mountain Loop
• Abrams Falls via Abrams Creek Ranger Station
• Abrams Falls via Cades Cove
• Gregory Bald via Gregory Ridge
• Rich Mountain Loop Trail
• Spence Field and Russell Field Loop
• Rocky Top via Lead Cove

2. Tremont and Elkmont Area

• Spruce Flats Falls
• Waterfalls of Historic Tremont
• Buckhorn Gap via Meigs Creek
• Walker Sisters Place via Little Greenbrier Trail
• Cucumber Gap Loop
• Laurel Falls
• The Chimney Tops
• Road Prong Hike
• Silers Bald via Clingmans Dome

3. Mount Le Conte, Greenbrier, and Cosby Area

• Charlies Bunion
• Alum Cave Bluffs
• Rainbow Falls
• Baskins Falls
• Brushy Mountain via Grotto Falls
• Ramsey Cascades
• Albright Grove
• Maddron Bald Loop
• Mount Cammerer via Low Gap

4. Twentymile and Fontana Lake Area

• Twentymile Loop
• Gregory Bald Loop
• Shuckstack from Twentymile Ranger Station
• Lost Cove Loop
• Fontana Lake Hike
• Ruins of Proctor

5. Deep, Forney, and Noland Creeks Area

• CCC Loop
• Indian Creek and Sunkota Ridge Loop
• Falls Loop of Deep Creek
• Newton Bald Loop
• Fork Ridge Loop
• Forney Creek Loop
• Andrews Bald

6. Smokemont, Cataloochee, and Big Creek Area

• Smokemont Loop
• Cabin Flats Loop
• Sweat Heifer Cascades via Kephart Prong
• Flat Creek Falls and Vista
• Hemphill Bald Hike
• Big Fork Ridge Loop
• Pretty Hollow Gap Loop
• Boogerman Loop
• Little Cataloochee Church
• Mount Sterling via Mount Sterling Gap
• Low Gap Loop
• Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls

Appendix 1: Local Resources

Appendix 2: Useful Sources

Index

About the Author