The Gatlinburg Trail is an easy two mile walk from Sugarlands Visitor Center to the edge of Gatlinburg. The first ½ mile is not very scenic as it follows a concrete sidewalk from the visitor center past the park headquarters building before turning left on the gravel shoulder of Park Headquarters Road to the maintenance base. From here, the trail follows Fighting Creek and the West Prong Little Pigeon River downstream to Gatlinburg.
We hiked the four mile round trip on a warm, sunny day in late February 2016. The trail was in great condition without any muddy areas. In fact, it was mostly dry, even after recent heavy rains. A previous post from our spring 2015 hike on the trail can be found here.
Fighting Creek
Park Headquarters Road bridge over Fighting Creek
Fighting Creek flows from right into West Prong Little Pigeon River
Downstream of the confluence
West Prong Little Pigeon River top left and Fighting Creek on right
A small cascade
Gravel shoulder on Park Headquarter Road with maintenance base in the distance
Standing waves in the river
More whitewater
Twomile Branch joins the river
Looking back up the river and trail
Clear water reveals the river bottom
Moss covers an old log
Remains of several cabins can be found along the trail
West Prong Little Pigeon River from the trail bridge
Looking upstream at the trail bridge
Moss covered rocks line the riverbank
Ripples belie the current in another deep pool
More whitewater as we approach Gatlinburg
Flowing water continues to round the edges of the rocks
A crooked tree frames more whitewater
The only bench along the trail faces the road instead of the river
A downed tree spans the river
Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.
In mid-February 2016, we headed to the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg to hike one of the low elevation trails in the area. When we arrived, both the Little River Road to Townsend and the Newfound Gap Road to Cherokee were closed due to ice on the pavement. This reduced our hiking choices immensely. We decided to hike the Fighting Creek Nature Trail with the extension to Cataract Falls.
Starting between the visitor center and the restrooms, walk down the sidewalk about 100 yards and turn left onto the Fighting Creek Nature Trail. Walking another 300 yards, we arrived at a trail junction. To the left and nearly straight ahead are the ends of the nature trail loop. To the right is the quarter mile walk to the waterfall. We chose to visit the waterfall first, before returning to the junction and following the nature trail in a clock-wise direction. Altogether, we hiked 1.65 miles.
View of Mount LeConte on the way to the Sugarlands Visitor Center
The nature trail is fairly wide, but full of rocks and roots
An oddly formed tree stands sentinel beside the icy trail
Looking downstream at Fighting Creek from the bridge
Looking upstream at Fighting Creek
Under the snow and ice, the Cataract Falls trail is packed gravel
Ash Hopper Branch flows into Fighting Creek
Sawmill Branch flows into Fighting Creek from the left as the trail passes under a residential road
The trail crosses Sawmill Branch and climbs up to road level
Cataract Falls
Lower reaches of Cataract Falls
Icicles coat the rocks in Fighting Creek
Back on the nature trail
Back of John Ownby cabin
The cabin walls need to be re-chinked
View out the back door
Front porch of the cabin
Snow on the roof
Several blown down trees were visible along the trail
A small branch flows into a swampy area near the end of the trail
Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.
Obed National Wild and Scenic River is most known for its white-water kayaking and rock climbing potential. However, the park also has some less adrenaline-pumping opportunities. Among those is hiking on the Cumberland Trail in the Nemo area and a couple of short hikes in the Lilly Bridge area. Lilly Bridge carries Ridge Road over Clear Creek near Lancing, Tennessee. We planned to hike the Point Trail from the Lilly Bluff parking area, but did not find any place to park. Instead, we drove back down to Lilly Bridge and parked there. We hiked the 0.3 mile Bridge Trail up to the Overlook Trail, turned left away from the bluff and walked less than 100 yards to the beginning of the 1.9 mile Point Trail.
The Bridge Trail climbs over 250 feet in its short distance to produce an incline of over 15%. However, most all of the steep portions have either stone or log steps. Along the way, a side trail descends to Melton Mill Falls. Ice at the bottom of the side trail kept us from viewing the falls from its base, but we had a pleasant rest stop along the climb.
The Point Trail is relatively flat and easy, except for three places. The first is descending to cross Melton Mill Branch well above the falls and then ascending the other side. The second is to follow the arrow painted on the rock bluff to the right to scramble up a small draw leading to the cliff top. As the trail approaches the confluence of Clear Creek and the Obed River, views of both watersheds can be found. In addition, there is a small rock arch to the right of the trail on the way out to the point. The final steeper section of the trail is the relatively gentle descent to the post marking the end of the trail. In winter, both waterways can be seen from near this location, although the confluence is not visible.
We hiked at the end of January 2016. Although the air temperature climbed into the low 60s, there was still ice on the shaded portions of Ridge Road in the park as well as on the Point Trail bridge over Melton Mill Branch. I was too concerned with my footing to take photographs of the ice.
Melton Mill Falls
Icicles at the rock house adjacent to the falls
Falls from the Bridge Trail above the rock house
Melton Mill Branch at the Point Trail bridge
Typical trail conditions in the sunshine
Snow on rocks in the Obed River
View upstream of the Obed River
More ice and snow on the Obed River
Rock Arch
Looking upstream on Clear Creek
Rapids on Clear Creek
Typical cliff top trail condition
Entrance to Obed National Wild and Scenic River is free.
