American Travel Journal: Gabes Mountain Trail to Hen Wallow Falls

We hiked the Gabes Mountain Trail to Hen Wallow Falls the day after a drenching rain, hoping to see the falls at its boldest. To reach the trail from Gatlinburg, drive north on US 321 for 18 miles to the stop sign in Cosby. Turn right onto Tennessee 32 and drive 1.2 miles to the Cosby Entrance Road on the right. Drive two miles to the picnic parking area on the left. After parking, walk back down the road about 200 feet to the trailhead on the opposite side of the road. Although the trailhead sign indicates the distance to the falls is 2.1 miles, both the park service website and my GPS show the round-trip distance is 4.4 miles. We hiked the trail on a weekday in mid-March 2016.

While most of the trail had firm footing, several water bars did not drain properly and left slippery mud pits that had to be skirted or hopped over. Otherwise, the trail was hard packed dirt with protruding rocks and roots that is typical of trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For the most part, the trail was wide enough to meet someone without having to stand aside, with the exception of several narrower sections on the spur trail to the falls.

There was an area of blown down trees in the Crying Creek watershed that appeared to have been down for a while. Where there was once a foot bridge, only a handrail and a few tree sections standing on end led across the tributary stream. Although we didn't see any workers, it appears that the park service is working to re-route the trail across a new foot bridge a few yards upstream. While the trail will likely be back in order in a few months, it will be many years before the forest returns to this suddenly open area.

After climbing an average 6.5% grade for a couple of miles, the small amount of water flowing over the falls was a bit disappointing. Once I reviewed a topographic map of the area and saw what a small area was drained by Lower Falling Branch, I understood why the flow was so low. Of the waterfalls listed on the park website, this is the least impressive in my opinion.