American Travel Journal: Kephart Prong Trail - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Kephart Prong Trail is a two-mile horse and hiking trail that follows an old logging railroad route up Kephart Prong to the Kephart Shelter. The trailhead is on Newfound Gap Road about seven miles north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Parallel parking is available on both sides of the road. The creek, trail and shelter are all named for Horace Kephart, author of Our Southern Highlanders and an early proponent of the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The route utilizes five bridges to reach the shelter and junction with both the Sweat Heifer Creek Trail and the Grassy Branch Trail. The first bridge is also used by horses, but the remaining spans are only footbridges and require equestrians to ford the creek. The average grade on the trail is about 7.5% and is fairly consistent along the length of the trail. Most of the trail is a one-lane gravel road, but detours around the fords to the foot bridges are often single-track paths. About 0.2 miles from the trailhead, the remains of the Camp Kephart Prong of the Civilian Conservation Corps can be found. The camp signboard, a water fountain, and a chimney are easily spotted on the right side of the trail during winter and early spring when the leaves are off of the trees and bushes. Beyond the camp, the trail crosses Bridge 2 at 0.4 miles and climbs high above the creek before crossing Bridge 3 at 0.85 miles and re-crossing on Bridge 4 at 1.05 miles. The trail climbs another ½ mile before crossing Bridge 5. The final ½ mile to the shelter rapidly transitions from a gravel one-lane road to a trail with evidence of erosion such as tree roots and loose rocks.

Overall, this is a great trail that follows a lovely creek up to one of the few trail shelters in the park that is not on the Appalachian Trail. We hiked to the shelter and back in late March 2016.