Cucumber Gap Loop - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Although we had planned to hike the Cucumber Gap loop in mid-March 2016, when we got to the Cucumber Gap Trail junction, we changed our plans and followed the Little River Trail upstream to the Goshen Prong Trail. I described that hike here. We finally hiked the loop in late April 2016. We parked at the upper paved hiker parking area near the Jakes Creek Trail trailhead. We walked down the road to the lower parking area and the Little River Trail trailhead and hiked upstream to the Cucumber Gap Trail junction. While most of the Little River Trail is a single lane gravel road up to the Goshen Prong Trail, the Cucumber Gap Trail is a wide dirt path with protruding roots and rocks. Most places are wide enough to meet another hiker without having to step off the trail. At the west end of the Cucumber Gap trail we headed north on the gravel road that is the Jakes Creek Trail. Note that this trail is also used by equestrians. We were a bit late for the spring ephemeral wild flowers, but still saw enough to make the hike up to the gap and down again enjoyable. Several of the abandoned buildings of the Elkmont resort community are still located along the lower end of the Jakes Creek Trail. The loop climbs and falls 750 feet with the highest elevation at Cucumber Gap and the lowest elevation between the two hiker parking areas in Elkmont. The route along Jakes Creek is much steeper than the Little River Trail.

Unless the wildflowers are blooming along the Cucumber Gap Trail or you want a bit of solitude, I'd suggest hiking further up the Little River Trail and retracing your steps for a more enjoyable and scenic hike.

Topographic map with GPS route

Elevation profile

Little River

Island with a carpet of green moss and grass

Cascade on Little River

Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum)

Another cascade

Dogwood above the Little River

Canadian Violet (Viola canadensis)

Turnaround at the end of the old road about one mile up the trail

Another noisy cascade on the river

Little River flows over a series of boulders

View from the log bench

Husky Branch Falls

Husky Branch flows into Little River

Cucumber Gap Trail trailhead to right

The smooth trail surface provided a false hope...

...as we found plenty of roots and mud along the trail

The trail looks like a sunken road

Root-bound trail

The Cucumber Gap Trail crosses Husky Branch without the benefit of a bridge

Another sunken section of the trail

Fungi face

More roots and rocks as the trail weaves among the hardwoods

The trail follows a small stream for a short distance

Root stairs

This rock is the only "bench" on the Cucumber Gap Trail

Sweet White Trillium (Trillium simile)

Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Blown down trees have been cleared from the trail

Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum)

More Sweet White Trillium

Approaching the high point on the trail

Beginning the descent toward the Jakes Creek Trail

Burnt Mountain (3373')

The trail crosses a very shallow Tulip Branch

A small stream flows into Tulip Branch

A hillside covered in trillium and foamflower

A small stream flows through a culvert covered by rocks

More roots

Cucumber Gap Trail ends at intersection with Jakes Creek Trail

Typical view from and surface of Jakes Creek Trail

A wooden drain allows runoff to flow into Tulip Branch

Tulip Branch

A modern gate across a side road seems out of place

Jakes Creek from the cemetery road bridge

Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.