8 Elkmont Nature Trail

This self-guiding nature trail makes a great short day hike for families staying at Elkmont Campground. Grab a copy of the brochure (50 cents to keep) before starting the hike and use it to help interpret the features encountered along the way.

Start: Elkmont Nature trailhead near Elkmont Campground

Distance: 1.0-mile loop

Hiking time: About 30 minutes—day hike

Difficulty: Easy

Trail surface: Forest trail

Other trail users: Hikers only

Maps: Gatlinburg USGS quad; Trails Illustrated #229 Great Smoky Mountains; Trails Illustrated #316 Cades Cove Elkmont

Other: The parking lot is small but rarely fills. Restrooms are available at Elkmont Campground.

Finding the trailhead: Drive 4.8 miles west on Little River Road from Sugarlands Visitor Center and turn left at the sign for Elkmont Campground. Drive 1.4 miles and turn left just before the campground entrance station. Drive 0.3 mile to the parking area for the Elkmont Self-Guiding Nature Trail, on the left. GPS: N35 39.456' / W83 34.831'

The Hike

This nature trail begins at the south corner of the parking lot. Cross Mids Branch on an asphalt-filled I-beam and wind your way up an old railroad line. Cross an old capped-off spring and then pass around a meadow at an old homeplace. Cross the branch again and climb a south-facing slope, passing through a neat rhododendron and mountain laurel tunnel. A series of short switchbacks brings you back to the trailhead.

Miles and Directions

0.0Start from the south corner of the parking lot at the sign.

0.5Pass around a meadow at an old homeplace.

1.0Arrive back at the parking lot.

Ivy

Among the most common understory shrubs in the park, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) embellishes the forest in a veil of pink during May and June. Called “ivy” by the locals, it often grows in impenetrable thickets on the dry, south-facing slopes in the park. Many park trails, including Elkmont Nature Trail, were built by carving tunnels through these thickets.