HK_GreatSMokyMts

Start: Jakes Creek trailhead near Elkmont Campground

Distance: 16.9-mile lollipop

Hiking time: About 9 hours—day hike, overnighter, or 2-nighter

Difficulty: Strenuous, due to steep grades and a creek wade

Trail surface: Forest trails with rocks and roots

Other trail users: Equestrians

Maps: Gatlinburg, Silers Bald, and Thunderhead Mountain USGS quads; Trails Illustrated #229 Great Smoky Mountains; Trails Illustrated #316 Cades Cove Elkmont

Special considerations: The Lynn Camp Prong crossing is rock-hoppable only after a prolonged dry spell. Come prepared to wade. The small spring at Campsite 26 may dry up during prolonged dry periods. The closest water is about 0.5 mile down Lynn Camp Prong Trail.

Other: A large paved parking lot is at the trailhead, but it can fill on weekends and anytime during the summer or autumn. Restrooms are available at the campground.

Finding the trailhead: The trailhead is located in the Elkmont section of the park, near Elkmont Campground. Drive 4.8 miles west on Little River Road from Sugarlands Visitor Center and turn left at the sign for the campground. Drive 1.4 miles and turn left just before the campground entrance station. Drive 1.1 miles to the gate, passing by the trailhead for Little River Trail (Hike 10) along the way. A paved parking area lies to the right of the gate. This is the same trailhead as for Hike 9. GPS: N35 39.129' / W83 34.893'

The Hike

Walk up the gravel road past the gate on Jakes Creek Trail. Climb fairly steeply to the junction with Cucumber Gap Trail, cutting sharply back to the left (east). Continue straight ahead on Jakes Creek Trail, following an old logging grade. Descend slightly a few hundred feet to the junction with Meigs Mountain Trail on the right. Stay on Jakes Creek Trail and hike through a characteristic second-growth yellow poplar (tulip tree) forest while making a steady ascent on a wide parallel of Jakes Creek. You meet up with the creek at an especially scenic cascade. Look for a steel cable sticking out of the side path leading down to the pool, a sign of bygone logging activity.

A short distance beyond the cascade, the graded roadbed ends at a crossing of Newt Prong. Look for an old railroad rail sticking out of the ground here, an even surer sign that logging once occurred in these woods. Cross the creek on a foot log and begin ascending alongside Jakes Creek. After a steep section, cross the creek on stepping stones (tricky in high water) and swing away from the creek on a level grade before climbing again after a switchback.

Pressing on, you pass Campsite 27 on the left, right beside the trail. The forest here is pleasant, but the campsite is not one of the best. The ground is bare and rooty, and it looks as though it could become a miserable collection of muddy runnels during a hard rain. Maybe that’s why campers at this site tend to spread out through the woods—not the most environmentally sound practice.

It’s a rooty climb, though not too steep, from the campsite to Jakes Gap. Four trails intersect here. Straight ahead, Panther Creek Trail descends to Lynn Camp Prong—you’ll climb this trail later in the hike. To the right, an unmaintained and overgrown manway leads to the summit of Blanket Mountain. As with all unmaintained trails in the park, hiking this one is not recommended.

Turn left (south) on Miry Ridge Trail. Despite the unflattering name, this is a fine portion of the hike. As you climb moderately up the northwest slope of Dripping Spring Mountain, pay attention to the forest. When you swing around the ridge and begin skirting the southeast side, notice the difference in both the temperature and plant life. On the more south-facing slope, you pass through a long mountain laurel tunnel with a ground cover of galax, trailing arbutus, and wintergreen—all indicator plants of a dry environment. Soon you pass through another tunnel, this one created by rhododendron, and now you come out in a clearing just below the summit of Dripping Spring Mountain. There’s a good view from here of Cold Spring Knob on the Smokies crest and of Mellinger Death Ridge straight ahead. A side path climbs to a higher vantage point on the summit of Dripping Spring Mountain, but the view from the main trail is perfectly fine.

Now you pass through another laurel tunnel and have a good walk along the contour line before descending easily through a dying hemlock forest to a saddle. A signpost here indicates that Campsite 26 lies off to the left (northeast) side of the saddle. The obvious side path leads a few hundred yards to the site, situated in a grove of silverbell, maple, and dead hemlock. (See the sidebar for Hike 36.)

A gentle walk takes you from the saddle to the junction with Lynn Camp Prong Trail. Turn right (southwest) and follow Lynn Camp Prong Trail down and away from the ridgeline. The next 2.2 miles are a cakewalk (in this direction)—not too steep, easy creek crossings, and downhill all the way. Watch for wildflowers along this stretch, but don’t get so caught up in them that you overlook the wood nettle that’s growing everywhere. You don’t want to brush against that stuff (See Bad Plants in the introduction). The trail dumps out in a clearing on an old railroad bed. This is Campsite 28. Straight ahead is the horse-hitching rail, and to the right is the camping area, located on both sides of Buckeye Cove Branch.

To the left is the continuation of Lynn Camp Prong Trail, following the mostly level railroad bed 1.5 miles to the Greenbrier Ridge Trail and Middle Prong Trail junction. Greenbrier Ridge Trail turns left at the junction, while Middle Prong Trail (your route) turns right as a continuation of the railroad grade. The trail descends moderately now, making a left switchback and then a right switchback. In the outside curve of the second switchback, an obvious side path leads a few hundred feet to Indian Flats Falls, a highly recommended side trip. Continuing down the trail, you make a few more switchbacks and cross Indian Flats Prong on a low bridge. From here, it’s an easy 1.2-mile walk on the gradually descending railroad grade to the obvious junction with Panther Creek Trail.

Miles and Directions

0.0Start at the gate on Jakes Creek Trail.

0.3Junction with Cucumber Gap Trail, which cuts back to the left. Continue straight ahead on Jakes Creek Trail.

0.4Junction with Meigs Mountain Trail, on the right. Continue following Jakes Creek upstream on Jakes Creek Trail.

2.6Campsite 27.

3.3Reach Jakes Gap at junction with Miry Ridge Trail and Panther Creek Trail. Turn left (south) onto Miry Ridge Trail.

5.2Campsite 26.

5.8Turn right (southwest) onto Lynn Camp Prong Trail.

8.0Campsite 28.

9.5Junction with Middle Prong Trail and Greenbrier Ridge Trail. Turn right (north) on Middle Prong Trail.

9.7Side path on the left leads to Indian Flats Falls.

11.3Junction with Panther Creek Trail on the right. Wade across Lynn Camp Prong to start hiking on Panther Creek Trail.

13.6Arrive back at Jakes Gap. Return to trailhead on Jakes Creek Trail the way you came.

16.9Arrive back at trailhead.

Options: The hike passes three backcountry campsites, providing numerous possibilities for backpacking trips. For an overnighter, a good choice is Campsite 26. This gives you a tough 11.7-mile hike the next day, so you might want to push on to Campsite 28 and spend the night there. For two-night trips, there are two good options. One is to stay both nights at Campsite 27, using the second day to make a day-hike loop of the remainder of the hike. The other option is to stay the first night at Campsite 27 and the second night at Campsite 28.