16 Lynn Camp Prong and Appalachian Trail

This hike provides a good opportunity to get deep into the Smokies without making an overly strenuous effort. You get to experience a few miles of the Smokies crest (without views, though), and after the first 4.0 miles, you have the hike pretty much to yourself. A couple of camping options allow you to do the hike as an overnighter or a lazy two-nighter. If you’re up to it, the hike is doable as a long day hike.

(See map for Hike 15: Indian Flats Falls.)

Start: Middle Prong trailhead in the Tremont section of the park

Distance: 21.0-mile lollipop

Hiking time: About 12 hours—killer day hike, tough overnighter, or 2-nighter

Difficulty: Strenuous, due to length and some steep sections

Trail surface: Old forest road and forested trails

Best seasons: Spring for the wildflowers, Oct for autumn foliage

Other trail users: Equestrians permitted on first 7.8 miles

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

Special considerations: The last 3.0 miles of Tremont Road are closed in winter, so you’ll probably want to hike this one only from spring to fall. There are better winter trips than this one, with 6.0 additional miles of road walking required. After heavy rains an unbridged crossing of Indian Flats Prong could be a wade.

Other: Ample parking is usually available at the trailhead, but on busy weekends you may have to park a ways back from the gate. The closest restrooms are back at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont office. If the institute is not open, the next closest facilities in the park are at Cades Cove Picnic Area. The town of Townsend has closer facilities.

Finding the trailhead: The hike begins at the end of Tremont Road. Head southwest from the Townsend Y (junction of Little River Road and TN 73) toward Cades Cove, and at 0.2 mile turn left onto Tremont Road. The road passes Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, located on the left at 2.0 miles, and then changes to gravel. Drive 3.0 miles on the gravel portion to the end of the road at a traffic circle. GPS: N35 37.113' / W83 40.188'

The Hike

The first 7.8 miles of this hike are also covered in Hikes 12 and 15. Refer to them for more details. The hike begins on Middle Prong Trail as a continuation of the gravel road behind the gate. Cross the creek on a footbridge and stay to the left after crossing to remain on the main road. Pass by the trailhead for Panther Creek Trail at 2.3 miles and at mile 3.5, cross Indian Flats Prong on a low bridge and begin climbing on switchbacks. At the second sharp switchback, an obvious side path on the right leads a few hundred feet to Indian Flats Falls. Plan to spend a little reflection time here.

Back on Middle Prong Trail, it’s a short climb to the junction with Lynn Camp Prong Trail and Greenbrier Ridge Trail. You’ll come back to this junction later in the hike. Now, you want to go left (north) on Lynn Camp Prong Trail. After an easy 1.5 miles, you arrive at Campsite 28, your first night’s stay on a two-night backpack. Pressing on from the campsite, make a continuous 2.2-mile climb to the junction with Miry Ridge Trail on the ridgeline.

Turn right (south) on the ridge and follow Miry Ridge Trail 2.5 miles to the junction with the Appalachian Trail (AT). Although you climb to the crest of the Smokies along this ridge, the grade is not as steep as you might expect. A cool feature of this section is the gnarled trees covered in moss and lichens. Look for a large birch tree with a good-size rhododendron growing from a crotch in the tree more than 15 feet above the ground.

At the junction with the AT, turn right (west) and make the steepest climb of the hike up Cold Spring Knob. Now you get a real lesson in Smokies ridge walking. It’s sort of like Smokies weather in the spring—if you don’t like it right now, don’t worry because it’ll change real soon. Up and down you go until the final descent to the Greenbrier Ridge Trail junction. Derrick Knob Shelter is 0.3 mile farther along the AT. The shelter is your second night’s stay on a two-night backpack.

If skipping the shelter, turn sharply right (northeast) and head down Greenbrier Ridge Trail. It’s a nearly continuous descent of 4.2 miles back to the junction with Lynn Camp Prong Trail and Middle Prong Trail. You pass through a variable second-growth forest along the way and make two uncertain stream crossings. The first, on a tributary to Indian Flats Prong, is the easier and isn’t a problem except in very high water. The second crossing is over Indian Flats Prong and requires careful negotiation in high water. After prolonged rains this crossing could be a wade. The creek here is very scenic, but try not to let that distract you on the crossing.

After the second creek crossing, it’s less than 0.5 mile back to Middle Prong Trail. Retrace your steps on Middle Prong Trail to the trailhead.

Miles and Directions

0.0Start behind the gate and cross Lynn Camp Prong on the bridge. Stay to the left beyond the bridge, on the main road.

0.5Lynn Camp Prong Cascades.

2.3Junction with Panther Creek Trail on the left. Continue straight on the main road.

3.5Bridge over Indian Flats Prong.

3.9Obvious side path to Indian Flats Falls is on the right.

4.1Junction with Lynn Camp Prong and Greenbrier Ridge Trails. Turn left (north) onto Lynn Camp Prong Trail.

5.6Campsite 28.

7.8Junction with Miry Ridge Trail on the ridgeline. Turn right (south) onto it.

10.3Turn right (south) onto Appalachian Trail.

12.7Turn sharply right (northeast) onto Greenbrier Ridge Trail.

16.9Arrive back at junction of Lynn Camp Prong, Middle Prong, and Greenbrier Ridge Trails. Follow Middle Prong Trail back to the trailhead.

21.0Arrive back at trailhead.

Options: While it’s possible for experienced hikers to do this trip in a day, it is not recommended. A better choice is to spend two nights, staying at Campsite 28 the first night and Derrick Knob Shelter on the second night. You could do the trip as an overnighter, staying the first night at site 28, but this leaves you with 15.4 miles on the second day with a heavy pack. You could spend the first night at Derrick Knob Shelter, but if you do that, you’ll probably want to reverse the loop part of the route so it will be only 8.6 miles to the shelter instead of 13.0. If you do spend the night at Derrick Knob Shelter, the total mileage for this hike will be 21.6.

A Cruel Death

At several points along Greenbrier Ridge Trail and Miry Ridge Trail are good views of Mellinger Death Ridge, which separates the Indian Flats Prong and Lynn Camp Prong drainages. The ridge is named for Jasper Mellinger, who met an unfortunate fate while hiking through the area. Accounts of the incident vary, but it generally goes that Mellinger stumbled into a bear trap that had been improperly set by two brothers. Unable to free himself, and without the trappers checking daily as they should have, Mellinger was close to death before the men found him. Fearing retribution, the brothers killed Mellinger and threw his body over a cliff so it would look like an accident. One brother took the secret to his grave; the other brother, on his death bed, admitted to the murder some thirty years later. Mellinger’s remains were found and his identity confirmed by his pocket watch.