Numerous rock walls are found along Old Settlers Trail.
43 Old Settlers Trail
This hike isn’t for everyone. In summer it’s hot, buggy, overgrown, and infested with poison ivy. The views aren’t good and the forest is mostly second growth. It’s long and tiring, though only a few sections are steep. But if you’re a history buff, this trail was made especially for you. Old Settlers Trail passes by (and through) more evidence of early-settlement history than does any other trail in the park. There are old rock walls, cemeteries, chimneys, wagon traces, rotting structures, and pieces of old stoves and dishes scattered about. Some of the stone walls are remarkable, as though the builders were trying to show off instead of just clearing a plot for planting or clearing a roadbed.
Old Settlers Trail is an assemblage of old paths and wagon roads, with many side paths leading off of it. A few of these side paths connect the trail with US 321, creating the possibility of breaking this hike into smaller segments. However, the trailheads on US 321 are not marked and it’s frustrating trying to find them and then to find a safe place to park. The best bet is to stick with the hike as presented here and stay on the main trail. The side paths on this hike are too numerous to list. In most cases it is obvious which route is the main trail. Trail signs mark all questionable junctions.
(See map for Hike 41: Ramsey Cascades.)
Start: Maddron Bald trailhead
Distance: 17.0 miles point to point
Hiking time: About 9 hours—day hike or overnighter
Difficulty: Moderate
Trail surface: Old wagon roads and forest trails
Best season: Winter or early spring before the poison ivy comes out
Other trail users: Hikers only
Maps: Jones Cove, Mount Guyot, and Mount LeConte USGS quads; Trails Illustrated #229 Great Smoky Mountains; Trails Illustrated #317 Clingmans Dome Cataloochee
Special considerations: Poison ivy is abundant along most of this hike. Consider making this hike in winter, when the leaves are gone. Wintertime also better reveals the rock walls, cemeteries, and other artifacts of early settlement.
You need a shuttle to make this hike. If you use 2 vehicles, note that the trailhead off US 321 may not be a safe place to leave your car. In the past, several vehicles have been stolen or vandalized. While such activity has subsided, you still take a chance parking here. The best option is to leave your vehicle at the Greenbrier trailhead and have a shuttle bring you to the trailhead off US 321.
Other: Both trailheads hold only a few vehicles, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Neither trailhead has facilities of any kind.
Finding the trailhead: The hike ends at Old Settlers trailhead in the Greenbrier section of the park. You need to leave a vehicle here and drive to the starting trailhead or arrange for a shuttle service to pick you up here. To get here from US 441 in Gatlinburg, turn at traffic light #3 and drive east on US 321. At 5.9 miles turn right (south) onto Greenbrier Road. This road follows scenic Middle Prong of Little Pigeon River, changing to gravel just past the ranger station. Drive slowly, and watch for pedestrians in summer. At 3.1 miles the road to Ramsey Cascades trailhead turns left and immediately crosses Porters Creek. Take this road and cross three bridges in the first 0.1 mile. Park just beyond the third bridge, on the left. GPS: N35 42.467' / W83 22.794'
The Hike
Begin on the Maddron Bald Trail, which starts as an old wagon road, and climb moderately for about 0.7 mile to the one-room Willis Baxter Cabin on the right. Beyond the cabin the ascent continues, and at 1.2 miles you reach the junction with Gabes Mountain Trail on the left and Old Settlers Trail on the right. Maddron Bald Trail continues straight ahead, but you want to turn right (north) onto Old Settlers Trail. You’ll stay on the trail for the rest of the hike.
Descend through a hemlock forest to pick up an old wagon road—a common theme on this hike. Look closely here and from now on for evidence of pre-park settlement. There are some old metal pieces (a stove?) on the left and remnants from a chimney on the right. A side path leads from the chimney to a cemetery that has only slabs of rock as headstones. Now cross a small creek branch and shortly afterward cross Indian Camp Creek on a sturdy foot log. Next comes a rock-hop of Dunn Creek, which could be tricky in high water. Notice the fine rock wall on the left just beyond the crossing. Now begin a long, gradual ascent up a small drainage and swing around sharply to the right on a switchback. Now it’s a climb up and around Snag Mountain (look for mountain laurel blooms in June) and a descent to a small tributary of Webb Creek. An old homesite sits on the left, just beyond the creek. Pick up an old wagon road and follow it down a small ridge to another crossing of the tributary.
You soon meet up with Webb Creek and follow alongside it. There are rock walls everywhere—to the right, across the creek, and even one across the trail that you have to walk through. Where the trail crosses the creek, a sign says that the T. McCarter Barn is 600 feet to the right. The side path leads to a left turn onto an old road that leads to the barn. Behind the barn, another path leads several yards to the foundation remains of a homesite and a standing springhouse. Be careful: The path is overgrown with poison ivy. You’re not far from US 321 at this point and you can hear the traffic.
Back on the main trail, cross Webb Creek and pass an impressive rock wall on the left that’s nearly 6 feet high. The best rock wall of the entire hike (and probably in all the park) is just ahead. The wall is 5 feet high, 3 feet thick, and about 100 yards long. No stone seems out of place, as though they were placed according to a computer-generated master plan.
Numerous rock walls are found along Old Settlers Trail.
Now cross several small creek branches and come to Texas Creek, where the trail joins an old roadbed and heads upstream. (A side path at this point follows the creek downstream to US 321.) About a quarter mile upstream, you pass a homesite on the left with two chimney remains and some rotten timber lying in one corner. Now climb—steeply in places—high into the Texas Creek drainage, crossing several feeder streams and finally crossing Texas Creek before swinging out of the drainage. The trail then climbs to a ridge and descends through a scenic forest with some good-size eastern hemlocks and yellow poplars (tulip trees). In this forest you’ll find the greatest concentration of fallen American chestnut trees you’ll likely see anywhere in the park. Soon the downfall will include the hemlocks, after dying from the hemlock wooly adelgid infestation. (See the sidebar for Hike 36.)
After crossing Tumbling Creek you quickly climb over a ridge and descend steeply to pick up an old roadbed along Noisy Creek. Soon you cross the creek twice in quick succession and a third time a little farther down. After the third crossing the trail continues to follow the roadbed along the creek to a fork. The path on the right follows the creek downstream to US 321, while your trail turns left and heads away from the creek.
Pass more rock walls and a chimney on the left, and then swing around into the Ramsey Creek drainage and follow that creek upstream, crossing it five times and passing two chimneys. After the fifth crossing the trail begins a brutal climb—the steepest of the hike—and passes a chimney on the left. After moderating the ascent and rounding a broad ridge, the trail descends through a dry forest of pines (killed by southern pine beetles), oaks, sourwood, and mountain laurel to a crossing of Redwine Creek.
Just beyond the creek crossing lies Campsite 33, situated directly on top of an old homesite. You can pitch your tent in the former living room. Rocks from the crumbling chimney have been commandeered for the fire ring and as chairs. Park rules strictly forbid such activity, so don’t contribute.
Shortly beyond the campsite, the trail swings left around a ridge, while another path goes right and follows the ridge. Staying left on the main trail, you pass more rock walls and then a chimney right beside the trail. Just past the chimney, the trail crosses an old roadbed. About 25 yards to the left sits an old log structure without a roof. A right turn on the roadbed leads to US 321. You want to go straight and descend to cross Timothy Creek.
Shortly beyond the creek crossing, the trail descends steeply for a short distance before moderating and following a drainage downstream. As the grade begins to level out, an obvious path goes to the right, but you need to stay to the left as the sign indicates. Shortly beyond here, the terrain flattens and you experience the rare occurrence of a totally level hike in the Smokies. This was prime bottomland for early settlers.
Once through the bottomland, the trail ascends alongside Soak Ash Creek and follows it high into the drainage, crossing it a few times and passing another homesite. Finally, the trail leaves the drainage and goes on a long gradual climb to cross Copeland Divide. In doing so, you climb some, level some, descend some, and cross Snakefeeder Branch. But mostly you climb.
Once over Copeland Divide you descend to pick up the Little Bird Branch drainage, eventually crossing the branch and following it downstream before swinging away, crossing an unnamed branch, and then arriving at Bird Branch. Cross Bird Branch and enjoy the level 0.3-mile final push to the trailhead.
Miles and Directions
0.0Start on Maddron Bald Trail, the signed and obvious roadbed leading from the parking area.
1.2Junction with Old Settlers Trail and Gabes Mountain Trail. Turn right (north) onto Old Settlers Trail.
10.4Campsite 33.
17.0Trailhead on Ramsey Cascades Road.