58 Goldmine Loop

At only a little over 3 miles long and offering a fine hiking experience far away from the big crowds in other areas of the park, it’s surprising that this hike doesn’t get more attention. Beyond the first 0.25 mile there’s a good chance that you’ll have the hike all to yourself. The 0.2-mile tunnel at the start is a popular destination, however, so expect to meet people when you walk through it. (Don’t be surprised if you see them with cans of spray paint in their hands.) The tunnel makes a unique hiking experience. It’s long enough that it gets dark and spooky in the middle. Length aside, how many hikes start out with a walk through a tunnel on a road to nowhere?

Start: Lakeshore trailhead at the end of Lakeview Drive

Distance: 3.1-mile loop

Hiking time: About 2 hours—day hike or overnighter

Difficulty: Moderate

Trail surface: Paved road, old forest roads, and forest trails

Best season: June for the mountain laurel bloom

Other trail users: Equestrians

Maps: Noland Creek USGS quad; Trails Illustrated #229 Great Smoky Mountains; Trails Illustrated #317 Clingmans Dome Cataloochee; Trails Illustrated #316 Cades Cove Elkmont

Other: There’s plenty of room to park, but there are no facilities. The closest facilities are at Bryson City.

Finding the trailhead: From US 19 in downtown Bryson City, turn north onto Everett Street (the main drag) and follow it out of town. Outside Bryson City the road is called Fontana Road, and when you enter the park, it’s called Lakeview Drive. If you just stay on the same road and don’t take any turns, you’ll get it right. From US 19 it is 8.7 miles to the end of the road at a parking area on the right. GPS: N35 27.533' / W83 32.266'

The Hike

The hike begins on Lakeshore Trail, which is a continuation of the road and passes through the tunnel. Beyond the tunnel the roadbed changes to a trail, and in less than a quarter of a mile, Tunnel Bypass Trail comes in from the left. Horses and claustrophobic hikers use the bypass. Mountain laurel is abundant here, as it is along the entire hike. If you’re hiking in May and June, its blooms are a special treat.

Shortly beyond Tunnel Bypass Trail, you come to Goldmine Loop Trail on the left (southwest). You won’t find gold on this trail and there is no mine, but the scenery sure is rich. Taking the trail, you descend steeply down the spine of the ridge to a small saddle, where the trail swings off to the right of the ridge and heads down a drainage. You soon cross a tiny stream branch. Look to the right in an open field to see an old chimney. There are walnut trees here too. For the next little while, you roughly parallel Goldmine Branch, and along the way you see other signs of settlement—clearings, wire fencing, broken containers.

At a fork Goldmine Loop Trail continues following the creek downstream, while a side path leads left a few hundred yards to Campsite 67, a very small site beside Hyatt Branch. Back on the main trail, it’s a short distance to a small finger of Fontana Lake. After circling the embayment you leave the lake and begin climbing along Tunnel Branch. You soon leave the creek and begin a steep climb up a ridge to meet up with the other end of Tunnel Bypass Trail. This is the official end of Goldmine Loop Trail. A left turn onto Tunnel Bypass Trail takes you to Lakeshore Trail in 1.2 miles (at the point you passed earlier in the hike). A right turn leads in 0.4 mile to Lakeview Drive, just below the parking area. Along the way you pass over a saddle and through good spring wildflower habitat.

Miles and Directions

0.0Start on Lakeshore Trail as a continuation of Lakeview Drive.

0.2Enter Lakeview Drive Tunnel.

0.4Exit Lakeview Drive Tunnel.

0.6Junction with Tunnel Bypass Trail on the left. Continue straight on Lakeshore Trail.

0.7Turn left (southwest) onto Goldmine Loop Trail.

1.6Path on the left fork leads to Campsite 67. Continue to the right on Goldmine Loop Trail.

1.8Fontana Lake.

2.7End of Goldmine Loop Trail at the junction with Tunnel Bypass Trail. Turn right on Goldmine Loop Trail.

3.1Arrive at Lakeview Drive, just below the parking area.

Road to Nowhere

Why in the world would someone build a thousand-foot-long tunnel, wide enough for two lanes of traffic, and then use it for a hiking trail? Good question. The answer is that the US government reneged on a 1943 agreement to build a road from near Bryson City to near Fontana Dam as part of mitigation for damming Little Tennessee River to create Fontana Lake. The lake flooded sections of NC 288, and a new road would not only provide an access route around the lake, but it would generate needed income for the county from tourism.

The state of North Carolina upheld its end of the bargain by building a road to the park boundary. The National Park Service began its section of the road in the 1960s but stopped after the construction uncovered rocks that, when exposed to air and water, create sulfuric acid runoff that is detrimental to aquatic life and vegetation. The park service’s viewpoint was that further construction would be harmful to the environment and to the overall wilderness aspect of the Smokies. Furthermore, the road was no longer as important as it was in the 1940s because NC 28 on the south shore of Fontana Lake provided a suitable route around the lake. Several cemeteries were blocked from road access because of the lake, but the park had always provided boat access for family members.

For decades, many in Swain County fought for completion of the road and many others fought for a cash settlement to the county. The official position of the National Park Service was for the cash settlement. Powerful people on both sides of the fight shook their fists. Finally, through the efforts of Congressman Heath Shuler, a settlement was made. On February 6, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the US Department of the Interior would pay up to $52 million into a trust fund for Swain County.

The long fight is over, and for most people the hatchet is buried. However, old feelings die hard, especially when the government is involved. As of early 2012, if you want to hike Goldmine Loop Trail, you still have to drive by a particularly opinionated sign, erected many years ago by an obviously disgruntled Swain County resident.