HK_GreatSMokyMts

Start: Newfound Gap

Distance: 40.3 miles point to point

Hiking time: About 23 hours—3-night backpack, killer 2-nighter, relaxed 4-nighter, or insane overnighter

Difficulty: Strenuous, due to steep grades and very rocky trail

Trail surface: Forest trails and hard-packed dirt paths, some very rocky and rooty

Other trail users: Equestrians permitted on about a third of the route

Maps: Clingmans Dome, Silers Bald, Thunderhead Mountain, Cades Cove, and Fontana Dam USGS quads; Trails Illustrated #229 Great Smoky Mountains; Trails Illustrated #317 Clingmans Dome Cataloochee; Trails Illustrated #316 Cades Cove Elkmont (does not show most of the section from Newfound Gap to Clingmans Dome)

Special considerations: Read the introduction to the AT at the beginning of this section for general considerations. In very dry periods the springs at Russell Field and Mollies Ridge Shelters can dry up. The implications of making extended winter hikes at these elevations can’t be overstated. If you are not experienced in winter backpacking, this is not the place to learn.

Other: Newfound Gap has a very large parking lot, but it can fill up on weekends or any day during the summer and autumn seasons. Restrooms are located here.

The Fontana Dam Visitor Center, near where you end this hike, has free hot showers that are open 24 hours a day. That’s something to think about as you sweat along the trail.

The Hike

Walk across Newfound Gap Road on the painted crosswalk and enter a different world. Within a few yards the crowds will be gone and you’ll have relative solitude along most of the trail. You’ll encounter plenty of other hikers, to be sure, but except for a few short stretches, you’ll feel like you left the tourist crowd behind and entered a different realm of the Smokies. And in fact, you did.

The 8.0 miles from Newfound Gap to Clingmans Dome follow the road closely, with the grumbling of loud mufflers rarely out of earshot. The first part of this section is relatively easy. Come to a hog exclosure with a unique ramp system allowing hikers to pass through. Hog hoofs can’t make it up the ramp; hiking boots have no trouble unless it’s icy. Descend to Indian Gap and the junction with Road Prong Trail and a parking area. The Clingmans Dome USGS quad does not give a name for this gap and names the previous gap you hiked through “Indian Gap.” Old editions of the Trails Illustrated map call the gap here “Little Indian Gap” and it has also been referred to as “Luftee Gap.” However, most references, including park literature, refer to the gap here at the parking area as Indian Gap.

Regardless of what you call it, continue straight from the gap and climb steeply. Crest out in a dark forest of young spruce and fir. This spot provides a hint of what the great spruce-fir forests must have looked like before the arrival of the balsam woolly adelgid and acid precipitation (see the sidebar for Hike 49). Imagine what this forest would look like with all the trees being 2 to 3 feet in diameter.

Now go on a long and very scenic stretch where the trail passes through a dense and lush closed-in forest. There are ups and downs typical of the AT, but the grade is not too bad. A spur path on the left leads in a short distance to Clingmans Dome Road and the Fork Ridge trailhead. Notice the uprooted trees here. Life is hard in the cold and wind of these elevations—hard enough without the extra burden of introduced pests and air pollution.

From the spur path, continue southwest on the AT and reach the junction with Sugarland Mountain Trail, on the right. A 0.4-mile easy walk on this trail takes you to Mount Collins Shelter. The AT continues south on a typical undulating course. In summer look for Turk’s cap lily growing in patches beside the trail. A long, steady ascent heralds the approach to Clingmans Dome. The trail passes within a few yards of the lookout tower. On a clear day a side trip up the tower is a must. Fortunately, you don’t have to walk on the paved path that leads from the Forney Ridge Parking Area to the tower. Scoot up the tower, soak in the views, and get back to your dirt and rocks.

Just beyond the tower you come to another spur on the left, this one connecting with the paved path. Stay to the right (west) on the AT and soon reach the junction with Clingmans Dome Bypass Trail, coming in from the left. Continue on the AT, but take time to admire the view off the north side of the trail toward Mount LeConte. The next 2.5 miles on the AT to Double Spring Gap Shelter are relatively easy and provide numerous open vistas. (About 0.6 mile before reaching the shelter, you pass the junction with Goshen Prong Trail.) Not surprisingly, Double Spring Gap has two springs, one on each side of the gap and only a few yards from the shelter. If you’re getting water, the spring on the south side is much better; the northern spring seeps through a boggy area.

Pressing on from the gap, the AT goes on its typical roller-coaster grade through a forest of beech, buckeye, and mountain ash. At one point the trail opens in a grassy spot with fair views on the left toward High Rocks. At this point you come to the Narrows—a knife-edge ridge with good views off both sides. The trail soon forks at the junction with Welch Ridge Trail, which goes to the left. A 0.2-mile steep climb from here brings you to the 5,607-foot summit of Silers Bald at a small clearing. There’s only one fair view from the clearing, looking back toward Clingmans Dome. On a sunny day you can see the light reflecting from the cars at Forney Ridge Parking Area. An obvious path leads north from the summit a few hundred feet to a rock outcrop with wonderful open views to the north, as well as leafy views to the east and west.

From the summit, descend on the AT to Silers Bald Shelter. If you’re camping here and the weather is clear, you can take in a show after dinner. Hike back up on Silers Bald and watch the sunset from the rock outcrop.

The trail from Silers Bald Shelter to the junction with Miry Ridge Trail is the typical undulating ridge-walking characteristic of the AT. By now you’ve surely noticed that you left the spruce and fir trees back at the higher elevations and are hiking in a mixed-hardwood forest. At the Miry Ridge Trail junction, continue straight on the AT and climb steeply up Cold Spring Knob. After topping out it’s a relatively easy hike to the Greenbrier Ridge Trail junction. From Greenbrier Ridge Trail, continue straight (as usual) on the AT and climb Big Chestnut Bald before leveling out to Derrick Knob Shelter. This shelter has one of the most scenic settings of any in the park. In summer coneflower and snakeroot cover the open field in front of the shelter.

From the shelter, it’s a short and easy climb over a knoll and then a nearly continuous descent to Sugartree Gap, marked by sugar maples and an American chestnut log that makes a great seat. Climb steeply from Sugartree Gap and then descend to Starkey Gap, also featuring a chestnut sitting log.

From Starkey Gap, you make a brutal ascent up Brier Knob, perhaps the most strenuous segment on the Smokies portion of the AT. The elevation of Starkey Gap is 4,527 feet. On the peak of Brier Knob, a little more than 0.5 mile farther, it’s 5,215 feet. Beyond Brier Knob, you soon come to an open area with views and then descend dangerously over rocks. From here, you go on a fairly easy stretch, a steep descent, a short climb, and then an easy ridgeline walk to a gap. A small sign on a cherry tree reads Water, indicating that a small spring lies a short distance down the north side of the gap.

From the gap, proceed on a long (but not too steep) climb to the summit of Thunderhead Mountain (5,527 feet). Thunderhead is the highest peak in the western portion of the park and dominates views from all directions. Unfortunately, there are no good views from the mountain itself. From the top of a small pile of rocks, there’s a fair view to the south and west, but that’s it.

A short distance from the summit of Thunderhead, the trail opens into a grassy clearing with great views to the south and west. A good portion of Cades Cove is plainly visible. After a quick descent you climb on a rocky knoll and enjoy more great views. The view straight down is of graffiti-covered rocks. The graffiti does have historical value in that some of the markings were made by early livestock herders in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It’s a shame that modern hikers sometimes add their marks as well. Continuing along the rocky ridge, you reach the official Rocky Top (according to the USGS map) and its nearly panoramic views. What a special place this is!

From Rocky Top, descend steeply to a gap and then climb steeply over a knoll and to the junction with Jenkins Ridge Trail, cutting sharply to the left. You’re in Spence Field now, and you will be for the next 0.75 mile or so. Cross a small knoll and descend a short distance to the junction with Bote Mountain Trail on the right, and a few hundred feet farther, Eagle Creek Trail on the left. A 0.2-mile hike down Eagle Creek Trail takes you to Spence Field Shelter.

Continuing on the AT, the 2.6-mile stretch from Spence Field to Russell Field Shelter is a cakewalk compared to some of the hiking you’ve done to get here. There are a few slight humps, but mostly it’s a pleasant downhill grade. Russell Field Shelter sits at the junction with the AT and Russell Field Trail. The setting is attractive, and the rustic shelter, like most in the park, is charming.

On leaving Russell Field Shelter, the AT goes through rerouted sections that take a lot of the steepness out of the old route. The trail makes an easy descent to Little Abrams Gap, and then it begins a long climb before making a short descent to Mollies Ridge Shelter. The shelter sits on a ridge—imagine that—in a pleasant open forest of maple, buckeye, and black cherry.

From Mollies Ridge Shelter, you go on a long descent to Ekaneetlee Gap. A side path leads off the right (north) side of the gap to a small spring. From the gap, you make a long, moderate ascent up Doe Knob, skirting just short of the summit. A quick dip leads to the junction with Gregory Bald Trail. This time you don’t continue straight—Gregory Bald Trail does that, continuing to follow the state-line ridge, as did the AT at one time before a reroute took it across Fontana Dam. You need to turn left (south) to stay on the AT.

The 2.2-mile segment from Doe Knob to Birch Spring Gap is downhill, with just enough bumps to keep you from getting lazy. At the gap a sign directs you to Birch Spring Campsite 113, off the right side of the trail. Walk 0.1 mile down the path to the most unique backcountry campsite in the Smokies. At other campsites you find a place for your tent in the clearings wherever you can. At Birch Spring the spots are carefully chosen for you. Scattered along the paths that lead on both sides of the drainage are level tent pads carved into the slope, with timbers from the old shelter (no longer standing) used as retaining walls. Each site is far enough away from the others to offer privacy, but close to the central spring and campfire ring. Individual campfires are prohibited. Most of the stone from the old shelter now creates a network of terraces. If you want a souvenir from the shelter, grab a chunk of concrete from the pile, but leave the stones.

From Birch Spring Gap, you follow a typical undulating course to reach Sassafras Gap and the junction with Lost Cove Trail and Twentymile Trail. An easy 0.4-mile ascent from the gap brings you to a side path on the left that leads to the old Shuckstack Fire Tower. Do yourself a favor and hike the short trail to the tower and climb the steps at least above the tree line. No matter how tired you are, you won’t regret it. The views are among the best in the Smokies. To the south are Fontana Lake and Dam, with the Snowbird Mountains in the background; to the west are the Unicoi Mountains; and to the north is the crest of the Smokies.

After soaking in the views from Shuckstack, backtrack to the AT and descend steeply for 3.5 miles to the trailhead parking area near Fontana Dam. Now, do everyone else a favor and visit those hot showers at the Fontana Dam Visitor Center!

Miles and Directions

0.0Start from the northwest side of Newfound Gap Parking Area and cross Newfound Gap Road at the painted crosswalk.

1.7Junction, right, with Road Prong Trail at Indian Gap.

4.2Side trail on the left leads to Clingmans Dome Road and Fork Ridge trailhead.

4.5Junction with Sugarland Mountain Trail on the right. Mount Collins Shelter is 0.4 mile on Sugarland Mountain Trail.

8.0Summit of Clingmans Dome. Short spur leads to observation tower.

8.3Junction with Clingmans Dome Bypass Trail on the left.

10.2Junction with Goshen Prong Trail on the right.

10.8Double Spring Gap Shelter.

12.1Junction with Welch Ridge Trail on the left.

12.3Silers Bald.

12.5Silers Bald Shelter.

15.3Junction with Miry Ridge Trail on the right.

17.7Junction with Greenbrier Ridge Trail on the right.

18.1Derrick Knob Shelter.

22.5Summit of Thunderhead Mountain.

23.2Rocky Top.

23.9Junction with Jenkins Ridge Trail on the left.

24.3Junction with Bote Mountain Trail on the right.

24.4Junction with Eagle Creek Trail on the left. Spence Field Shelter is 0.2 mile on Eagle Creek Trail.

26.9Junction with Russell Field Trail, right, at Russell Field Shelter.

30.3Mollies Ridge Shelter.

33.5Junction with Gregory Bald Trail on the right.

35.7Birch Spring Backcountry Campsite (the shelter no longer stands).

36.6Junction with Lost Cove Trail (left) and Twentymile Trail (right) at Sassafras Gap.

36.8Side trail on the left leads to Shuckstack Tower.

40.3Parking at end of road from Fontana Dam. Lakeshore Trail starts here.

Options: Most people probably will want to do this hike as a three-nighter. You can stretch it out as far as you want, but four nights is the most that you can take and not start feeling lazy. Of course, if a lazy outing is what you want, go for it. A two-nighter is certainly doable, but you’ll miss smelling some of the roses along the way.

Experienced hard-core hikers can make the trip as an overnighter if they leave early in the morning from Newfound Gap. Some AT thru-hikers do this stretch as an overnighter, having rested and fattened up in Fontana Village before entering the park. The shelters are spaced well enough that you should have no trouble planning a trip to suit your needs. Study a trail map for possibilities.