How to Use This Guide

This guide is designed to be simple and easy to use. Each hike is described with a map and summary information that delivers the trail’s vital statistics including length, difficulty, fees and permits, park hours, canine compatibility, trail contacts, and best hiking season. Directions to the trailhead are also provided, along with a general description of what you’ll see along the way. A detailed route finder (Miles and Directions) sets forth mileages between significant landmarks along the trail.

This book divides up the park into compass-direction quadrants. The Smokies’ main ridge, basically the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina, roughly separates the park into northern and southern sections. The Newfound Gap Road, US 441 between Cherokee and Gatlinburg, cleaves the Smokies into eastern and western halves. Trails are thus featured in sections covering the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest parts of the park.

Difficulty Ratings

These are all easy hikes, but easy is a relative term. Some would argue that no hike involving a climb is easy, but the Smokies are among the East’s highest mountains, so heading uphill and down are facts of life. To aid in the selection of a hike that suits particular needs and abilities, each is rated easy, moderate, or more challenging. Bear in mind that even most challenging routes can be made easy by hiking within your limits (turning around when you’ve had enough) and taking rests when you need them.

• Easy hikes are generally short and flat, taking no longer than an hour to complete.
• Moderate hikes involve increased distance and relatively mild changes in elevation, and will take one to two hours to complete.
• More challenging hikes feature some steep stretches, greater distances, and generally take longer than two hours to complete.

These are completely subjective ratings—consider that what you think is easy is entirely dependent on your level of fitness, sureness of foot, and the adequacy of your gear (primarily shoes or boots for more rugged terrain). If you are hiking with a group, you should select a hike with a rating that’s appropriate for the least fit and prepared in your party.

Approximate hiking times are based on the assumption that on flat ground, most walkers average two miles per hour. Adjust that rate by the steepness of the terrain and your level of fitness (subtract time if you’re an aerobic animal and add time if you’re hiking with kids), and you have a ballpark hiking duration. Be sure to add more time if you plan to picnic or take part in other activities like bird watching or photography.