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On the Trail in the Smokies

Bradley Fork, Chasteen Creek, Cabin Flats

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As the wonder of another Appalachian spring gradually unfolds, this issue’s trail narrative offers four hiking options—including a rewarding short one—that can be especially enjoyable before trail conditions turn muggy and buggy. Conveniently enough, the starting point for each is the Bradley Fork Trail at the upper end of Smokemont Campground five miles north of Cherokee.

The shortest of the four options is a pleasant 3½-mile round-trip hike to the lovely Chasteen Creek Cascades. Although the site is a popular destination for hikers and horseback riders in the Smokemont area, it’s never overrun with hordes of visitors as are some waterfalls on the Tennessee side of the park. And yes, the cascades typically have an impressive flow of rushing water in early to mid spring.

The route to Chasteen Creek Cascades follows Bradley Fork Trail for slightly more than a mile to its junction with Chasteen Creek Trail. This short section of Bradley Fork Trail, following an old roadbed, is particularly appealing in early spring when any number of wildflowers are in bloom. Especially with high water levels, you’ll also spot many small cascades and shallow pools as the path hugs the fork mostly at creek level.

After reaching Chasteen Creek Trail and turning right, you’ll see almost immediately backcountry campsite No. 50 (Lower Chasteen) on your right. It’s an expansive camp that also offers good picnic spots when backpackers aren’t present.

Slightly more than one-half mile farther up the trail, you’ll see a short side path to your left, including a horse hitching rack, that takes you to Chasteen Creek Cascades. The cascades tumble a total height of about 20 feet—not a dramatic drop, but one that offers a pleasant stream scene in an otherwise dense forest.

If you’re hiking Chasteen Creek Trail in mid to late April and have the energy to continue for another two miles with a stiffer grade, I highly recommend hiking as far as Upper Chasteen Creek campsite (No. 48). As you near the camping area, you’ll begin to see hillside after hillside of trilliums, among the loveliest of the Smokies’ spring ephemerals.

Regardless of where you turn around, you have another choice after returning to the junction with Bradley Fork Trail. You can turn left for the easy walk back to Smokemont Campground, or you can take a right to hike farther up Bradley Fork Trail.

If you decide to turn right, about one-half mile beyond the Chasteen Creek Trail junction you reach a sign for Smokemont Loop Trail. Here the loop route departs Bradley Fork Trail on a long, slightly leaning foot log spanning the stream. About 1½ miles past the Smokemont Loop junction, you finally cross Bradley Fork on a pair of wide bridges that take the trail across an island in the stream. Another half-mile or so up the trail, just past where hard-charging Taywa Creek empties into the fork, you cross one last bridge before meeting up with Cabin Flats Trail.

At four miles, you arrive at a large road turnaround that marks the beginning of Cabin Flats Trail. The trail is located to the right of a large downed tree. Farther to the right, Bradley Fork Trail doubles back on itself above the fork as it begins its first significant climb, gaining about 2,000 feet in elevation before reaching Hughes Ridge in fewer than 3½ miles. But instead of continuing on Bradley Fork Trail, at this point you pick up Cabin Flats Trail.

Fewer than 100 yards past the turnaround, you cross Bradley Fork for the final time, on a narrow old truss bridge. Just beyond the bridge, you take a sharp left to continue on Cabin Flats Trail. This is a handsome spot by the fork enhanced by a small waterfall and pool just downstream from the bridge. The trail then switches back to the right, taking you toward its junction with Dry Sluice Gap Trail.

Just before the Dry Sluice junction, you reach the somewhat curiously named Tennessee Branch, which originates near the Smokies divide but is still some distance south of the Tennessee state line. Fortunately, the foot log spanning the branch is relatively short, as it has no handrail. If the log were icy, you might consider turning around at this point. But you should be able to negotiate the log and continue to the junction of Cabin Flats/Dry Sluice Gap trails, where a trail sign notes you’re just over four miles from the Appalachian Trail.

Past the junction, Cabin Flats Trail levels before descending to the end of the line at Cabin Flats backcountry campsite, an especially attractive one in a broad flat area hard by Bradley Fork. The mouth of Cabin Branch is across the fork, but if there were ever a cabin in these parts there’s no sign of it now. In any case, the flats provide many nice spots to choose from to sit and perhaps enjoy lunch after a few hours of hiking.

About the author: Ben Anderson is author of Smokies Chronicle: A Year of Hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (blairpub.com).

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