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On the Trail in the Smokies

Flat Creek and Heintooga Overlook

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Although rarely ridiculously hot, late summer in the lower elevations of Great Smoky Mountains National Park can be awfully muggy and buggy. But not to worry if you’re a hiker—cooler hiking options abound in the park’s higher elevations. One of the best is Flat Creek Trail, which offers a pleasant, mile-high hike along towering Balsam Mountain.  

Flat Creek Trail can be hiked from a trailhead at a large parking circle at the end of Heintooga Ridge Road, near a lovely picnic area and fewer than 200 yards from the majestic Heintooga Overlook. But you may wish to hike the trail from a parking pullout about 3½ miles before the paved road ends and the graveled, one-way Balsam Mountain Road begins its winding route down to Round Bottom. By doing so, you’ll be hiking mostly downhill on the return trip (about 2½ miles one way via trail) and feel as if you’ve earned the stunning views from Heintooga Overlook.

Parking for the first, or lower, Flat Creek trailhead is located on your left slightly more than two miles past Black Camp Gap, the gap where Heintooga Ridge Road enters the Smokies park.

In short order the trail crosses Bunches Creek and one of its tributaries above the confluence of Flat and Bunches creeks. After a brief climb you’ll see a short side trail to your left that leads down to Flat Creek Falls, where Flat Creek takes a sharp tumble off the ridge. Blowdowns must be negotiated if you choose to walk the path toward the falls. Know too that a split in the path near the creek offers mainly rocky, overgrown routes rather than unobstructed views of the falls. As a result, expect to hear more than you see of the falls.

Back on the main trail, you enter a mostly flat area in which there are five easy crossings of Flat Creek, a stream that comes by its name honestly through here. Lush grass, almost surreally green, flanks the trail on either side. In early August you also may see late-blooming black snakeroot, aka black cohosh, rising from the forest floor like so many white-topped spires. At one time a backcountry camp was situated in this area, but likely because of persistent wetness it has long since been removed from the backcountry roster.

The trail continues through a northern hardwood forest punctuated by scattered red spruce trees. It’s very enjoyable hiking and a good way to escape summertime heat, if not humidity. I should note that thunderstorms can quickly develop on Balsam Mountain, a high-rainfall area like all high elevations in the Smokies.  

After two somewhat significant ascents—the first skirting the now-forested Flat Creek Bald—you arrive at the trail’s main attraction: Heintooga Overlook, located a couple of dozen paces down from the picnic area. The overlook affords a commanding view of about 70 percent of the Smokies crest when skies are relatively clear. From the lookout, you can see the Smokies’ three loftiest summits: Mount Guyot to the right, on the eastern end of the Smokies divide; Mount Le Conte straight ahead, rising just beyond the divide; and elevation king Clingmans Dome (6,643 feet high) to the far left. It’s a truly remarkable vantage point, with sweeping views of waves and waves of bluish distant ridges and soft, green mountains closer in. You’ll likely find it difficult to depart.

Even if you choose to hike to Heintooga Overlook from Flat Creek Trail’s lower trailhead, after returning there you may wish to drive to Heintooga for lunch or supper at the peaceful picnic area featuring grills, restrooms and several stone-slab tables, courtesy of the Civilian Conservation Corps many moons ago. There’s also a nice nature trail nearby that meanders slightly more than one-half mile to the cozy Balsam Mountain Campground.

If you do decide to set up shop at Heintooga for a picnic supper and the weather is favorable, you definitely shouldn’t miss the sunset from Heintooga Overlook. At the overlook you can watch the sun slowly disappear below the Smokies crest, producing a show you won’t soon forget on a fine summer day.

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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