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On the Trail in the Smokies

Smokemont Loop

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Although the Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers many options for enjoyable loop hikes, most of them are quite strenuous if hiked as a day trip. An exception is Smokemont Loop, a moderate hike of about six miles that doesn’t involve an extreme amount of climbing. The trail traverses an area rich in history, with several incarnations over the past century or so.

Smokemont Loop is a popular trail across the seasons, partly because it begins and ends at the sprawling Smokemont Campground, open all year. The trailhead is therefore typically easy to access regardless of the season. But I prefer to hike it during the colder months, when the absence of thick foliage yields some fine views and hiking conditions aren’t muggy or buggy. December fits the bill nicely.

Although Smokemont Loop can be hiked in either direction, most hikers trek it counterclockwise starting at the far end of the campground, which remains accessible to foot travel even when the upper camping areas are closed for the winter. From the trailhead Bradley Fork Trail heads upstream on an old roadbed, passing a junction with Chasteen Creek Trail after slightly more than a mile. This first leg offers generally easy walking along a beautiful mountain stream, though you may encounter some muddy spots punctuated by horse poop—watch your step.

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. (One advantage to hiking counterclockwise is the fact that you can retrace your steps after only about 1¾ miles if you’re concerned about the stream crossing.) Upon crossing Bradley Fork, Smokemont Loop Trail goes downstream for a short distance before the path turns uphill on a steady ascent. During the climb, you’ll see fine views of the lofty Hughes and Mine ridges to the east before you top the divide along the lower section of Richland Mountain.

Soon you’ll hear the distant sounds of the Oconaluftee River far below, along with a nice view of Newfound Gap to the northwest. The trail then passes a copse of pines on the dry ridge, including a couple of sizable ones below the path. After more climbing, the trail attains its apex at slightly more than 3,600 feet elevation and begins a long downhill track toward Smokemont Campground.

Near its terminus, the trail reaches another roadbed, where you can turn right in order to visit the Bradley Cemetery just up the way. The cemetery was created as part of the Bradleytown community, predating the massive logging and sawmill operations of Champion Fibre Co. and subsequent establishment of the Smokies park and a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. Turning left on the roadbed takes you toward the campground, about one-fourth mile away.

Smokemont Loop ends by crossing an old bridge over Bradley Fork. A sign notes that the structure was designed and built by Luten Bridge Co. of Knoxville, Tenn., in 1921—five years before the park was authorized and more than a decade before it was established. The century-old bridge, now gated, was commissioned by Swain County during Smokemont’s logging and sawmill heyday. Today the bridge affords hikers an easy crossing of Bradley Fork and a return to Smokemont Campground, thereby closing an enjoyable loop hike.

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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