Noland Divide Trail to Lonesome Pine
Juney Whank Falls.
“Something for everyone” is often an overused phrase, but when it comes to recreation in the Deep Creek section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the expression seems to fit quite nicely. No wonder the area just north of Bryson City, North Carolina, continues to attract visitors in ever greater numbers.
Deep Creek offers several hiking (and strolling) options, including long and short loops featuring some of the park’s loveliest waterfalls. Other popular activities include backpacking, fly fishing, horseback riding, front-country camping, picnicking, jogging and even some mountain biking—a rarity on trails in the Smokies. Alas, in recent years, in open defiance of park regulations and trailhead signage, dog walking on Deep Creek Trail has become increasingly common, though that’s a story for another day.
But perhaps Deep Creek’s chief recreational claim to fame is its tubing. On hot summer days when water levels are favorable, Deep Creek is the place to be for tubing in the Smokies, what with its bouncy run of a mile or so from the mouth of Indian Creek to the park boundary.
In contrast to the lovely stream itself, a lesser used slice of the Deep Creek area offers day hiking and horseback riding. The lower section of Noland Divide Trail takes hikers and riders to one of the finest vantage points in the Smokies park, to a lookout called Lonesome Pine. It’s a brawny climb on foot, but well worth the effort, especially during the fall-color season that sometimes stretches into November at lower elevations.
From its southern terminus, the 12-mile-long trail follows Beaugard Ridge for about five miles before connecting with its Noland Divide namesake near the summit of Coburn Knob. The path then continues to work its way mostly north until it meets Kuwohi Road at nearly 6,000 feet elevation, or more than 4,000 feet higher than its southern starting point. Yet the trail does plenty of climbing over its first 3½ miles in order to reach Lonesome Pine, situated at about 4,100 feet elevation and overlooking the nearby town of Bryson City.
Near the trailhead the path crosses Durham Branch on a modest foot log. The grade is gentle initially, but that will change soon enough as you work your way toward Beaugard Ridge.
As you continue up the trail, there’s a view of Kelly Bennett Peak, rising to an elevation of about 4,400 feet on the opposite side of the Lands Creek drainage. The drainage is mostly outside the national park as it wedges between Noland Divide and Beaugard Ridge. Bennett Peak, however, is just inside the park boundary—appropriately so, as Bryson City pharmacist Kelly Bennett was one of the most forceful advocates for the creation of a park in the Smokies. His brick drugstore building, built in 1905, is still in use as an antiques store in town near the Tuckasegee River. Its vertical Bennett’s Drugs sign marks the historic location on Everett Street.
The trail’s dry-ridge hiking, passing through stands of pines and second-growth hardwoods, is broken after roughly two miles by a tributary of Juney Whank Branch. As it cascades off a rock face, the small feeder forms what looks like a miniature version of Juney Whank Falls, located much farther down the ridge. Along with those of Indian Creek and Tom Branch, Juney Whank is part of a popular trio of falls that can be viewed on a short hike near Deep Creek. This high-elevation tributary is the last flowing water you’ll see as far as Lonesome Pine.
Soon you arrive just below the lookout at a rocky spine that yields stunning views of numerous mountain ranges and ridges. Close up, to the west and southwest, is the lower end of Noland Divide itself as it plays out between Bryson City and Fontana Lake. On the other side of Deep Creek, Sunkota Ridge and the loftier Thomas Divide are prominent, the latter reaching up toward the Smokies crest.
You continue to work your way up the trail to reach the side trail of 50 paces or so to Lonesome Pine Overlook, which actually isn’t adorned by a lone pine though there is a copse of pines just below the overlook. It’s one of the park’s most dramatic lookouts—an underrated one, in my opinion. Yes, better known ones such as Chimney Tops and Charlies Bunion (and Charlies Bunion’s neighbor The Jumpoff) are well worth the hike, but I think the views from Lonesome Pine can hold their own with any of them.
The rocky outcrop at the end of the side trail yields remarkable views of several ranges on a clear day. To the south are the Alarka and Cowee Mountains. To the southwest are the Cheoahs, Snowbirds, Unicois and Nantahalas, the latter crowned by the nearly 5,500-foot-high Standing Indian Mountain. To the east and southeast, you can spot the towering Balsam and Plott Balsam ranges. Combined with the nearby ridges and the Smokies crest, the distant ranges provide a top-of-the-world feeling. On your way back down Noland Divide Trail, you can enjoy more breathtaking views from the knife-edge ridge.
About the author: Ben Anderson is author of Smokies Chronicle: A Year of Hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (blairpub.com).
Go for a hike
- Trailhead: Noland Divide Trail, just inside the park boundary across from Deep Creek Campground
- Length: 7.2 miles round trip to Lonesome Pine Overlook
- Difficulty: Moderately strenuous