Palmer Creek via Pretty Hollow Gap Trail
Palmer Creek Trail’s upper terminus is located just a few feet from the high-elevation Balsam Mountain Road that is open seasonally.
Of the several enjoyable trails in Cataloochee Valley, Palmer Creek Trail is perhaps my favorite.
Although not a spectacular route, the path follows a well-graded course that is generally easy on the feet. The trail traverses a narrow valley featuring pleasant streams and varied forest types despite its relatively short route: cove hardwood, closed oak and northern hardwood. It’s a delightful trek, marred only at times by the sight of countless dead hemlock trees amid the hardwoods on nearby Shanty Mountain, victims of the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid.
You reach Palmer Creek Trail by hiking Pretty Hollow Gap Trail (initially a wide roadbed that passes a horse camp) for slightly more than 1½ miles to a wide area called Indian Flats, just above the confluence of Pretty Hollow and Palmer creeks. Turn left here onto a foot log to cross Pretty Hollow Creek and begin hiking on Palmer Creek Trail.
Wedged between Butt Mountain and Beech Ridge to the north and Shanty Mountain to the south, the route for Palmer Creek Trail arrives at Lost Bottom Creek—a Palmer Creek tributary—in just over a mile. A foot log spanned the creek when I last hiked here, but such was not the case one-half mile farther up at Beech Creek, which merges a short distance downstream with Falling Rock Creek to form Palmer Creek.
Although Beech Creek might be a good place to turn around rather than rock hop in high water, typically I like to hike 1¾ miles farther up the trail, to the high-elevation Balsam Mountain Road. Doing so lengthens the one-way distance to almost five miles from the Pretty Hollow Gap trailhead, but the grade remains moderate most of the way even though the total net elevation gain on Palmer Creek Trail is about 1,500 feet.
Near the terminus, if you continue that far, rhododendron encloses the tree-lined path for about 100 yards before the trail levels and slips onto an old rail grade. To the left (south) are some nice views of Spruce Mountain, a prominent peak rising to an elevation of 5,647 feet near the merger of Shanty Mountain and Spruce Mountain Ridge. There is a small backcountry campsite near the summit of Spruce Mountain, which is reached via a short trail farther up Balsam Mountain Road. A fire tower that once stood atop this summit was removed long ago.
Palmer Creek via Pretty Hollow Gap Trail
A radio antenna is mounted on a standpipe inside a fenced enclosure near the upper terminus of Palmer Creek Trail.
Above and to the right of the trail’s end is equipment that, at times, could save lives in the Raven Fork and Cataloochee Creek watersheds, far below its lofty location. It’s a rainfall-monitoring site, which serves as a flood-warning station for the Straight Fork and Raven Fork areas to the southwest and for the Cataloochee Creek drainage to the east—all of which are prone to flash flooding with their steep watersheds in high-rainfall areas. Early warning is especially critical in regard to Straight and Raven Forks, as those streams converge and flow through the populated Big Cove area of the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The flood-warning equipment includes a precipitation gauge, solar panel and radio antenna mounted on a standpipe within a fenced enclosure. The station was established through a collaboration of the N.C. Department of Public Safety, National Weather Service, and National Park Service. A short distance farther is the trail’s upper terminus at the one-way Balsam Mountain Road, where vehicles occasionally pass during warmer months when the road is open to motorized traffic.
Although you can’t go wrong with Palmer Creek Trail most any time of year, a summer sojourn can be especially pleasant as you climb well above the Cataloochee Valley floor.
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
- Trails: Pretty Hollow Gap, Palmer Creek
- Trailhead: Cataloochee Road, at the Pretty Hollow Gap trailhead near Beech Grove School
- Length: 6.2 miles round trip if you turn back just before Palmer Creek Trail crosses Beech Creek; 9.8 otherwise
- Difficulty: Moderately strenuous