Shuckstack via the Appalachian Trail
Built in the mid-1930s by the Public Works Administration, Shuckstack fire tower is a landmark in the southwestern corner of the park, doggedly looming about 2,300 feet above Fontana Lake.
Measured against many places in the Southern Appalachians, Great Smoky Mountains National Park was spared much of the wrath of Hurricane Helene. Not that the Smokies were unscathed—far from it as Holly Kays wrote in the previous issue of Smoky Mountain Living, especially on the North Carolina side of the park.
Cataloochee Valley, for example, experienced devastating flooding. Big Creek Trail, appealing any time of year, sustained severe impacts along its entire 6.2-mile route and lost a 70-foot steel bridge and abutments. Balsam Mountain, often hammered by fierce thunderstorms in summer and high winds in winter, was battered by slides and washouts and closed for the season in the hurricane’s aftermath. But overall, the destruction in the park from the historic storm was not as severe as it might have been.
Although most of the storied Appalachian Trail south of Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia suffered extensive damage, the 72 miles of AT coursing through the Smokies park wasn’t hit hard and didn’t require a lengthy closure. In light of that, this issue’s narrative is going to revisit one of my favorite sections of the AT: A roughly 3.5-mile stretch starting just north of Fontana Dam and ending at a short spur to Shuckstack fire tower. The section is moderately strenuous, but it shouldn’t pose many obstacles as some Smokies trails likely do as of publication of this issue. And with its relatively low elevation, a hike to Shuckstack can provide a fine wintertime outing.
Shuckstack Mountain is the first peak that northbound AT “thru-hikers” ascend in the Smokies and it’s certainly a memorable one. It became part of the trail corridor in the late 1940s, after the completion of Fontana Dam and relocation of the AT from Deals Gap. The somewhat rickety fire tower atop the relatively small summit actually predates that rerouting by more than decade and affords remarkable views in reasonably clear weather.
From its return to the woods, this piece of the AT wastes no time in starting the climb toward Shuckstack. But the section is generally well graded with switchbacks, and the ascent does ease in a few places. Soon you reach a rock outcrop that seems designed as a rest stop; there’s even a flat rock jutting horizontally above ground that provides a nice seat. It’s a good place to enjoy a snack and a drink of water before the path resumes its ascent.
Farther up the trail takes a hard left at a draw where the trail has been relocated, leading to a large slate outcrop that yields magnificent views of several mountain ranges to the south and southwest. The hike redeems its reputation as a thigh burner shortly after the outcrop, climbing steeply for about 1/3 mile up Twentymile Ridge to a junction where the mighty AT falls off rather meekly to the left toward Sassafras Gap and Twentymile and Lost Cove Trails. The latter path connects with Lakeshore Trail, thus enabling a long loop hike back to the parking area at that trail’s western trailhead.
Shuckstack via the Appalachian Trail
Built in the mid-1930s by the Public Works Administration, Shuckstack fire tower is a landmark in the southwestern corner of the park, doggedly looming about 2,300 feet above Fontana Lake.
The side trail to Shuckstack’s smallish crown continues straight ahead, following a steep, rocky course for about 150 yards. Along with a rogue fire ring at the summit are a chimney and cistern, vestiges of a warden’s cabin that was removed in the 1980s. Just a few steps away is the 60-foot-tall fire tower, one of four in the park that hasn’t been dismantled, even though it’s been decades since any of them have been used for their original purpose.
Built in the mid-1930s by the Public Works Administration, Shuckstack fire tower is a landmark in the southwestern corner of the park, doggedly looming about 2,300 feet above Fontana Lake. It has certainly seen better days. But the steel structure, its five landings, and its more than six dozen steps do, in fact, seem sound enough to climb, though you might think otherwise if the wind is howling. Up, up, up you go—to the final landing, then up the final few steps to the fire tower’s cab, where the warden watched for fires. Unlike the steps and landings, the rotting floor doesn’t seem safe, despite the fact that some plywood has been placed over the top of it.
Words fall woefully short in any attempt to describe the 360-degree views from here in clear weather. Below to the south, you can see the 480-foot-tall Fontana Dam, along with much of Fontana Lake and its 238 miles of shoreline to the southeast. A slice of another lake, Cheoah, can be spotted to the southwest, along with Tennessee foothills in the far distance thanks to a slight break in the mountains.
But the big attractions are the waves and waves of mountains inside and outside the park. The Smokies’ highest peak, Kuwohi, is clearly visible to the northeast. Prominent several miles closer is 5,500-foot-high Thunderhead, and closer still on the Smokies crest is Gregory Bald at just under 5,000 feet in elevation. Almost due east, rising along Welch Ridge, is the nearly mile-high High Rocks, where another old fire tower stood before its removal decades ago.
Beyond the park, you can easily spot a number of mountain ranges, among them the Unicoi, Snowbird, Nantahala, Yellow Creek and Cowee mountains. Alone at the top of the tower on a clear day, you may feel as if you own a vast collection of panoramic riches.
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: Appalachian Trail, ¼ mile north of Fontana Dam
- Length: 7.0 miles round trip
- Difficulty: Moderately strenuous
- Note: Visit nps.gov/gsmnp for updated information on closures related to Hurricane Helene.