Winter can be a long, cold affair in the mountains, but the annual emergence of early spring wildflowers signals that warmer weather is on its way. Celebrate winter’s end with one of these flowery trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
• Chestnut Top Trail. Though only a mile long, this trail offers one of the park’s best wildflower shows — which is saying something, seeing as the Smokies as a whole is considered a national wildflower hotspot.
“This is one of the most diverse spring wildflower habitats in the Smokies,” said Dan Pittillo, a retired botany professor who’s acutely familiar with all the park has to offer plant-wise.
Accessible from T.N. 73 near the junction of Little River and Laurel Creek roads, the trail climbs steeply from the parking area and flattens out to a gentle grade. From mid-March to early April, look for trillium phacelia, Dutchman’s breeches and viola.
• Porters Creek Trail. One of the park’s best early spring flower hikes, this trail in the northwest section of the park is a 7.2-mile out-and-back of moderate difficulty.
“If you only hike the first mile, you'll be rewarded with 35 to 40 species of flowers,” said Danny Bernstein, an Asheville hiking guide and author of the soon-to-be-published Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South. “But I can't resist the urge to say that you'll also see a family cemetery up the steps and an old barn and home site.”
For more adventurous souls, a backcountry campsite at the end of the trail can allow plenty of time to take it slow and enjoy the flowers. But pay attention to the forecast when planning a hike so early in the year. Depending on the weather, you could pass the hours in a sea of flowers, or battle snow the whole way up.
• Mount Sterling Gap to Cataloochee, via the Little Cataloochee Trail. Mainly downhill, this shuttle hike is an easy to moderate 5.5 miles that gives a tour of the stages of springtime.
“The trail extends from earlier spring flora down to mid-spring flower zones,” Pittillo explained.
During the early weeks of spring, hikers will find trillium, meadow rue, Dutchman breeches, bluets, violets, and plenty more. But along with burgeoning spring, the trail boasts the markers of history. Historic cemeteries, old foundations, restored cabins, and metal artifacts testify to the park’s past as home to hardworking mountain farmers.
• Kephart Prong Trail. This easy 4-mile roundtrip is a breeze to access from the North Carolina side of the park.
“Though the main attraction is the CCC camp at the beginning of the trail, you’ll also enjoy early spring wildflowers,” Bernstein said.
About 8 miles north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on U.S. 441, the trail boasts shows of trillium and violets through March and early April.