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| Great Smoky Mtns |
Great Smokey Mountain National Park straddles the Tennessee - North Carolina state line and is the most visited national park in the USA. On a long weekend in mid-January we travelled the length of the state of Tennessee, from the flat lands of western Tennessee to the mountains of eastern Tennessee, to visit Gatlinburg and do a little hiking in the GSMNP.
We stayed at Buckhorn Inn, a Bead & Breakfast just east of the town of Gatlinburg, which gave us convenient access to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, and the national park.
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| Buckhorn Inn |
Our last hike of the trip was on a sunny but cold Sunday; the temperature at trailhead was about 22-degrees F, but with minimal wind. The hike we had picked was to Hen Wallow Falls, a side trail off of Gabe's Mtn Trail and is a 4.5-mile out and back hike. The trailhead is located about 20-miles north of Gatlinburg at Cosby Campgrounds.
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| Rhododendron along trail |
As soon as you step off from the trailhead (about 40-yards west of the Cosby picnic area) you are instantly enveloped in the forest; Hemlock evergreens and the winter spins of large Tulip Poplars are everywhere, but the thing that catches one's eye are the abundance of Rhododendron. The trail is a steady, gradual, uphill climb, gaining 920-ft over the distance of 2.1-miles. There are large tree roots and stones over much of the trail; all water crossings have either some type of bridge or stones to aid in crossing. The park guide list the hike as moderate in difficulty; I would think anyone in decent shape could easily complete the hike. We encountered a dozen groups while on the hike, but this was only in passing and we always were able to travel at our own pace with the feeling for the most part, that we were the only ones on the trail.
At the 2.1-mile marker there is a wooden sign directing you to a descending trail on the right to Hen Wallow Falls. This is the steepest part of the hike down to the base of the falls. As usual, you hear the falls well before you see them, but eventually you round a corner on the path and there is the waterfall. Hen Wallow Falls are listed as 90-ft high. It said to be 2-ft wide at the top where Hen Wallow Creek becomes the falls and fans out to about 20-ft at the base of the falls.
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| Hen Wallow Falls |
With the exception of the hike up from Hen Wallow Falls to the trail junction the return trip is all downhill. We made the trip back about 20-min faster the the hike up, completing the hike in exactly 3-hours.
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| Path at trailhead |
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| Path leading up from falls |
# posted by genelink @ 10:18 AM
