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Big Creek Loop
Big Creek Loop
Big Creek Loop
water color: american Beech trees turn gold in octoBer, at mile 1.5 on Big creek. utm 17s 0307609e 3957024n
Photos By tAd BowmAn; BACKsidE: PhyLLis GREEnBERG / AnimALs AnimALs (toP); CouRtEsy (2). iLLustRAtion By suPERCoRn. tExt By ChRistoPhER KEEnE. mAPPEd By BACKPACKER
Do it Blackberries, black bearsand photo ops so good, its like they popped out of your dreams, says Art Fightmaster (next page) about the Big Creek Loop, which readers endorsed two-to-one over any other weekender in the region. From Big Creek Campground (1), start this 16.4-mile hike on the gentle Big Creek Trail. Pass Midnight Hole (2), a deep, cliff-lined swimming hole after 1.4 mile and continue upstream to 45-foot, hourglass-shaped Mouse Creek Falls (3) at mile two. Cross rushing Big Creek on a wooden carriage bridge (4), where trout glide by in the crystal-clear waters, Fightmaster says. Catch trout fishermen sneaking off to angle for brown and rainbow trout. At mile 2.3, arrive at Brakeshoe Spring (5), so named when a train engineer jammed a railcar brakeshoe into a narrow fissure in the rocks, turning a seep into a gusher. At the Swallow Fork Junction (6) at mile 5.1, continue straight .1 mile to Lower Walnut Bottoms campsite. One of the parks best and most varied wildflower displays occurs here from March to early April (next page). Continue up the Swallow Fork Trail, grazing from trailside apple trees, which black bears also pillage. Hit an intersection with Pretty Hollow Gap Trail (7) at mile 8.9, and go straight for a 1.6mile, 700-foot ascent on the Mt. Sterling Ridge Trail. Tank up at a spring 1.1 miles into the climb, then forge upward past stands of second-growth red spruce. Ascend the Mt. Sterling fire tower (8), 60 feet above the 5,842-foot grassy bald at mile 10.5. Set up your tent at Campsite #38 for sunset views over the mist-hung hills. (Note: Bear activity occasionally closes the campsite; check with rangers.) Next morning, head left onto the Baxter Creek Trail (9) and fill your belly with blackberries (in mid-July). Thus fueled, tackle the trails toughest miles: a 4,100foot descent in less than six miles. Cross Big Creek (10) at mile 16.3 and close the loop at the campground (11).
Data Map
mi. 1.4 .6 .3 .6 2.2 3.8 1.6 1.8 4 .1
3 4
7 6 8
10 11
6,000 ft 1,000 ft
Day 1
Trip Planner
Get there From Newport, take I-40 east 15 miles to exit 451. Go south on Waterville Rd. for two miles and go left onto Big Creek Park Rd.
Gear up Bluff Mountain Outfitters, 152 Bridge St., Hot Springs. (828) 6227162; bluffmountain.com Permit Required; free at any park visitor center. Secure campsite reservations a month ahead. (615) 4361231; nps.gov/grsm
MAPS PLuS Get maps, photos, and turn-by-turn directions for 19 Smokies hikes at backpacker.com/smokies.
MAPS
01.2011 BACKPACKER
95
Destinations
Appalachians
Key
Skill
Massage away knee pain
Its all downhill from Mt. Sterling4,100 feet of jointjarring descent over 6.2 miles. The plunge will test even the strongest knees. Massage away your pain by targeting the muscles that support the knee. Do this sequence when you arrive in camp, after the descent. 1. Use your nondominant hand to support the knee. 2. Press down on the knee cap with your other palm and slowly knead upward on the quad.
See This
yeLLoW TRILLIuM
With 1,660 different species of flowering plants, and staggered blooming seasons, the Smokies are like an enormous openair flower shop. In early March, follow your nose around the Lower Walnut Bottoms calcium-rich soils for the lemon-scented yellow trillium, a spring ephemeral that opens above a platform of large, green-and-white speckled leaves. Then step back to absorb the entire multicolored tableau.
4 5
2 1
Locals Know
Unknown waterfalls in a park with 9 million annual visitors? Definitelyfor those willing to earn it. At mile five on the Big Creek Trail, turn left on the Camel Fork Trail, then hike a mile to begin the Gunter Fork Trail. Youll push through dense underbrush, test your routefinding skills traversing blowdowns, and ford Gunter Fork three times before you access the gem: a seldom-seen, 150-foot waterfall spilling over 6,234-foot Luftee Knob. You come around a forested bend, and the high falls dominate your view, says Stuart Peck (right). If you lose the trail, follow the river. If youre ascending or cant hear the stream, Peck says, youre going the wrong way.
Art Fightmaster
ck Stuart Pe
Art Fightmaster, 46, of Gardnersville, Kentucky, loves the Smokies fall colors in October. Find Stuart Peck, 26, of Owensburg, Kentucky, climbing Jurassic Raccoon (5.7) in Kings Bluff, near Clarksville, Tennessee.
on The Menu
Breakfast 1 On the road Lunch 1 PB&J pita Dinner 1 Smokies Sausage Biscuits Breakfast 2 Bacon & Ramp Quiche Lunch 2 Tuna melt in pita Snacks Dried pineapple, granola bars
(AiSle #)
[ ] peanut butter & jelly (3) [ ] granola bars (3) [ ] tuna pouch (5) [ ] piecrust (7) [ ] dried milk (7)
Pack Salt and pepper, aluminum foil, ground red pepper, nutmeg, dry mustard
whiTeS iGA
+
96
Local hikers gorge on ribs at Sagebrush Steakhouse, then unclog their pipes with the Highway To Hella signature drink that tastes like Kool-Aid but packs a rummy punch. 201 Heritage Blvd., Newport, TN; (423) 613-4900; sagebrushsteakhouse.com
BACKPACKER 01.2011