
Distance (One Way)
Elevation Gain
Trailhead
Location
Trail Description
The Appalachian Trail Smoky Mountains segment follows the border between Tennessee and North Carolina for 71.7 miles. This hike as a whole takes an average of about one week to complete. While the entirety of the trail stretches for 2,143 miles from Maine to Georgia, the Great Smoky Mountains section includes the highest point of the entire AT (Clingmans Dome at an elevation of 6,643 feet) as well as the longest continuous stretch above 5,000 feet in elevation (34 miles between Silers Bald and Cosby Knob.)
Notable locations along the Appalachian Trail Smoky Mountains include the fire tower at Mount Cammerer, Clingmans Dome, Newfound Gap, Charlies Bunion, Rocky Top, and Fontana Dam.
You will find white paint marks two inches wide and six inches high frequently all the way along this route, as well as blue paint marks that identify side trails and paths to shelters. "The A.T. is the only trail in the park marked by white blazes; look for white rectangles painted on trees or rocks." - Beth Giddens, Hiking Trails of the Smokies (5th edition)
Some hikers will start in the middle of the national park and head out on the AT in either direction. For example, Newfound Gap and Clingmans Dome are common places to begin due to their central location. These hikes usually take about 3 or 4 days.
The first section of the Appalachian Trail was completed in 1923, eleven years before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established. A driving force in establishing the AT in in Tennessee and North Carolina during the 1920s was Paul Fink. Paul Fink was an early 20th century backpacker, author, and historian. A year after Benton MacKaye proposed the entirety of the trail, Fink began corresponding with the AT leaders in New England. Early environmentalist Harvey Broome, along with seven others, sighted most of the route through the Great Smoky Mountains as he hiked all 71.4 miles of it in 1932 before the trail was completed. Five years later, the Civilian Conservation Corps connected the final ridge in Maine, and the Appalachian Trail was completed. It now passes through 14 states and 6 national parks.
[+ Read More]Appalachian Trail Smoky Mountains Segment Elevation Profile

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Wildflower Trails in the Great Smoky Mountains
Wildflower trails in the Smokies are not in short supply. From flame azaleas to rhododendrons, the Great Smoky Mountains are filled with so many glorious types of wildflowers. Check out these top wildflower trails this upcoming spring or su...
Read This PostHiking To Spence Field & Rocky Top or the Spence/Russell Field Loop
Spence Field is a grassy bald-like area marking the western end of Thunderhead Mountain in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are a few ways to reach it and make a full day hike out of it. The shortest rou...
Read This Post- Abrams Falls Trail (4.2 mi)
- Ace Gap Trail (5.4 mi)
- Albright Grove Loop Trail (0.7 mi)
- Alum Cave Trail (Mt. LeConte) (5 mi)
- Andrews Bald via Forney Ridge Trail (1.8 mi)
- Anthony Creek Trail (3.5 mi)
- Appalachian Trail Smoky Mountains Segment (71.7 mi)
- Baskins Creek Trail (2.7 mi)
- Baxter Creek Trail (Mt. Sterling) (6.2 mi)
- Big Creek Trail (Mouse Creek Falls, Midnight Hole) (5.8 mi)
- Bote Mountain Trail (6.6 mi)
- Boulevard Trail (Mt. LeConte) (5.4 mi)
- Bradley Fork Trail (7.3 mi)
- Brushy Mountain Trail (Mt. LeConte) (4.9 mi)
- Bullhead Trail (Mt. LeConte) (5.9 mi)
- Cataract Falls (Fighting Creek, Cove Mountain Trail) (0.5 mi)
- Charlies Bunion via Appalachian Trail (4.2 mi)
- Charlies Bunion via Kephart Prong Loop (14.2 mi)
- Chestnut Top Trail (4.3 mi)
- Chimney Tops Trail (2 mi)
- Clingmans Dome Trail (0.6 mi)
- Cooper Road Trail (10.5 mi)
- Cove Mountain Trail (8.5 mi)
- Crooked Arm Ridge Trail (2.2 mi)
- Cucumber Gap Trail (2.4 mi)
- Dry Sluice Gap Trail (4.2 mi)
- Eagle Creek Trail (8.9 mi)
- Elkmont Nature Trail (0.8 mi)
- Finley Cane Trail (2.8 mi)
- Forney Ridge Trail (5.4 mi)
- Gabes Mountain Trail (Hen Wallow Falls) (6.6 mi)
- Gatlinburg Trail (1.9 mi)
- Goldmine Trail (0.8 mi)
- Grapeyard Ridge Trail (7.6 mi)
- Gregory Bald Trail (Gregory Bald) (7.3 mi)
- Gregory Ridge Trail (Gregory Bald) (5 mi)
- Grotto Falls (Trillium Gap Trail) (1.4 mi)
- Hannah Mountain Trail (9.5 mi)
- Hatcher Mountain Trail (2.6 mi)
- Huskey Gap Trail (4.1 mi)
- Indian Grave Gap Trail (3.7 mi)
- Jakes Creek Trail (3.7 mi)
- Kephart Prong Trail (2 mi)
- Laurel Falls Trail (4 mi)
- Lead Cove Trail (1.8 mi)
- Little Bottoms Trail (2.3 mi)
- Little Brier Gap Trail (Walker Sisters Cabin) (1.4 mi)
- Little Greenbrier Trail (4.3 mi)
- Little River Trail (6.1 mi)
- Low Gap Trail (5.4 mi)
- Lower Mt. Cammerer Trail (7.4 mi)
- Lumber Ridge Trail (4.1 mi)
- Lynn Camp Prong Trail (3.7 mi)
- Maddron Bald Trail (Albright Grove) (7.3 mi)
- Meigs Creek Trail (3.5 mi)
- Meigs Mountain Trail (6 mi)
- Metcalf Bottoms Trail (0.7 mi)
- Middle Prong Trail (Indian Flat Falls) (4.1 mi)
- Miry Ridge Trail (5 mi)
- Mt. Cammerer Trail via Low Gap + AT (5.6 mi)
- Mt. Sterling Ridge Trail (5.3 mi)
- Newfound Gap to Clingmans Dome (7.9 mi)
- Noland Creek Trail (9.2 mi)
- Old Settlers Trail (15.8 mi)
- Old Sugarlands Trail (3.9 mi)
- Panther Creek Trail (2.3 mi)
- Porters Creek Trail (Fern Branch Falls) (3.7 mi)
- Rabbit Creek Trail (7.8 mi)
- Rainbow Falls Trail (Mt. LeConte) (6.6 mi)
- Ramsey Cascades Trail (4 mi)
- Rich Mountain Loop (8.7 mi)
- Roundtop Trail (7.5 mi)
- Russell Field Trail (3.5 mi)
- Schoolhouse Gap Trail (Whiteoak Sink) (2.1 mi)
- Shuckstack Fire Tower via the AT (3.5 mi)
- Spence/Russell Field Loop (13.7 mi)
- Spruce Flats Falls Trail (Buckeye) (1 mi)
- Sugarland Mountain Trail (11.9 mi)
- Swallow Fork Trail (4 mi)
- Sweat Heifer Creek Trail (3.7 mi)
- The Jump Off (Boulevard Trail) (3.3 mi)
- Thunderhead Mountain (Rocky Top) (6.1 mi)
- Trillium Gap Trail (Grotto Falls, Mt. LeConte) (8.9 mi)
- Turkeypen Ridge Trail (3.6 mi)
- Twentymile Loop Trail (2.9 mi)
- Twentymile Trail (5 mi)
- Whiteoak Sink via Schoolhouse Gap Trail (2.3 mi)
The above list of hiking trails in the Smokies is incomplete and constantly being updated. If you have information or photos you would like to contribute, please contact [email protected].