There’s no better month for Smokies hiking than November. The leaves, the sky, the temperature. It’s all there. So, it was on a clear, mild November morning that I made a quick trip through Townsend and into the Tremont area of the Smokies.
This area was heavily logged by the Little River Lumber Company from about 1900 to 1939. Through a special agreement with the government, this logging company was permitted to continue its logging operations for four years after the national park was established. But don’t let the “heavily logged” part dishearten you. Most of the Smokies (about 75%) was logged, but it’s recovering nicely, and this portion is no different. It’s a beautiful part of the park; just don’t expect any 200 year old trees here. Almost all of them are 75 years or less, which is fine. Shoot, if I had a 75 year old tree in my yard, I’d carry a picture of it around in my wallet, right next to my granddaughter. I’d show both pictures to friends and unsuspecting strangers at every opportunity: “Yeah, she’s precious, but look at the size of my sugar maple. Ain’t she a beaut? You should see her the first week in November!”
Tremont’s logging past does have some benefits. There are occasional glimpses of the park’s human history – rock walls, old roadbeds, old RR tracks and camps. These human remnants catch some folks by surprise because they expect the Smokies to be an untouched wilderness. But they’ll understand what’s going on if they’ll stop for a second to notice that they are in the eastern US in a national park that is about 75 years old. You just can’t expect vast, virgin wilderness under such circumstances. This isn’t Yellowstone or Glacier. Fortunately, the fall foliage on a 75 year old sugar maple or scarlet oak is just as magnificent as that of a 200 year old, maybe better. (Not to mention the fact that Yellowstone and Glacier have very few of the beautiful hardwoods that we have. There’s a reason why all the talk of fabulous fall colors centers on the East, not the West.)
If you like nicely graded, wide trails, then you’ll love the Middle Prong Trail at the end of the road past the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Because this was a major railroad artery into this section of the park, the trail which follows the old RR bed is wide, smooth, and gradual. Some books call it “moderate,” but I’d call this portion of the trail “easy” because it rises only about 250 feet per mile.
This trail begins at the bridge where Lynn Camp Prong converges with Thunderhead Prong to form the Middle Prong of the Little River. (Not to be confused with the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River on the other side of Gatlinburg.) Your five mile drive to the trailhead paralleled the Middle Prong, while most of your hike will meander along the banks of Lynn Camp Prong; although the last 10% of the hike will focus on a small tributary called Indian Flats Prong.
Other than the river, trees, leaves, shrubs, and wildflowers, the first significant sight of this trip is Lynn Camp Prong Falls, about one mile into your hike. This falls is not a vertical plunge; rather, it’s a long, winding, sliding, cascading chute. It’s very nice even in the low-water month of November.
One thing I’ve learned about waterfalls is that the terrain surrounding the falls is often just as impressive as the waterfall itself. I think I had noticed this long ago, but like subliminal advertising, it took several years for it percolate up into my consciousness. Many waterfalls are in narrow gorges, squeezed together by steep slopes, huge boulders, and dramatic rock ledges. This becomes really apparent if you find yourself standing at the bottom looking up and wondering how you might get to the top of the falls. Of course, climbing up the rock wall of the falls itself is really, really stupid. Instead, look for an alternative route among the rocks, trees, and shrubs (usually rhododendron and dog hobble) along the sides. You’ll quickly see that there is no easy route. The terrain is usually mostly rock ledges. It would be an impressive sight even if there were no water at all.
If you ended your hike here, it would have been well worth your time. But if you can afford to spend four more hours on this trail, there’s a hidden gem at the end that will be worth your while. [To be continued.]
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