Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Deep Creek Trail - Member Hike

Hike Name: Great Smoky Mountain National Park - Deep Creek Trail
Country: United States
State: North Carolina
Nearby Town: Cherokee
Rating: 3 stars
Directions: From Bryson City, follow signs for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to Deep Creek Campground. The parking area for the trailhead is past the campground on your left. It is about a 10 minute drive from Bryson City and well marked with signs for the National Park.
Total Hike Distance: 14.30 miles
Hike Difficulty: Moderate
Permit Required: Yes
Hike Type: One-Way, Shuttle Hike
Hike Starts: US 441 (@ Deep Creek Trail)
Hike Ends: Deep Creek Campground
Trails Used: Deep Creek Trail
Backcountry Campsites: Yes
Backcountry Water Sources: Streams
Management: National Park Service
Contact Information: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
107 Park Headquarters Road
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
(865) 436-1200
Best Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
Users: Hikers
Road Conditions: Primary Paved Roads, Secondary Paved Roads
Hike Summary: The Great Smoky Mountains get more annual visitors than any other National Park in the U.S., but surprisingly most people never see the backcountry which has some of the most pristine wilderness in the Southeast. On this hike, we started at US 441 (just south of Clingmans Dome Road) and followed the Deep Creek Trail to the parking area near Deep Creek Campground and Ranger Station. The trail drops roughly 3000' over fourteen miles as it follows a spring at the ridgeline which trickles down to the southern trailhead near Bryson City, North Carolina where it becomes a deep, wide and fast-moving stream.

For an overnight hike along Deep Creek Trail, there are numerous backcountry campsites including two reservation-only horse sites at #55 and #57 and six additional backpacker sites available on a first-come first-serve basis. We recommend campsites #56 and #60 which are well-suited for backpackers and have easy access to some nice trout waters with camping along the stream. The trail between campsites #54 and #60 have a surprising number of climbs along Deep Creek, so make sure you get an early start or save some energy if you plan to do more than seven miles on your first day.
<b>Deep Creek Trail</b><br> The Deep Creek Trail starts near Newfound Gap at US 441. We were suprised to find snow near the trailhead at 5000 feet in late March.
<b>Spring Snow</b><br> The northern faces still had snow when we hiked this trail on March 27th.
<b>Campsite #54</b><br> This is one of a number of campsites along the Deep Creek Trail and the one we selected for the night.
<b>Deep Creek</b><br> We followed a spring that fed deep creek from the ridgeline that grew to a wide stream by the time we reached the Campground. Here is Deep Creek about 1.3 miles from the Ranger Station.
<b>Dodging Bullets</b><br> We woke to showers at 6:45am but somehow managed to miss the heavy rain and thunderstorms that pelted the area around 2pm.

Map:

Hiker:

The Camel


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