It’s a simple hike of about 950ft elevation gain over 2.5miles. Great for little kids and family. A good intro to the Smoky Mountains. Older kids may not like like the lack of challenge here.
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The trail could have been more well maintained. It was covered over with leaves and fallen down trees so it was often very hard to follow. It is only marked on the way back as well making it very difficult to navigate. The time estimate here is very inaccurate it took about 4 hours one way without even reaching the top. The trail is very deep in the woods with few spots where you can see the view. There were signs of recent bear sightings as well. Overall, probably wouldn’t do it again.
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This trail is very well maintained. I assume the Boy Scouts have a lot to do with this. Hiked this directly after Hurricane Sally remnants and trail was not “sloppy” like most in Pisgah area. Easily navigated plenty of water along way. Lots of fungus especially some nice reishi growing off an oak blowdown that trail maintenance had sawn thru. Wildflowers in abundance as well but not so many blueberries. I have 11.5 miles for distance. With a clear trail the whole way I would rate as moderate.
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Great trail with an amazing payoff at the summit. The climb of 2700’ is significant, but not terrible. Very enjoyable day out.
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Did this hike yesterday with a small group, and it was beautiful. We did it in the other direction, going up Shining Creek Path, which is nicer in some ways, since you get a better view of the waterfalls along the creek going up.
We did see two large rattlesnakes at a sunny, rocky spot along Old Butt Knob trail, so be careful!
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Decent trail. Good camping and fishing. Some rocky spots but no too bad.
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Great hike, close to town, easy to navigate, with a rewarding view. There are toilets and hand washing in the camp right past the bridge just beyond the trail head. Not great for running, since it's covered, moderately rocky, slick, steep, and with downed trees. Many streams en route, bring a steri-pen. Glad we used Gaia- we got a few hundred feet down a trail offshoot on the way down and had to backtrack. Some bushwhacking near the summit but underneath a clear path. Is the view to the SE an old volcano crater?
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