Brushy Mountain Trail
| Trail Features: | Outstanding Views, History, Wildflowers |  |
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| Trail Location: | Greenbrier | ||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 11.7 Miles | ||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 3000 Feet | ||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 513 Feet | ||||
| Highest Elevation: | 4937 Feet | ||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 17.70 (strenuous) | ||||
| Parking Lot Latitude | 35.69696 | ||||
| Parking Lot Longitude | -83.38773 | ||||
Directions to Trailhead:
At the junction of 441 and 321 in Gatlinburg (Light 3), turn to travel eastbound on 321. Drive 6 miles and turn right into Greenbrier (look for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park entrance sign on the right). This road turns into a gravel road after a short distance. At 3.1 miles you'll reach a fork in the road. Continue driving straight here. The parking lot will be almost another mile from this fork. The hike to Brushy Mountain begins from the Porters Creek Trailhead.
Trail Description:
The first mile of your hike to Brushy Mountain follows the Porters Creek Trail, which is actually an old gravel road along this first section of trail. The path winds through a lush forest of moss covered trees and rocks as it follows Porters Creek. If you happen to have the opportunity to hike this trail during the spring, you'll likely be greeted by an awesome display of yellow trillium near the trailhead.
At roughly two-thirds of a mile several old stone walls will appear on your right, remnants from the Elbert Cantrell farmstead, who settled in the Porters Creek community in the early 1900s. Also on your right, just past the stone walls, is the Ownby Cemetery, which also dates back to the early part of the 20th century.
After passing over a footbridge you'll reach a fork in the road, roughly one mile from the trailhead. The spur trail to the right leads to an historic farm site. A short hike of roughly 250 yards will take you to the John Messer farm, which includes a cantilevered barn built around 1875 by John Whaley. There's also a cabin on this site that was built by the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club in the mid 1930's. Members of the club were permitted to use it as an overnight facility until 1981.
To continue on to Brushy Mountain at this point, retrace
your steps and then take a left at the fork. You'll walk another 100 feet and
will come to another trail junction. Continuing straight/left here will
eventually take you to Fern Branch Falls and even more wildflowers. To continue
onto your destination, turn right onto the Brushy Mountain Trail.
Over the next 4.5 miles the trail climbs more than 2500 feet as it ascends along the northern flanks of Mt. LeConte. At roughly 5.5 miles hikers finally reach Trillium Gap where the Brushy Mountain Trail meets the Trillium Gap Trail. A turn to the left here will take you to the summit of Mt. LeConte. To reach the summit of Brushy Mountain, turn right at this junction.
The sign at the junction says that it’s only 0.2 miles to Brushy Mountain. Actually, it's about a third of a mile to the summit.
The last push to the summit is a gentle climb through a tunnel of rhododendron, mountain laurel, sand myrtle and other heath family plants. We also saw several painted trillium along this section as well.
You'll know you're at the summit when you reach a small
semi-circular clearing. Looking towards the southeast, this spot offers outstanding views of the entire
eastern flank of the Great Smoky Mountains. You'll be able to see from Charlies
Bunion, all the way over to Mount Sequoyah, Mount Chapman, Mount Guyot, and beyond. Mount LeConte
will be the dominating feature looking towards the south.
Make sure to continue on the trail for a short distance, roughly 50 feet or so, to reach another vantage point. This spot provides spectacular views of Webb Mountain, the Greenbrier valley and Pigeon Forge towards the north.
