Bullhead Trail


	Trail Features:		Views, Interesting Geology
	Trail Location:		Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
	Roundtrip Length:		5.9 Miles
	Total Elevation Gain:		1607 Feet
	Avg. Elev Gain / Mile:		545 Feet
	Highest Elevation:		4217 Feet
	Trail Difficulty Rating:		9.11 (moderate)
	Parking Lot Latitude		35.67582
	Parking Lot Longitude		-83.48527

Directions to Trailhead:

Starting from Light 8 in Gatlinburg, turn onto Historic Nature Trail / Airport Road. At 0.7 miles, veer right onto Cherokee Orchard Road, upon which you'll enter into Great Smoky Mountain National Park. After driving another 2.2 miles you'll enter the one-way Cherokee Orchard Loop. After driving roughly 0.6 miles on the loop, the Bullhead Trailhead will be on your right. (If this parking lot is full, there's an auxiliary parking area about 0.1 miles further down the road)

Trail Description:

Right before turning into the parking lot you may have noticed a locked gate blocking an old gravel road. This gate marks the trailhead for the Bullhead Trail. You'll need to follow this gravel road, which is actually the Old Sugarlands Trail, for approximately 0.4 miles before turning left onto the Bullhead Trail.

Just over a mile into the hike the trail begins to ascend more rapidly as you climb the Bullhead, a heath-covered bald extending off Balsam Point. Standing at an elevation of roughly 4300-feet, the bald received its name due to its supposed resemblance to a bulls head from a distance. Over the next mile or so you'll pass several rock cliff faces. At roughly 1.5 miles you'll pass two small caves created by overhanging rocks.

After climbing up to the backside of Bullhead the trail begins to level off and you begin to catch glimpses of some of the surrounding mountains. Almost straight in front you Balsam Point will come into view (picture to the left). If you were to choose to hike another 4.2 ccc-cairn miles and go all the way to the summit of Mt. LeConte, the trail would take you up the north face of Balsam Point before exiting onto the ridge to the right of the mountain. Another option, if you still have the energy, is to hike another two miles to this same ridge, which affords outstanding views on either side of it.

However, if you're goals aren't as lofty this day, you could end your hike at the rock cairn located nearly 3 miles from the trailhead. This cairn, or table of rocks, was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930's, for what reason or purpose, I'm not really sure. By standing on it, however, you'll have some fairly good views of the mountains to the east and northeast, including Brushy Mountain and the Greenbrier Valley.