Cucumber Gap Loop - Cucumber Gap Loop Trail in Smoky Mountains

Cucumber Gap Loop
Trail Features:		Stream / Wildflowers / Historical
Trail Location:		Elkmont
Roundtrip Miles:		5.6 miles
Total Elevation Gain:		830 feet
Avg. Elev Gain / Mile:		296 feet
Highest Elevation:		3055 feet
Trail Difficulty Rating:		7.26 (moderate)
Parking Lot Latitude:		35.65365
Parking Lot Longitude:		-83.58018

Directions to Trailhead:

From the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, drive 4.9 miles on Little River Road to the Elkmont Campground turnoff on your left. After turning into Elkmont, drive 1.4 miles until you reach the campground. Instead of proceeding into the campground, you will need to turn left to reach the parking area for the Little River Trail. The parking lot for the Cucumber Gap Loop Trail (via the Little River Trail) will be 0.6 miles from the campground.

From the Townsend "Y" intersection near Cades Cove, the turnoff for the Elkmont Campground will be 12.6 miles away.

Trail Description:

The Cucumber Gap Loop trail can be accessed from the Little River trailhead or the Jakes Creek trailhead. For the purposes of this hike, we will begin from the Little River trailhead.

The Little River Trail is a gentle climb along an old gravel road, paralleling the river of the same name for the entire length of the trail. The river is a beautiful cascading stream with large boulders and several small waterfalls.

At the beginning of the trail you’ll pass by a few of the old resort cottages of Elkmont. The cottages were built in the 1920s and were used as summer homes by the affluent from Knoxville. As of this writing, the homes are in disrepair and are off limits to the public. However, in the fall of 2008, National Park crews completed emergency stabilization to 18 of the historic cabins, as well as the Appalachian Clubhouse. The park hopes to fully restore all 19 structures so that they can be viewed by the public. Also, the Park Service plans to make the old Appalachian Clubhouse into a public day use area which will include educational exhibits.

At this time there is no indication when this project will be completed. Furthermore, the park plans on removing the other 55 buildings in the area and returning the sites to their natural habitats.

Along the early portions of the Little River Trail you’ll stroll past several patches of rhododendron.

This trail is best hiked between mid-March and April if you’re goal is to view wildflowers. During the early spring, you can expect to see spring beauties and trailing arbutus. As the season progresses, look for hepaticas, yellow trillium, dwarf cinquefoil, stonecrop, Canadian violets and umbrella leaf.

During the summer months, look for mountain mint as well as orange and pale jewelweed.

At roughly 2.2 miles, a small 20-foot waterfall tumbles into the Little River. The waterfall flows down the slope of the hill next to the trail before running underneath a footbridge.

At just under 2.5 miles you’ll reach the Cucumber Gap Trail Junction. To continue the loop, turn right onto Cucumber Gap Trail.

Shortly after turning onto the new trail, you’ll begin a steady climb. Over the course of the next mile, the trail climbs about 400 feet. This section of trail seemed to have an inordinate number of roots protruding out of the ground. There’s always two or three of these that seem to reach out and trip me while I’m hiking.

Without a cascading river next to you, this trail offers a quiet alternative to the Little River Trail. There isn’t anything of particular note about this trail, although we did see a fair amount of wildlife. We saw a large pileated woodpecker as well as a young doe that showed no fear as she approached us while we were taking a snack break. Further along, four wild turkeys crossed the trail roughly 20 yards in front of us.

At roughly 4.8 miles, you’ll reach the Jakes Creek Trail junction. Turn right here onto the gravel road. Proceed another 0.3 miles to reach the trailhead for the Jakes Creek Trail. To complete the loop and get back to your car, walk a half-mile down the paved road to the Little River Trailhead. As you walk down this road you’ll pass several more of the old dilapidated summer homes.

The Elkmont area of the park was heavily logged from the 1800s up until 1938 when operations were ended. At first, logs were hauled out by ox teams and then floated down river. Just after the turn of the century, the Little River Lumber Company purchased nearly 100,000 acres of timberland along the Little River and its tributaries. They built rail lines to Elkmont, and eventually, a spur that extended all the way to Clingmans Dome. This spur would eventually become the Little River Trail. The rail lines allowed the company to extract timber at a much faster rate. After the Smokies became a national park, the lumber company ceased operations in 1938 and had rolled up the track by early 1940.