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| Husky Gap (via Little River Trail) | ||
| Trail Features: | Stream / Wildflowers / Historical | |
| Trail Location: | Elkmont | |
| Roundtrip Miles: | 10.0 miles | |
| Total Elevation Gain: | 1080 feet | |
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 216 feet | |
| Highest Elevation: | 3206 feet | |
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 12.16 (strenuous) | |
| 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 Little River Trail will be 0.6 miles from the campground. The Husky Gap Trail is accessed via the Little River Trail.
Trail Description:
To reach the Husky Gap Trail, you値l first need to hike almost 3 miles up the Little River Trail. 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値l 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値l stroll past several patches of rhododendron. As we proceeded up river we noticed yellow trillium, dwarf cinquefoil, stonecrop and other wildflowers.
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値l reach the Cucumber Gap Trail Junction. To reach the Husky Gap Trail junction, continue on for another 0.4 mile, just past the old bridge that passes over the Little River. Turn left onto the Husky Gap Trail.
Once past the river, you値l soon notice how much quieter this trail is compared to the Little River Trail.
Almost immediately after turning onto the Husky Gap Trail you値l begin a short climb. After cresting this relatively easy hill, you値l descend into a meadow carpeted with ferns. During this section of trail we began to notice a fair amount of yellow trillium.
This, however, was nothing compared to what we saw later on. Roughly half-way between the Little River Trail and Husky Gap we ran into a riot of flowers: yellow, white and painted trillium, blue phlox, hepaticas and violets. There were a couple of hillsides throughout this section of trail that were literally covered in wildflowers. This is a great trail to hike during April and May if your goal is to spot wildflowers.
At 5 miles you値l reach Husky Gap where the Husky Gap Trail intersects with the Sugarland Mountain Trail. You won稚 have much of a view here, but you will have a few peeks into the mountains to the west of you in the last half-mile prior to reaching the gap.