Kanati Fork Trail - Kanati Fork Trail in the Smoky Mountains

Kanati Fork Trail
Trail Features:		Wildflowers
Trail Location:		Between Newfound Gap / Cherokee
Roundtrip Miles:		4.0 miles
Total Elevation Gain:		1495 feet
Avg. Elev Gain / Mile:		748 feet
Highest Elevation:		4328 feet
Trail Difficulty Rating:		6.99 (moderate)
Parking Lot Latitude:		35.58792
Parking Lot Longitude:		-83.36356

Directions to Trailhead:

From the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, drive 21.4 miles south along Newfound Gap Road, 8 miles past Clingmans Dome Road. The parking area for the Kanati Fork Trail is easy to miss. The parking lot will be on the left side of the road; however, the trailhead is on the

opposite side of the road. If you reach the Kephart Prong trailhead,

you’ve gone a half-mile too far.

From Cherokee, go north for almost 12 miles on Newfound Gap Road. The parking lot will be on your right.

Trail Description:

The Kanati Fork Trail is named after the mythical Cherokee hunter, Kanati. Legend has it that Kanati, also known as "First Man" did all the hunting for the family and the entire village. His wife, Selu, gave the Cherokee People the gift of corn, which became their principal crop.

The Kanati Fork Trail follows the Kanati Fork Creek for the first half-mile or so into this hike. Since the creek is in the valley about 50 feet below the trail, you’ll only be able to catch a few glimpses of the stream as you climb upward, if you're hiking when there are leaves on the trees. During the winter months, the stream will appear as white ribbon as it cuts its path down the valley.

Through the lower portion of the trail you’ll notice a lot of rhododendron next to the trail and in the valley to the left of you. As the Kanati Fork Trail meanders up hill, you’ll pass over several small creeks, under the canopy of large hemlocks and yellow poplars. The trail is a steady climb, but you really won’t notice this if you’re goal is spotting wildflowers.

Two nights prior to hiking the trail, a powerful storm ripped through the Smokies, dumping marble-sized hail that pelted and damaged the flowers and foliage in this area. Despite all the damage, we still saw Canadian violets, Vasey’s trillium, painted trillium, Northern white violets, wake robin, brook lettuce and false Solomon's seal.

Late April is usually the best time to hike this trail for wildflowers. However, you can expect to see early yellow violets as early as March. By April, you may begin to see cut-leaved toothwort, dwarf cinquefoil, large-flowered bellwort and white baneberry.

Some late summer/early fall flowers you can expect to see on the Kanati Fork Trail include, beaked dodder, bee balm and Turk’s cap lily.

We ended this hike at 2 miles. You have the option of continuing on for another mile to the Thomas Ridge Trail junction, however, most of the wildflowers will be within the first two miles of this trail.