Little River Trail
| Trail Features: | Stream, Wildflowers, History |  |
|||
| Trail Location: | Elkmont | ||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 4.9 Miles | ||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 412 Feet | ||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 168 Feet | ||||
| Highest Elevation: | 2637 Feet | ||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 5.72 (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, turn left to reach the Little River Trailhead. The parking area for 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 entire length of the Little River Trail climbs gently along an old gravel road that parallels the river with the same name. 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 plans
to fully
restore all 19 structures so that they can be opened and viewed by the
public.
As part of the first phase of the Elkmont restoration project, the Park
Service
reopened the old Appalachian Clubhouse for public day use rental in
June of
2011.
At this time there is no indication when this project will be completed. Additionally, the park plans on removing the other 55 buildings in the area and returning those sites to their natural habitats.
The Elkmont area of the park
was heavily logged from the
1800s up until 1938. In the early years 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 its tracks by
early 1940.
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.
If you're lucky, you may spot an otter in or near the water. Between 1988 and 1990 park biologists released 14 river otters in the Little River as part of a successful effort to reintroduce the species throughout the Smokies.
At roughly 2.2 miles you'll reach Huskey Branch Falls, a small 20-foot cascade that 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. This is the typical turn-around point for this trail; however, you have a couple of options if you're feeling up to it. You could continue following the Little River upstream for a couple more miles, or you could extend your hike up to Huskey Gap, or you could make a loop trail back to the parking area by turning right onto the Cucumber Gap Trail.
