Meigs Mountain Trail - Meigs Mountain Trail in the Smoky Mountains

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Meigs Mountain Trail
Trail Features:		Quiet Forest Hike
Trail Location:		Elkmont
Roundtrip Miles:		4.6 miles
Total Elevation Gain:		661 feet
Avg. Elev Gain / Mile:		287 feet
Highest Elevation:		2744 feet
Trail Difficulty Rating:		5.92 (moderate)
Parking Lot Latitude:		35.64764
Parking Lot Longitude:		-83.5832

Directions to Trailhead:

From the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, drive 4.9 miles along the 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’ll turn left to reach the parking area for the Meigs Mountain Trail. Drive another 1.1 miles to the end of the road at the Jakes Creek Trailhead to access the Meigs Mountain Trail.

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

Trail Description:

From the Jakes Creek trailhead parking lot, go through the gate on the left hand side to access the Jakes Creek Trail. You’ll walk along an old gravel road before reaching the Meigs Mountains Trail. At one-third of a mile, the Cucumber Gap Trail turns to the left. Continue to go straight here. A short distance from this junction is the Meigs Mountain Trail, which forks off to the right.

At 0.6 miles, you’ll come to a footbridge that offers a nice view of a two-foot waterfall just upstream from the bridge.

From this point, the trail is relatively flat as it meanders along the contours of the mountain. We noticed some yellow trillium, violets, and Virginia bluebells along this section of trail. You’ll also pass evidence of some of the former inhabitants of this area as well.

The end of this particular hike is at the remains of an old dam. To get there, the trail descends roughly 200 feet in just one-third of a mile. At the bottom of the hill, you’ll pass campsite 20, and two creeks. The dam at the third creek you reach will be your final destination.

One explanation I’ve heard for the dam was that it was used to help keep butter and milk cold in the summer for the settlers in this area. Another suggestion is that splash dams were built by loggers to help move logs downstream. There’s a large piece of scrap metal near the dam which indicates to me that the later explanation might be the correct one.