Mt. Sterling (via Baxter Creek)
| Trail Features: | Panoramic Views |  |
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| Trail Location: | Big Creek | ||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 12.2 Miles | ||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 4200 Feet | ||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 689 Feet | ||||
| Highest Elevation: | 5842 Feet | ||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 20.60 (strenuous) | ||||
| Parking Lot Latitude | 35.75087 | ||||
| Parking Lot Longitude | -83.10915 | ||||
Directions to Trailhead:
From I-40, take the Waterville Road Exit (#451). Turn left after crossing the Pigeon River and proceed 2.3 miles to an intersection. Continue straight here, past the ranger station, to a large parking area at the end of the road to reach the Baxter Creek Trailhead.
Trail Description:
There are several routes that will take you to the summit of
Mt. Sterling; however, the toughest route to the historic fire tower is the
Baxter Creek Trail which begins out of the Big Creek area. In fact, the Baxter Creek Trail to Mt.
Sterling is one of the toughest day hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Although even and well-graded, the trail climbs roughly 4200 feet in just 6.2
miles.
The trail passes through old growth forest, taking hikers
through a deciduous forest along the lower elevations, to Balsam and Spruce at
the higher elevations.
Although a very difficult hike, your efforts will be well
rewarded upon reaching the 5842-foot summit.
The views atop the 60-foot fire tower are simply amazing. On a clear day
you'll be able to make out Balsam Mountain and Luftee Knob towards the west,
Mount Guyot to the northwest, Max Patch to the east, and the Cataloochee Valley
towards the south. If you have a very good eye you may even spot the Mount
Cammerer fire tower, which lies due NNW from the mountain.
It was here atop Mount Sterling, in 1963, that the Balsam woolly adelgid infestation was first noticed in the Smokies. This tiny insect is now responsible for killing most of the park's Fraser firs.
The fire tower at the summit was built by the Civilian
Conservation Corps in 1935. In the park's early days a lookout spent many hours
in the tower, keeping a close eye on the forested terrain of the surrounding
mountains. From February 15 to May 15, and then again from October 15 to
December 15, the tower was manned by watchers who lived on the premises on
two-week tours. When he wasn't at his station, the watcher stayed in the cabin
that once stood just north of the tower.
Today the Park Service uses the tower as a radio repeater.
The trap door is still open and if you don't mind a shaky old structure, the
views are quite breathtaking.
According to Peter Barr, author of "Hiking North Carolina's Lookout Towers," the Mt. Sterling lookout has the highest elevation of any true fire tower left in the eastern U.S. In addition to a wealth of historical background on fire towers, the book also serves as a hiking guide to many of the towers in the region.
The Mount Sterling area is one of the more historic places
in the Great Smoky Mountains. According to early residents of the area, the
mountain was named after a 2-foot wide streak of lead was found in the bed of
the Pigeon River, near the mountain's northern base. Those residents mistakenly
thought they found silver.
One of the most famous stories associated with the area occurred during the Civil War. Towards the end of the war, Cataloochee and the remote valleys at the base of Mt. Sterling became popular hideouts for deserters. Both Union and Confederate detachments consistently made raids into the area to find them.
One local legend relates an incident in which Captain Albert Teague of the Confederate States Army captured three deserters: George Grooms, his brother Henry, and a simpleton named Mitchell Caldwell. The three were forced to march on foot from Big Creek to the Mount Sterling Gap area (the actual location varies from one account to the next). Henry Grooms, a talented fiddle player, was forced to carry his fiddle during the long march. His captors commanded him to play one last tune before they executed him. Fittingly, Grooms chose the tune "Bonaparte's Retreat," a haunting melody that, to this day, is still called "The Grooms Tune" in many parts of the region.
Upon completion of his performance, Grooms asked his captors if he could pray for a moment before killing him. His brother, George, is said to have died cursing the scouts. Mitchell Caldwell, who was described as a slow-witted man, simply grinned at his captors, so unnerving them that they were forced to cover his face with a hat before they could bring themselves to execute him. Teague's unit left the three bodies at the side of the road. Eventually, Henry Grooms' wife, Eliza, and a Sutton boy, took the bodies back to Big Creek by ox-sled where they were buried in the Sutton Cemetery.
