A Tennessee Ghost Town and Waterfall
Even though it’s almost Christmas mother nature is still providing us beautiful weather for exploration. Today our adventures took us to the ghost town of Elkmont inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and along the trails in the area to Huskey Branch Falls.
Elkmont was once a lively area prior to the formation of the park and was home to the Appalachian Club. Unfortunately over the years many of the structures fell into disrepair and have not survived leaving much of history gone forever. The positive side is that currently the park service is in the process of stabilizing and renovating 19 of the structures here and several are open to tour including a cabin that is one of the oldest structures in the area.
From the parking lot at Elkmont we started a hike from the Jakes Creek trailhead and explored many of the ruins along the trail. We then trekked across the Cucumber Gap trail to almost 3,000′ before descending back down to the Little River trail near Huskey Branch Falls.
At the falls you will find a rustic bench to rest (and have lunch as we did). Take in the sounds of nature and the roar of the falls rushing from above under the bridge and out into the stream below. The views here are amazing and it’s easy to get lost in the peace of the area.
The trails here are well marked like most in the park. I do recommend wearing good hiking boots with ankle support on these trails. Roots line many of the trails and you have to cross the creek at one point along Cucumber Gap so waterproof boots are best. Elkmont does get VERY busy during peak times of the year so parking could be an issue closer into the trailhead areas.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog to see all of our adventures. Leave us a comment and let us know if you’ve hiked these trails and what your experiences were.