Marking the Mt. LeConte Lodge Off the Bucket List
There is one destination that hits the top of the “must do” list for anyone who visits, or hikes, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’d say if you asked 100 people 99 would tell you that “must do” is reaching Mt. LeConte Lodge as it is thought of as the “summit” or pinnacle of the park at 6593′.
We had originally planned to make this hike for my birthday a couple weeks ago but the weather didn’t cooperate. Fortunately this past weekend we did have nice weather and were able to knock this one off our bucket list complete with blue skies and sunshine!!!
Alum Cave Trail
Although there are several trails that lead to the lodge Alum Cave Trail is the shortest at about 10 miles round trip. This trail is also one of the most popular trails in the park but many people turn back at the 2.3 mile mark which is Alum Cave (although not really a cave)! Click the heading here to learn more about the trail. This post will focus more on the last 2.7 miles between Alum Cave and the summit at LeConte Lodge.
From Alum Cave the trail starts gaining elevation rather quickly and much of the trail is narrow and rocky. (Note – If you were doing this hike in the colder months I would definitely recommend traction!) The trail has cables anchored into the mountain in many spots for safety and we used them a LOT! Even with temperatures in the 50s many of the rocks were extremely slippery and wet so slipping was definitely a concern.
Now that we have that out of the way let’s get on to the good stuff which is the views! The trail opens up from the trees in several places and it seemed like we could see forever!!! Views like this are what I love to see and it’s even better when I see my kids so awe struck!
After about 4 hours or so hiking the trail leveled and we started seeing buildings through the trees. Mt. LeConte Lodge!!!! We made it and the expressions on faces were priceless! The trees opened and the stairs led down to the famous scene of many pictures. The feeling of accomplishment was covering us all!
The area of the lodge was much larger that we had envisioned so after resting for a bit we roamed the summit taking in all that was the LeConte Lodge including a visit to the gift shop to get shirts and the obligatory “I Hiked It 2021” Patch! We also chose to take in the full experience by grabbing the day hiker lunch pack which consisted of a bagel, cream cheese, fruit leather, Oreo cookies, beef sticks, trail mix and a gatorade pack.
Time to Go
After spending a couple hours enjoying the views and sounds of the summit it was time to start our trek back down the mountain. We filled our water bottles from the spigots at the summit (potable water which is actually good) and hit the trail around 2ish in the afternoon. We took plenty of opportunities on the way down to grab pictures of the views and take rest breaks. (Down isn’t always easy)!
Overall I would say this was probably the toughest, and best, hike we’ve done but it was definitely worth it! The trail is difficult and I will tell you now to have, and drink, plenty of water. If you have kids you’ll want to keep them close on much of the upper sections. Mine are almost 11 and 13 now and I still watched them like a hawk. There are open areas that are straight down. Much of this can be seen in the video below from YouTube.
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