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A tough climb made easier by lush green surroundings and beautiful hardwood forests.


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Map Key

2.6

Miles

4.1

KM

Point to Point

5,068' 1,545 m

High

3,144' 958 m

Low

1,924' 586 m

Up

0' 0 m

Down

14%

Avg Grade (8°)

23%

Max Grade (13°)

Dogs No Dogs

Features Fall Colors · River/Creek

Description

The Beech Gap Trail (East) begins along Straight Fork Road 285 yards above the bridge over Straight Fork and just at the point where the road encounters a head-on intersection with the one-way Balsam Mountain Road. For the first seventy-five yards, the trail follows a level roadbed. It then turns sharply right, leaves the roadbed, and enters a stiff climb that does not ease until the trail terminates on Balsam Mountain. Early on, the trail follows a slightly rocky course as it winds through second-growth hardwood stands high above Straight Fork. It proceeds with little variation for nearly 700 yards before crossing Thumper Branch and then, 125 yards farther, executes a sharp switchback. Here, the track degenerates noticeably, worsened by large loosely shifting stones that turn underfoot.

From this juncture, the trail edges momentarily out onto a drier exposure before turning back into a hollow shaded with stands of large oaks and clusters of rhododendron and laurel. A mile above the switchback, it passes through an open weedy slope of seepages that marks the headwaters of Table Rock Branch. At this elevation, the trail is skirting what was once the perimeter of Ledge Bald. Stands of slender American beeches and sugar maples have taken over the bald but have not choked out the thick, rich grassy turf that provided fodder for the cattle that once grazed on Balsam Mountain.

The appearance of red spruce heralds the approach into Beech Gap, where the trail terminates into the Balsam Mountain Trail. Beech Gap is a wide flat grassy swag that has more the appearance of a well-kept park than of a mountain ridge. There is very little undergrowth, and the few trees there are of a venerable vintage rather than the tall ramrod-straight Turks of the second-growth generation.

This content was contributed by author Ken Wise. For a comprehensive hiking guide to the Great Smoky Mountains and to see more by Ken, click here.

Flora & Fauna

American beech, sugar maple, red spruce, oak, rhododendron, and mountain laurel are abundant in this area.

Contacts

Shared By:

Ken Wise

Trail Ratings

  3.5 from 2 votes

#17

in Cataloochee

#25176

Overall
  3.5 from 2 votes
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Trail Rankings

#17

in Cataloochee

#1,017

in North Carolina

#25,176

Overall
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654 Since Jul 27, 2016
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Weather


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