| << Back 12/25/02 Nature Notebook SMN A great way to immerse yourself in winter solitude and the grandeur of old growth is a winter camping trip to Sugar Cove campsite on Gabes Mountain Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Gabes trail is accessed from Cosby Campground. It’s about a 4.5-mile moderate hike along Gabes trail to Sugar Cove. The hike starts out in second growth. It’s about 2.5 miles in to Henwallow Falls. There is a side trail here that goes to the bottom of the falls. Just past Henwallow Falls you enter the old growth. This is prime old growth with record-size hemlock, beech, maple and magnolia trees. This cathedral of old growth is enhanced by the ubiquitous sound of water. Water trickling over rocks. Water tumbling down a creek. Water thundering over the falls. It’s approximately two miles past Henwallow to Sugar Cove. Sugar Cove is unrestricted with a half-dozen or so cleared campsites. Gabes Trail continues west, past Sugar Cove for a little more than two miles where it connects to Maddron Bald Trail. Hiking in and setting up camp at Sugar Cove gives you a base for excursions into this really spectacular area of old growth. There are hemlocks and poplars that measure more than 12 feet in circumference and beeches and magnolias that go nearly 10 feet. This is a great hike anytime of year with great spring and summer wildflowers and lots of autumn color. But Sugar Cove can be pretty crowded from late spring through fall, in the winter you can sometimes have the entire forest to yourself. (From Waynesville take I-40 west to exit 443. Take the Foothills Parkway to U.S. 321. Take U.S. 321 south to Cosby where you pick up TN 32 to the entrance to GSMNP enter the park and go to the first parking lot of the Cosby Campground. Check road conditions in the winter. Backcountry sites require a free backcountry permit for information call 865.436.1297.)
|
||