[at-l] Smokey Mountain Short Hikes

[wshroyer@mail.bluefield.edu (Walter Shroyer)]

We just got back from a Thanksgiving trip to Gatlinburg and hiked on two trails in the
Smokies.  One was the Nature Trail beside the Sugarland Visitor Center.  It is an easy 1
mile loop hike with lots of historical information about the area.  We then hiked to Grotto
Falls off the Roaring Fork Motor Trail.  Very beautiful!  Snow and ice on the ground, lots
of virgin hemlocks, and the waterfall you can walk under it.  This is also the trail to Mt.
LeConte.  It is an easy hike but a 500 foot ascent.  The Roaring Fork Motor Trail is a 6
mile one way road that also has a lot of history behind it with numerous old homes, corn
cribs, and even a mill.

Walter Shroyer