Meeting Place:
Bi-Lo parking
lot in Etowah at 7:00 A.M.
We will be leaving
Bi-Lo parking lot shortly after 7:00.
Directions to the Trailhead:
The trailhead is a little confusing to find. From US 441 in Gatlinburg,
take US 321 15.4 miles East toward Cosby. After you pass Yogi Bears
Jellystone Campground, on the right, take the first right on to Baxter
Road, turn right on Laurel Springs Road, trailhead is on left at orange
gate. There is a small parking area there. (Lat:35.76952 Lon:-83.26675)
Trail Description:
The Albright Grove Trail was named for Horace Albright , a
conservationist and former Park Service Director. Albright Grove boasts
of some of the Smokies largest virgin timber, somehow spared by the
timber companies
that clearcut all the surrounding hillsides and
valleys. Though it’s hard to tell now, much of the area you pass
through was farmed at one time. The wide clearings around the trailhead
and the homes that border the park, were the site of a Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) camp from 1933 to 1935. They provided labor,
food and shelter for thousands of men put out of work in the great
depression. Its crews built many of the trails, roads, bridges and
fences in the Smokies.
The first leg of the trail is an old jeep road still used by
the Park Service, which is actually the beginning of the Maddron Bald
Trail. It levels off at 0.5 miles and passes the Willis Baxter cabin, a
one room cabin on the right that dates back to 1889. This cabin was
made from American Chestnut, and possibly all from one tree, since
American Chestnuts in this area were recorded as big as 33 feet in
circumference. Some pine and poplar have been used to restore the
cabin. Mr. Baxter built this cabin for his sons, two of whom set up
housekeeping and started their own families here. Children slept in the
loft and the cabin was surrounded by cornfields and apple trees. There
is a small spring directly behind the cabin, their only source of water.
At 1.2 miles you come to the junction of 2 other trails.
The Old Settlers Trail leads right 15.8 miles to
theGreenbriar section
of the park and Gabe Mtn. Trail leads left about 7 miles to Cosby
Campground. Maddron Bald Trail continues straight ahead through a row
of boulders. The trail soon narrows and crosses over small creeks, then
levels again with Eastern Hemlock on the left and mixed hardwoods on the
right. The trail switches back to the right and climbs away from
Maddron creek. At 2.3 miles the trail forks around an old traffic turn
around. From this point on, the trail is narrower, leaving the small
second-growth hardwoods and moving into bigger trees. The trail climbs
a small ridge and then descends to Indian Camp Creek and crosses over a
foot log. The trail then ascends and levels at the first
junction with the Albright Grove Trail at 3 miles. Maddron Bald Trail
bears to the left and you will continue straight ahead on the Albright
Grove Trail. It makes a 0.7 mile loop through beautiful old growth
timber with species including Eastern Hemlock, Yellow Buckeye, Yellow
Poplar, Fraser Magnolia, Basswood and Beech. It eventually runs back
into the Maddron Bald Trail. If you were to turn right, you would reach
the Appalachian Trail in another 4.7 miles after intersecting the Snake
Den Ridge Trail which comes in from the left. We need to turn left,
however, and go about 0.3 miles back to the junction of the Albright
Grove Trail where we were earlier. Turn right at the junction which
leads back to our point of beginning.
Additional Trail
Description:
The trail starts at
an old road bed with an orange gate across it, which is actually the
beginning of the Maddron Bald Trail. From there it is a gradual climb
all the way for 3.5 miles with a total elevation gain of about 1500
feet. However, none of the trail would be considered steep. It follows
the old road for 2.3 miles then turns into a small foot path. At 3.0
miles the Albright Grove Tail turns right off the Maddron Bald Trail and
makes a 0.7 mile loop back into the Maddron Bald Trail. The Albright
Grove Trail is one of just a few areas of virgin timber left in the
Eastern U.S. It contains some of the largest trees found in the Great
Smoky Mountains with species including Eastern Hemlock, Yellow Buckeye,
Yellow Poplar, Fraser Magnolia, Basswood and Beech. If you enjoy
walking through big timber and listening to the babbling of small
brooks, you need to make this hike. As an added bonus we may get to see
a black bear or if we’re really lucky, a Red Wolf.
Post Trip Report:
Six hearty
hikers braved the cold temperatures to hike a 7 mile section of Albright
Grove in the Cosby section of the Smokies. The trees were awesome…and
HUGE!
~excerpt from email sent by Rick
Harris
Brief Description: This trip is through an area of old growth in the Smoky Mountains.
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