Probably most residents of East Tennessee are familiar with Mountain LeConte, which is the third-highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (6595′).
At the top of Mt. LeConte is a seasonal lodge that is open from mid-March to mid-November. There are cozy cabins for guests to stay in. The cabins are equipped with bunk beds, kerosene heaters, and kerosene lanterns. There is no electricity. Most of the cabins have large rocking chairs on their front porch. Two meals are served in the dining hall each day. Somewhat primitive restrooms are available for guests.
For those interested in staying at the lodge, the only way to get there is to hike one of the five trails to the top of the mountain, and the lodge is often booked a year in advance.
Visitors to Mt. LeConte should make an effort to get to Myrtle Point and Cliff Tops, where the views are well beyond amazing on a clear day. Myrtle Point is about .07 tenths of a mile east of the lodge, and Clift Tops is about .02 tenths of a mile above the lodge.
Unless things have changed, day hikers can call the lodge the night before and have a lunch packed for them. Another possibility is that if a person would like to stay overnight at the lodge, they can call the night before hiking to Mt. LeConte to see if there has been a cancellation.
I am told that cancellations are frequent.
Hiking in the national park offers one a chance to meet some really interesting and unique people. There was a time when a man would hike the Alum Cave Trail every week. He wanted Mt. LeConte to be the tallest mountain in the Park (Clingman’s Dome is the tallest at 6643 feet above sea level). If he saw you on top of the mountain, he often would ask you to help him pile rocks on top of a pile of rocks that he was assembling on the high top, which is considered the highest point on Mt. LeConte. The goal was to make Mt. LeConte the highest spot in the national park. It would seem to me that it would be a major challenge to build a rock pile by hand more than 48 feet high.
Another interesting person related to Mt. LeConte was a woman who hiked up there every day (weather permitting), except on Sundays and major holidays.
When the lodge is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, supplies are brought to the lodge by llama on the Trillium Gap trail. If one reaches the lodge around noon, they have a good chance of getting to see the llama in front of the dining hall.
There are five trails to Mountain LeConte. The Alum Cave Bluff Trail is the most popular. It is five miles long, gains around 2560 feet of elevation, and starts from Newfound Gap Road between park headquarters and Newfound Gap.
The Trillium Gap trail, the Rainbow Falls trail and the Bull Head trail all start from Cherokee Orchard. Trillium Gap can also be reached from Roaring Forks Motor Trail, which would reduce the distance to Mt. LeConte to around 6.4 miles one way and the elevation gain to around 3300 feet. Rainbow Falls trail is about 6.6 miles long and has 3820 feet of elevation gain. Bull Head trail is 7 miles long and has 3,820 feet of elevation gain. If taking the Boulevard trail, one starts east on the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap and follows the AT for 2.2 miles, where it joins the Boulevard trail. From there, it is 5.8 miles to Mt. LeConte.
Taking the Boulevard trail, one will be taking the longest route to Mt. LeConte; however, the hike would all be above 5000 feet, which makes it more comfortable in the hot weather months.
For sure, hiking to Mt. LeConte is challenging for most people; however, the reward for completing the hike, whatever trail is taken, is an accomplishment that many folks would cherish for years to come.
Heads up! A few trailing arbutus were blooming on the Abrams Falls trail when I hiked last week, about 2/10s of a mile down the trail on the right. Spring comes!
Tom Harrington is a regular hiker who reports on his hikes and mountain stories from the Smokies. See more of his column here.
Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter.
