Cove Mountain Trail

Date: 1/2/2015
Distance: 17.2
New Map Miles: 8.5
Total Map Miles: 745.7

After waking up early and checking the weather, I decided to head for the mountains again this morning.  So far 2015 has started out great!  Two days and two hikes.

I had been saving Cove Mountain as I figured sooner or later it would show up on Meetup or I'd find someone to shuttle with me, but my options are dwindling, so I knocked it off today.

I started at the Sugarlands Visitor Center on the nature trail behind the building.  Just after the nature trail crosses a small creek, you take an immediate right towards Cataract Falls.  About 0.3 miles from the parking area, you reach the trailhead for Cove Mtn.

About 0.1 miles down the trail, you arrive at Cataract Falls.  It is a nice waterfall which is very easy to get to.

 The trail rock hops across the base of the falls and heads up the mountain.  The trail surface is just great.  The trail is wide with very few rocks or roots.  It does climb steadily for nearly the entire distance although there are 3 or 4 small dips once you've hike about 2/3rds of the trail.

 The trail hugs the park boundary, so there are several homes near the trail in the 1st several miles.

There are a few spots where there are some nice views.  On the way up, the clouds lifted a bit and I could enjoy them.

The last couple miles of the 8.4 is more desolate.  The trail does hug an old gravel road, but it appears to be rarely used.  I turned back at the Laurel Falls Trail sign as I had previously taken the 0.1 spur out to the tower when I hiked Laurel Falls.

 The fog moved in while I was up high and there were few views on the way down.  I also put on the rain jacket for the last 1/4th of the hike as it started to drizzle a bit.

I had heard talking on a loud speaker on the way up which I assumed was Ober Gatlinburg.  On the way back down, I paid more attention and spotted the ski resort.  I took a bit of an off trail trip over to the top of the lift.  This is the very top of the ski area.

Cove Mountain was a very nice trail with hardly any trail issues (mud, rocks, etc).  The climb did seem to go on longer than it should.