Cove Mountain - Laurel Falls

Date: 1/2/16
Distance: 13

This hike is a very nice shuttle hike that is close to Gatlinburg.   It was nice to hike with Russ and Bill on this day.  I met Russ at the Laurel Falls trail about 8:45 where we left a car before driving over to the Sugarlands Visitor Center to meet Bill.   We got ready to hike rather leisurely hitting the trail about 9:15.

We started by leaving on the sidewalk behind the visitor center and then taking the Nature Trail over to Cataract falls.  The nature trail added about 0.5 miles to the hike.  We could have driven around and parked closer to the trailhead, but it was an easy walk over.

Cataract had a decent amount of water on this day.

 Cove Mtn is 8.5 miles up to the Cove Mtn fire tower.  The trail is wide and smooth and easy to hike, but it climbs about 3000', so it is a workout.  There are a few places with some views.

 The trail goes by several houses and Ober Gatlinburg as it makes its way up the mountain.  We made good time up to the tower covering the 9 miles from the visitors center to the tower in only 3 hours.  The tower is used by TVA and the Park Service to monitor pollution and weather, so it isn't accessible to hikers, so there are no views at the tower.

From the tower, we backtracked 0.1 miles to the Laurel Falls trail.  We hiked it for 0.9 miles to the Little Greenbrier intersection where we stopped for some lunch.

From there it was only 3.1 miles to the car.  The Falls was about 1/2 way down the trail.  It was packed with people to the point that it was kind of miserable.

We didn't stay long at all before heading down the paved trail to the car.  I don't know why they paved it.  The pavement is pretty rough.  It would have been much better to just "pave" it with small gravel or something like that.

There are a couple of nice view locations on the walk.

 We passed about 100 "hikers" over the last 1.2 miles to the car.  In hindsight, I wish we had hiked the other way as the crowded part would have been in the morning when fewer tourists were clogging the trail.  The climb would have also been shorter.

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.