Tried a new way to plan my route in the Smokies last fall and it saved me a full day

I mean, I always just used the park's main trail map and tried to connect loops. For a 4 day trip last October, I was staring at the same old map and couldn't get the mileage right without a huge climb on day 3. So I got a tip from a guy at the trailhead to look at the old fire tower routes on a topo app. I overlaid those old access trails with the main ones and found a connector near Clingmans Dome that cut out 7 miles of switchbacks. It was a bit overgrown but totally passable. Ended up with a 38 mile loop that felt way more balanced. Has anyone else found those old secondary routes useful in big parks like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_patricia3d ago

Found an old logging road in Olympic National Park last year that did the same thing. It wasn't on the main map, just a faint line on a digital topo layer. Shaved a brutal 2,000 foot climb off our second day. Those old routes are total game changers. You just have to be ready for some bushwhacking.

anna_craig3d ago

It's funny how the official way to do something is rarely the only way. I find that with recipes, you follow the official one but the best tricks come from old notes in the margins. Those forgotten paths are like the cooking hacks nobody talks about.