Gunter Fork Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Fall Colors · River/Creek · Views · Waterfall · Wildflowers

When it leaves the Camel Gap Trail, the Gunter Fork Trail quickly crosses Big Creek before striking an easy course through a bottomland that is slowly reclaiming some semblance of its primeval forested grandeur.

After a quarter-mile, the trail crosses Gunter Fork and later a small feeder stream, at which point the grade stiffens perceptibly. The trail continues its stream-side course for another half-mile before approaching Gunter Fork a second time, angling away from the stream and onto an even steeper grade. Over this interval, the trail works its way along the flank of the Gunter Fork drainage, crossing Gunter Fork twice more before completing a sharp turn that brings it back to the stream just above an attractive pool, housing a 30-foot cascade down a near vertical rock slide.

Beyond the pool, the trail narrows to a smooth berm and proceeds on a leisurely stream-side course before approaching what appear to be two channels of Gunter Fork separated by a thirty-foot wedge of boulder-strewn ground. The trail crosses both channels, turns upstream, and proceeds to the base of Gunter Fork Cascade, a steeply pitched shield of bare rock that extends 150 feet upward from the edge of the trail. Thin sheets of water glide noiselessly down the face, forming a cascade that is remarkable both for its length and unconventional beauty.

At the fall’s base, the trail passes through a pool and proceeds to climb a switchback angling the trail away from the stream along a narrow berm affixed to the steeply sloped mountainside.

Continuing on, the trail follows the contours of the northern face of Balsam Mountain, where a ridge point affords glimpses of the high Smoky divide, Sevenmile Beech Ridge, and Mount Sterling Ridge.

At this juncture, the trail remains moderately steep as it edges onto a southerly course, climbing to the crest of Balsam Mountain, where it ends at an intersection with the Balsam Mountain Trail. As elevation is gained, the terrain becomes noticeably rocky, and there is little undergrowth except for thick beds of feathery sphagnum moss that cover the rocks.

This content was contributed by author Ken Wise. For a comprehensive hiking guide to the Great Smoky Mountains and to see more by Ken, click here.

Yellow birch, red maple, hemlock, black cherry, red spruce, Fraser fir, rhododendron, and dog-hobble are abundant along the trail.