After reviewing my last few blogs, i realized that I have not written much about areas in the central United States. After I heard about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I realized that I had to look into it for backpacking. The first thing that I noticed about the park were the beautiful mountain landscapes and very interesting hiking trails. For people interested in backcountry backpacking, there are over 100 camping locations located throughout the park specifically for those interested in this type of experience. This Map gives a pretty good idea of the locations of the campgrounds and trails between them. One thing to note, there are a few that require reservations up to a month in advance which can be made by calling the Backcountry Reservation Office at (865) 436-1231.
An interesting hike that I found through backpacker.com is a moderate hike (about 9 miles) to rainbow falls and then to the top of Mt. LeConte. Rainbow falls is an 80 ft. waterfall, the tallest in this park, and is named for the rainbows it creates when the sun shines through the mist. The trail sounds like it is of moderate difficulty with a few boulders to climb through, but for the most part it does not seem too hard to navigate. I would definately consider taking this hike up to see one of the highest peaks in this park. I found a video that shows the top of the mountain and the lodge located there.
Rainbow Falls
I think that the Great Smoky Mountains look like a great place to go backpacking in some moderate difficulty mountains. This would be a great hike for someone that is not quite ready to embark up the Rocky Mountains, but would like to experience hiking a mountain. There are many featured trails that I did not even write about, but you can find all the info about them on the national park website. Enjoy!
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