Lower Mount Cammerer via Low Gap Trail
In contrast to the short, rocky spur trail named Mount Cammerer that leads from the Appalachian Trail to the historic Cammerer fire tower, the Lower Mount Cammerer Trail bobs and weaves for nearly 7½ miles to a neighboring AT location. But you don’t need to hike nearly that far in order to reach an impressive lookout and other appealing natural features. It’s an especially enjoyable hike in autumn.
The name Cammerer is attached to trails, the tower and to Mount Cammerer itself in order to honor the efforts of Arno Cammerer, Depression-era National Park Service director, in helping to make Great Smoky Mountains National Park a reality. Before becoming NPS director, his friendship with John D. Rockefeller Jr. led to Rockefeller’s gift of $5 million from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial that was vital to establishing the park. The place name Cammerer superseded a collection of names commonly used for the craggy mountain, including White Rock, Sharp Top and Old Mother.
You reach the meandering Lower Mount Cammerer Trail by walking 0.4 mile on the Low Gap Trail, which begins at the upper end of the parking lot near Cosby picnic ground. (Ample day-use parking is available.) Soon after its start, Lower Mount Cammerer Trail narrows before crossing Toms Creek on a foot log.
Upon clearing the creek, the path follows a dry ridge that gently ascends to a short side trail leading to Sutton Ridge Overlook. There’s a hitching rack here because the steep spur to the lookout isn’t suitable for horse traffic. The views looking east from the lookout are outstanding, with 5,940-foot-high Inadu Knob especially prominent.
Lower Mount Cammerer via Low Gap Trail
Back on the main trail, you resume hiking on a mostly gentle grade, which takes you in and out of several draws and coves over the next six miles or so despite a net elevation gain of barely 1,000 feet. From the Sutton Ridge spur, however, the trail drops rather sharply before climbing another dry ridge that offers fine views to the west.
In a couple of more miles, you reach Gilliland Creek backcountry campsite, a camp that consists of a lower site for those on foot and an upper site for those on horseback. If you’re seeking a lunch spot, you might wish to choose the lower area, wedged between a ridge and Gilliland Fork (not Creek).
As you proceed toward a junction with the Appalachian Trail, you traverse a series of ridges: Leadmine, Rowdy and Groundhog. Even so, there’s only one significant ascent.
After a stretch of relatively easy hiking, you reach the junction with the Appalachian Trail, about one mile above the AT’s junction with the Chestnut Branch Trail—a path that originates near Big Creek on the North Carolina side. It’s a good place for a rest stop, though it can be busy during the spring AT “thru-hiker” season. Turning right, or south, from here takes you to the much shorter Mount Cammerer Trail leading to the fire tower perched on a rocky precipice high above I-40 and the Pigeon River Gorge.
Hiking the entire length of Lower Mount Cammerer Trail out and back requires a full day for most hikers because the total round-trip distance approaches 15 miles. But shorter outings to Sutton Ridge Overlook or Gilliland Creek camp also offer pleasant, rewarding trips most any time of year.
About the author: Ben Anderson is author of Smokies Chronicle: A Year of Hiking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (blairpub.com).