The Grandstand of the Great Smoky Mountains
At one time there were 10, strategically scattered across the Great Smoky Mountains. Ten fire towers, all but one constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, manned by wardens during the spring and fall fire seasons to watch for wildfires in and around the Smokies.
Now all but four have been dismantled and removed, their utility in fire detection long since obsolete. Of these, three can still be climbed by hikers seeking to enjoy exceptional long-range vistas: Mount Cammerer, Mount Sterling and Shuckstack Mountain.
In this final installment of our three-part series, we travel to the Smokies’ far southwestern corner to explore Shuckstack. Although substantially lower in elevation, Shuckstack Fire Tower offers views that are just as stunning as those from Cammerer and Sterling. As with the hikes to the two other towers, the climb to Shuckstack is strenuous but richly rewarding.
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Shuckstack Mountain is a landmark in the southwestern pocket of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, doggedly looming about 2,300 feet above Fontana Lake. Built in the mid-1930s by the Public Works Administration instead of the CCC, its tower has clearly seen better days. But the steel structure, with its five landings and more than six dozen steps, can still be climbed by intrepid hikers seeking stunning 360-degree views of mountains inside and outside the park.
Although barely exceeding 4,000 feet elevation, the cone-shaped mountain has long had a reputation for providing one of the finest vantage points in the entire park. Half a mile lower in altitude than Clingmans Dome, the Smokies’ highest point, Shuckstack compensates for that deficiency by rising well above a relatively low-elevation neighborhood that includes the sprawling Fontana Lake, created by the damming of the Little Tennessee River during World War II. Thus, Shuckstack’s superb vistas are basically all about location. The aging fire tower gives a major boost to the long-range views. At the top of a stiff climb on the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail—soon after the trail crosses Fontana Dam—Shuckstack serves as a sort of welcome to the Smokies for AT “thru-hikers” heading north, since they can see much of the park, including the soaring Smokies crest, from the summit.
The formidable Shuckstack is attained via a nearly bone-dry section of the AT. It’s a destination that must be earned—there’s no easy way to the top of the mountain, whose profile from a distance supposedly resembles that of a towering stack of cornstalks. Veering to the left from a parking area slightly more than ½ mile past Fontana Dam, you’ll discover that this stretch of the AT wastes no time in beginning its ascent. But the trail is generally well graded with switchbacks and the path levels—even descends—in a few places. Its long-held reputation as an unrelenting killer hike may owe to a couple of factors: a stiff climb up Little Shuckstack, before a trail relocation bypassed Shuckstack’s 200-foot-lower little brother; and AT hikers who may have gotten a little too content enjoying modern-day comforts for a day or two in and around Fontana Village, a resort for the past 75 years. No doubt many thru-hikers would take issue with that latter thought, advanced by a day hiker they might dismiss as a tenderfoot with a relatively light daypack.
Soon after starting the section, you reach a rock outcrop that seems designed as a rest stop; there’s even a flat rock jutting horizontally above ground that provides a nice seat. It’s a good place to enjoy a snack and drink of water before the trail resumes its climb.
The Grandstand of the Great Smoky Mountains
A park ranger keeps lookout from the Shuckstack Fire Tower in this 1940 photo. NPS photo
You continue a steady ascent before the trail takes a hard left at a draw where the trail has been relocated, leading to a large slate outcrop yielding magnificent views of several mountain ranges to the south and southwest. But the hike redeems its reputation as a thigh burner shortly after the outcrop, climbing steeply for about 1/3 mile up Twentymile Ridge to a junction where the mighty AT falls off rather meekly to the left toward Sassafras Gap and a meeting with the Twentymile and Lost Cove trails. The latter path connects with Lakeshore Trail, thereby allowing the option of a long loop hike back to the parking area at the trailhead.
The side trail to Shuckstack’s smallish crown continues straight ahead, following a steep, rocky course for about 150 yards. Along with a rogue fire ring at the summit are a chimney and cistern, vestiges of a warden’s cabin that was removed in the 1980s. Just a few steps away is the 60-foot-high fire tower. After you reach the final landing, it’s a few more steps to the fire tower’s cab, where the warden once watched for fires. Unlike the steps and landings, the rotting floor doesn’t seem safe, despite the fact that plywood has been placed over the top of it. Not surprisingly, the cab also is quite musty. In contrast, a step between the final landing and the cab can provide a safe, comfortable spot where the air really is fresh and sweet.
Words fall woefully short in any attempt to describe the 360-degree views from here, especially on a good-visibility day. Suffice it to say that whoever first labeled Shuckstack ‘the grandstand of the Great Smokies’ was dead on target. Below to the south, you can easily see the 480-foot-tall Fontana Dam, along with much of the lake and its 238 miles of shoreline to the southeast. You also can see a small slice of another lake, Cheoah, to the southwest, along with Tennessee foothills in the far distance, thanks to a slight break in the mountains.
But the big attractions are the waves and waves of mountains inside and outside the park. The Smokies’ highest peak, Clingmans Dome, is clearly visible to the northeast. Prominent several miles closer is 5,500-foot-high Thunderhead, and closer still on the Smokies crest is Gregory Bald, at just under 5,000 feet elevation. Almost due east, rising along Welch Ridge, is the nearly mile-high High Rocks, where another fire tower stood before its removal decades ago. Beyond the park, you can spot a number of mountain ranges, including the Unicoi, Snowbird, Yellow Creek, Nantahala and Cowee mountains. Atop the tower on a clear day, you might feel as if you own an embarrassment of panoramic riches. As with the other tower excursions, the hike to Shuckstack is challenging, but clearly worth the effort.