Mt. LeConte via Alum Cave Trail

One of the most iconic mountains in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Mount LeConte. Famous for its LeConte Lodge at the top which gets its supplies from llamas (yes, llamas!), the mountain is also known for its expansive, ridge-filled views and gorgeous trails. There are five main trails that one can take to get up the mountain: Alum Cave, Rainbow Falls, Trillium Gap, Boulevard, and Bullhead. Side note: you can also take the Brushy Mountain Trail and connect to Trillium Gap to summit as well, but it is not considered one of the main summit trails. Today we are gonna talk about the most popular: Alum Cave.

Alum Cave to Mount LeConte is 11-13 miles round trip depending on which viewpoints you go to and has approximately 3000 feet of elevation gain. I did this trail in the winter after it had snowed and it was absolutely gorgeous and blessedly free of people.

The hike starts off by following a creek, with several bridge crossings along the way. I loved tramping through the snow during the beginning section and seeing the little piles of snow that covered the rocks jutting out of the water. I also encountered my first obstacle, which was a long stretch of trail that was completely ice covered. As I wasn’t yet aware that microspikes were a thing, I navigated it by tiptoeing on the few bare rocks that I found and sometimes just scooting along on my butt. I looked dumb but hey, it worked.

About 1.4 miles in, I came to this cool feature known as Arch Rock. The arch was formed by thousands of years of freeze-thaw cycles which caused the softer stone to erode away. The trail actually goes underneath the arch as steps etched into the stone which I thought was really unique.

About 0.5 miles after Arch Rock, I came to the aptly-named Inspiration Point, which offers beautiful views of the nearby ridges as well as a hole in one of the ridges called the “Eye of the Needle.” It was here that I ran into two of the three people I encountered, two locals about my age who were out for a weekend jaunt. We did the whole “you take my picture I’ll take yours thing” and then they were off back down the mountain, allowing me to have the trail to myself again.

Another 0.25 mile or so later, I arrived at the trail’s namesake, Alum Cave. It’s not really a cave but more of a rock overhang; it’s a great spot to hang out, have a snack, and enjoy the view. Because it was winter, I did have to be very very cognizant of what was probably the biggest danger on the trail: icicles. The rock overhang had MASSIVE icicles that were precariously hanging right over the trail, and would hit the ground with a giant crash after they fell. It was a good reminder that one of the biggest components of hiking safety is to be aware of one’s surroundings.

Having survived the crashing icicles, I made my way up what felt like the steepest section of the trail. I don’t think the grade was actually that steep, but having to trudge up the mountain in twelve inches of snow didn't make things easy for sure. But thankfully I was happily distracted by various ice formations such as (safer) icicles and needle ice.

This section of trail is also known for its exposure as it hugs the mountain side. There were several rock ledges that had cables to hold onto while I crossed. Thankfully their exposure to the sun had melted any ice, otherwise it probably would’ve been too dangerous to cross without spikes. The views from these ledges though were just incredible.

Not long after the rock ledges, the trail’s grade began to level out and I came to a trail junction with the Rainbow Falls trail. I turned right and hike through a beautiful and very lovely smelling spruce-fir forest until I came to the LeConte Lodge area. The lodge is closed in the winter, but in the summer it sells snacks, sandwiches, and other merchandise to hikers and makes for a great break after all that climbing.

I took a quick look around the lodge area, then made my way up a trail with a sign that said “Cliff Tops.” It’s a short spur trail up to an overlook, but let me tell you, hiking up it was a struggle with all the snow that had accumulated. At one point I was bear-crawling up trying to not slide. But once I emerged out of the woods and onto the rock ledge, I decided that the overlook was definitely worth the struggle! The view was “classic Smokies” with ridges upon ridges in different hues of blue and green as far as the eye could see.

I could’ve stayed for hours but I knew I was running out of daylight so I reluctantly turned around and started making my way back to the trailhead. In addition to Cliff Tops, there’s another incredible viewpoint on the top of the mountain called Myrtle Point that’s about 0.7 mile further down the trail from lodge. I didn’t have time to stop there on this hike, but I did make it there during the summer a few years later so here’s a picture to give you an idea of how gorgeous it is.

As Alum Cave is one of the most popular trails in the park, the key is to start before 7:30 am or to hike it in the winter. I chose the latter, which was wonderful because I only saw three people on the trail, but also kind of dumb because I was not as prepared as I should’ve been. I had stopped by the Smokies on my way back to my hometown of Chattanooga for winter break after finishing up a semester of medical school, and kind of chose this hike on a whim. It had recently snowed in the upper elevations and I ended up encountering more snow on the trail than I had expected. Looking back, I should’ve worn cold weather leggings or pants instead of yoga pants (which literally froze!), and I would’ve brought microspikes to better manage the icy sections. I also would’ve started earlier so that I wasn’t finishing the last hour of the hike in the dark. But you live and learn right?! I had a great time and it was an awesome adventure to finish out the year!