Rocky Top: Home Sweet Home
Updated: Dec 10, 2022
Hike Stats
Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Distance: 17 miles (if you do the “lollipop” route - it’s about 14 miles RT as an out-and-back)
Elevation Gain: 3700 feet
Date Hiked: May 2020
Getting Here
There are two main trailheads that people use to reach Rocky Top: the Anthony Creek TH and the Lead Cove TH which offer different approaches to the AT connector. I started from Anthony Creek which can be found at the back of the Cades Cove Picnic Area. If wanting to start at Lead Cove, a small parking area can be found along Laurel Creek Road, not far from the entrance to Cades Cove.
The Hike
In East Tennessee, there’s a song that’s so well-known that everyone immediately recognizes it from the very first note. Rocky Top, a song that celebrates moonshine, clean mountain air, and avoiding cramped up city life, is the University of Tennessee’s unofficial fight song and an Appalachian cultural treasure. But for those of us who enjoy hiking the rolling mountains of Appalachia, Rocky Top is the name of a mountain peak snuggled within the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the classic hikes of the Smokies.
After having been stuck inside during the early months of the pandemic, I decided to take a day trip up to the Smokies to celebrate my medical school graduation as a consolation for having had to cancel my much anticipated 6 week Euro trip (I’m still bitter about it). There are a few ways to hike to the summit of Rocky Top, but I chose to start at the Anthony Creek Trailhead near Cades Cove. The trail starts off along a wooded trail next to Anthony Creek before starting a fairly gentle climb up the mountain. Watch your step as this trail is shared with horses.
After about 3.5 miles, I reached the junction with the Bote Mountain Trail which is where the real climbing began. The climb never got too steep but it certainly never let up and by the time I reached the junction with the Appalachian Trail, I was huffing and puffing. The Bote Mountain Trail section had some interesting features, including a section of sunken trail lined with a canopy of rhododendron branches.
This was likely a remnant of the livestock that were once led up to Spence Field, back in the days when this area was “home sweet home” to various families. Spence Field was once a bald that has since been taken over by trees but still has a beautiful display of lush green grasses.
Once past the former bald, the views began to open up and I got a few glimpses of Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain up ahead as well as views of the rolling hills behind.
Once atop Rocky Top — which was in fact rocky —, the views became even more expansive and naturally prompted a quick play of its namesake song.
After hanging out at the peak for a bit, I made my way back towards the Bote Mountain Trail junction but decided to keep heading south on the AT before turning right onto the Russell Cove Trail in order to turn the hike into a “lollipop” instead of an out-and-back.
Wasn’t too much to see other than a clearing where the Russell Cove family kept a small farm, but I did run into some wild hogs which definitely got the adrenaline going! Hogs have been a problem at GSMNP as they often tear up the ground and can be quite aggressive. These hogs appeared to be a family unit with two adults and a baby and thankfully they quickly scattered once they noticed me. I was able to catch a quick video:
After a seemingly endless time hobbling along the Russell Cove and Anthony Creek Trails — thanks blisters — I finally made it back to the car, happy to have finally gotten to get back out into my favorite mountains. While this hike is strenuous, there are no technical sections and can be completed by most reasonably fit hikers. Due to its more difficult nature, it is easy to find solitude along the trail, even despite being within the most visited national park in the US.
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