Porter Creek Trail to Fern Branch Falls (click to enlarge)

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See the Greenbrier Region web page for an interactive location map.

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Length: 4.5 mile, round trip
Time: 3 hours, including time to see the many historical points of interest
Difficulty: Easy with a few moderate hills to climb.

Porters Creek Trail is a 3.7-mile out-and-back trail that ends at Backcountry Campsite 31 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, my goal was not to hike the trail to the end but to find a number of historical structures, a cemetery, and a waterfall. You can’t beat this hike for diversity, and all points of interest are within two miles from the start, though side trips to the sites add some mileage. The overall hike ends up being roughly 4.5 miles long.

To get to the trailhead, take Greenbrier Road to the end and you will find a small parking lot for hikers. (When returning, the road forms a loop called the Porters Creek Scenic Loop). A trail sign gives distances to various destinations.

Start of the Porters Creek Trail

For the first mile the trail is an old gravel road, open to both hikers and horses. The trail follows its namesake, Porters Creek, and after starting out on a short but steep climb it tapers off to a mild ascent as it rises above the creek. The uphill hike lasts about a half mile, then abruptly levels out. Any further inclines are almost negligible. For well over the next mile the trail remains this way, maybe with a small hill here and there.

Typical terrain of the first mile of the Porters Creek Trail

As soon as you come to the level area, be on the lookout to your right for a number of stone walls, remnants of the Elbert Cantrell homestead. A stone staircases takes you up to the Cantrell property where you will find walls zigzagging all over the hillside. I did not find any ruins of buildings or other structures.

Stone walls zigzag the area

Stone staircase leads to a former homestead

Just a tenth of a mile past a second group of stone walls is another staircase, this one leading to an old cemetery. This is referred to as the John Ownby Cemetery, though people from various families are buried here. All lived in the area. The cemetery has a mixture of well kept tombstones and those on which the inscriptions have long since disappeared.

Grave of infant Mary Whaley

Grave of Confederate soldier David Proffitt

The next point of interest comes at the intersection with the Brushy Mountain Trail just a few minute’s walk past the Ownby Cemetery. The only confusing part of the hike occurs here because the layout of the trails is not clear. The trail splits with no indication as to which way to go, and as it turns out, this is the start of a small loop trail, very similar to a roundabout on a road. The best way to describe it is to use a clock analogy. The unmarked split is at the 6 o’clock position, and you can go clockwise or counterclockwise. Porters Creek splits off of the loop at the 11 o’clock position, while Brushy Mountain splits off at the 1 o’clock position. If you come to the wrong trail just keep walking around the loop. The two trails are within eye sight of each other, and signs do mark the actual splits from the loop so you will know what trail you are about to continue on. I have included a crude diagram to help explain the layout.

Porter Creek – Brushy Mountain intersection

Anyway, the points of interest at this junction are the John Messer Barn (circa 1875) and the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club Cabin that was built in the mid-1930s. Both are open, though there are no furnishings inside other than a few of the original bunks built into the walls of the cabin. To reach them, take a right at the unmarked fork in the trail and look for the sign that reads “Historic Cabin 200 Yards.” The buildings are not on the Brushy Mountain Trail, but on their own short exhibit trail.

You will first come to the barn; the cabin is located behind it. If you continue to explore further behind the cabin you will find an old outhouse and a spring house. Spring houses were used to keep food cool. The building was constructed over a fresh water spring, and the cold water helped keep perishables from spoiling faster than normal.

John Messer barn built around 1875

Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin

When done, return back to the main trail and keep straight. This is a shortcut through the loop that leads directly to the Porters Creek Trail. You could have turned right as well, but then you would have to pass by the Brushy Mountain Trail and continue around the loop to Porters Creek. Regardless of which way you go, get on Porters Creek Trail to hike to the next point of interest, Fern Branch Falls one mile ahead.

At this point the gravel road ends and the trail becomes a traditional hiking trail. Horses are not allowed on this portion, but they can continue down the Brushy Mountain Trail. The trail starts off on a very mild incline and remains uphill for most of the way to the waterfall. It also becomes extremely rough, with plenty of rocks and roots. They won’t slow you down much at first, but it gets much worse farther along the trail.

Rocky and rooty terrain of the second mile of the Porter Creek Trail

In a half mile the trail crosses Porters Creek by way of what I call an “Indiana Jones” bridge. These are single logs with a railing, and if you were trying to escape from the bad guys in a movie, they would be at one end rocking the log in order to send you to the bottom of the chasm. This is one of the more exciting crossings I have done because the water is really rushing under the bridge and it is easy to get dizzy if you look down, especially if you are trying to take a photo from the middle of the bridge and cannot hold on to the railing. This is not a crossing for those afraid of heights.

Bridge over Porters Creek

Porters Creek

Once across the bridge the rocky terrain becomes so rough that it actually impedes your progress, plus the trail becomes a little steeper, veering from a mild climb into one of moderate difficulty. This lasts for the remaining half mile to the waterfall.

Fern Branch Falls is quite a ways back into the forest, and it’s easy to walk right past it if you aren’t paying attention. When you come to a creek crossing marked by a tree that has fallen across the path to form an arch, take a look to your right and you will see the waterfall, which is really more like a giant cascade. It does not make for the best photo because it is too far away and spread too thin. I suppose you could hike through the brush to get a closer look, but I had no desire to do so.

Fern Branch Falls

Fern Branch Falls

Porters Creek Trail continues for another 1.5 miles, but my hike ends here at Fern Branch Falls. With all of the sights to see along the way, it took me two hours to hike to this point, but the return hike only took an hour. It’s slow going back to the Indiana Jones bridge, but once past this you can pick up the pace quite a lot. With a mixture of history and scenic beauty, the Porters Creek Trail is one of the more interesting day-hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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