Palmer Chapel Cemetery in the Cataloochee region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Palmer Chapel Cemetery is located on a mountain across the street from the Palmer Chapel Methodist Church. For a location map, visit the Cataloochee Historical Area web page.

Palmer Chapel members must really have wanted to be buried closer to heaven because the path to the cemetery is without a doubt one of the steepest trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I wouldn’t carry my own mother’s coffin to the top. The morticians most certainly picked up more business due to pall bearer heart attacks on the way up and falls resulting in broken necks on the way down.

The path to the cemetery is made of a clay-like surface, and in the morning when it is still covered in dew, it is as slick as ice. I had one slip and one fall on the way down. I can’t stress enough the value of hiking poles for a trip to this cemetery. I normally hike with them, but not this time. After all, it’s just a trip to a cemetery! Even when you get to the burying ground it’s not like the area is flat. All of the graves are still on a hill. I suppose the worst sinners were buried at the highest point since nobody would want to visit them anyway.

Palmer Chapel Cemetery in the Cataloochee region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

While some of the tombstones have been kept up over the years—some even replaced with new ones—most of the stones are unmarked due to the inscriptions having worn off long ago. The following are some of the still legible tombstones.

Grave of Levi B. Colwell (10/14/1815 to 11/4/1864) in the Palmer Chapel Cemetery, Great Smoky Mountains National Park