Trail Map (click to enlarge)

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See the Noland Creek Region web page for an interactive location map.

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Length: 10.5 miles
Time: 6.5 hours
Difficulty: Easy to very strenuous, depending on the trail

My hike in the Nolan Creek Region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park was an 11-mile, double-loop consisting of a number of trails west of the Deep Creek Campground: the Lakeshore Trail, Whiteoak Branch Trail, Forney Creek Trail, Goldmine Loop Trail, and Tunnel Bypass Trail. The Goldmine Loop and Whiteoak Branch Trails are hiked in their entirety, while only parts of the other trails are included in this hike.

LAKESHORE TRAIL

The hike starts out on the Lakeshore Trail, which is reached by driving to the end of Lakeview Drive. The trail gets its name because it follows the shore of Fontana Lake from here all the way to the Fontana Dam (the trail is also part of the Benton-McKay Trail, a 300-mile long trail through the Appalachian Mountains). Unfortunately, the section included in this hike does not come anywhere near the lake. In fact, there’s nothing much of interest along its entire length.

The Lakeshore Trail starts off as a paved road and is really just a continuation of Lakeview Drive, but without vehicle access. A tunnel is within sight of the start.

Start of the Lakeshore Trail in the Nolan Creek region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

View from the tunnel at the start of the Lakeshore Trail in the Nolan Creek region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Lakeshore Tunnel is not that long and no flashlight is necessary to find your way through it. By the time light from one end fades you run into the light coming from the other end. The inside is covered with graffiti—I never realized that spray paint was standard hiking gear for many people—and the provided light is enough to read it.

The asphalt ends a half mile from the start, shortly after emerging from the tunnel, and the trail becomes a traditional, earthen hiking trail. At .6 mile into the hike is the intersection with one end of the Tunnel Bypass Trail. I’m not really sure why anyone would want to bypass the tunnel, especially since the bypass adds at lot of distance to the hike, but the option is here. Keep straight and in just a few more minutes you will come to the intersection with the Goldmine Loop Trail. My hike continues north on the Lakeshore Trail, but on the way back it takes the Goldmine Loop Trail starting at this point. Signs mark both the Tunnel Bypass and Goldmine Loop intersections, and at each you want to keep hiking on the Lakeshore Trail in the direction of the Whiteoak Branch Trail.

Up until this point the trail has been fairly wide and smooth, and other than a short initial hill, fairly level. The altitude graph on the above trail map makes it appear as if the trail is nothing but steep hills, but this is just because 12 miles of trail is scrunched into a graph that is a foot wide. Thus, the hills are really not that steep, at least up until this point.

The hills do get a little tougher just beyond the Goldmine Loop Trail intersection, but none of the climbs last very long. Though you are heading up and over a mountain, there is never a point where you start a long, continuous, uphill climb. Instead, it takes no more than a minute to reach the top of most hills before coming to a level stretch. Switchbacks take hikers up the steeper sections, and most climbs range from moderate to slightly harder, but never strenuous. The uphill climb comes to an end about one mile past the Goldmine Loop Trail intersection, and you now begin a long descent that continues all the way to the Forney Creek Trail.

Hike up a mountain on the Lakeshore Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

At two miles into the hike is the intersection with the Whiteoak Branch Trail. A sign marks the intersection. This is the start of one of two loops on the route. I stayed on the Lakeshore Trail towards the Forney Creek Trail, hiking the loop in a clockwise direction. I don’t think it makes much difference, difficulty-wise, which way you go.

After the asphalt ended back at the tunnel, the trail remained relatively smooth, free of rocks and roots, up until the start of the ascent a half mile earlier. At that point the rocks started becoming more profound, and this trend continues until after crossing a creek about a tenth of a mile past the Whiteoak Branch Trail. After this, the trail reverts back to a much smoother surface.

Just after crossing the creek the trail forks. Straight takes you down what appears to be an old dirt road, but no sign indicates to where it leads. I found out later that this leads to the Woody Cemetery, and had I known this I surely would have made a detour. According to an online map, it is a quarter mile to the cemetery.

To stay on the Lakeshore Trail, keep left and work your way around a curve—the trail and the old road have temporarily merged for this short stretch of the hike. As soon as you go around the curve and cross a bridge, the trail splits again and the road and Lakeshore Trail part ways. Follow the signs to stay on the trail.

Lakeshore Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park merges with a road near the Woody Cemetery, then splits from it after crossing a bridge

After a short climb the trail winds its way downhill, finally reaching bottom at Forney Creek about a mile after the intersection with the Whiteoak Branch Trail, 3.1 miles from the start of the hike. Just before the intersection is Backcountry Campsite 74, which sits in a level clearing next to the creek. Forney Creek eventually empties into a long, narrow finger of Fontana Lake a little farther south, but here the trail comes nowhere near the lake.

Backcountry Campsite 74 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

FORNEY CREEK TRAIL

Lakeshore Trail dead ends into the Forney Creek Trail. The directional sign indicates that taking a left leads to the campsite, while taking a right leads to Bear Creek Trail and Jonas Creek Trail. There is no mention of Whiteoak Branch Trail, but right is the correct way to turn.

The Forney Creek Trail starts off as a former road. I had ventured onto the trail farther north when searching for an old train wreck up by Clingmans Dome (never found it), and it had to have been one of the rockiest trails I had come upon, obviously not a road up there. However, down here it is a smooth trail with only occasional patches of small rocks.

The trail follows Forney Creek, but you don’t get many clear views of the water due to the vegetation—often rhododendrons—growing between the trail and the creek. If you want a photo, get one at the first opportunity, for the hike progresses up a gradual hill, and the farther you go the higher up above the creek you will get.

Forney Creek viewed from the Forney Creek Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

After .4 mile you will come to the Bear Creek Trail intersection. The trail sign still makes no mention of Whiteoak Branch Trail, but keep on hiking on the Forney Creek Trail. The trail continues to ascend, but as before, it is such a slight incline that you might as well be walking on flat ground.

If there is one thing to note about the Forney Creek Trail, it’s that there are some very muddy areas. Water from the mountains flows down towards the creek, often crossing the trail. To make matters worse, horses are allowed here, and as they tramp through the wet areas their weight churns up the earth and creates an even deeper mud hole. Be sure to wear some boots.

At 4.4 miles into the hike, about a mile past the Bear Creek Trail intersection, the road-like terrain ends and you are now back on a narrow foot path. It is also the start of a .2-mile strenuous uphill hike, and after that comes a series of ups and downs before reaching the Whiteoak Branch Trail. Other than this short, strenuous spike at the end, the Forney Creek Trail is easy hiking.

End of the road and start of traditional hiking along the Forney Creek Trail as it approaches the Whiteoak Branch Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

WHITEOAK BRANCH TRAIL

The intersection with the Whiteoak Branch Trail comes 1.2 miles from the start of the Forney Creek Trail; 4.6 miles from the start of the hike on the Lakeview Trail. The journey continues for another .2 mile up a moderately strenuous hill. In addition, a stream actually flows down the Whiteoak Branch Trail at the start, and it is quite muddy—not to mention rocky—making this stretch of the trail like walking on the bottom of an old creek bed. You can often walk around the mud holes by hugging the outer edges of the trail, but sometimes you have to plow right on through. With waterproof hiking boots on, it made no difference to me.

Rocks and mud along the northern end of the Whiteoak Branch Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

After the initial climb, the trail reverts to many short ups and downs for another half mile before finally topping out and becoming a pleasant walk. On the flat sections, the rocky terrain dissipates. You will find that the rocks are mainly present on the hills. Rain water has flowed down these hills for thousands of years and has washed away the topsoil and exposed the rocks. The soil is deposited on the level areas, thus keeping rocks there buried below the surface.

The trail gradually works its way downhill back to the intersection with the Lakeshore Trail where the loop comes to an end 6.5 miles into the hike. There’s nothing worth seeing on the entire length of the Whiteoak Trail, but at least it wasn’t particularly difficult to hike.

Typical terrain of the Whiteoak Branch Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

LAKESHORE TRAIL

This is the only section of the hike that is repeated, for the Lakeshore Trail connects the two loops together. The next turn will be onto the Goldmine Loop Trail at 7.9 miles into the hike.

GOLDMINE LOOP TRAIL

The Goldmine Loop Trail is, in comparison to the other trails on the hike, in a league of its own in regards to difficulty. The trail takes you steeply down into a valley until bottoming out at a finger-like cove of Fontana Lake, then climbs straight up and out of the valley. If you are not up for a strenuous hike after already traveling nearly 8 miles, you can skip this and return back to your car on the Lakeshore Trail, which would end the hike at around 8.5 miles. The Goldmine Loop adds another two miles.

The first tenth of a mile is as steep a downhill trail as I have run into in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but after that, while it continues downhill, it is not nearly as steep. Eventually the trail crosses and then follows Goldmine Branch (a small creek), and the steep grade gradually peters out. Once on more level ground you are treated to a pleasant hike through thickets of rhododendrons.

Rhododendron thicket on the Goldmine Loop Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

At the 8.75-mile mark is the intersection with a trail that leads to Backcountry Campsite 67. Turn right to stay on the Goldmine Loop Trail. A quarter mile later is the lake; a side trail takes you down to the shore. During my visit the lake had dried up considerably, allowing some man-made artifacts to resurface. I spent about fifteen minutes exploring the area.

Cove on Fontana Lake accessed via the Goldmine Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Stone wall at a cove of Fontana Lake that was exposed at low water levels, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Old sign rusts away by the shore of Fontana Lake in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

When done at the lake it is time to make the hike out of the valley and return to the parking lot. The first .3-mile past the lake continues to follow a creek, this time the Tunnel Branch. The incline is negligible along this stretch of the trail. However, the route eventually veers from the water, and at the 9.4-mile mark the entire trail seems to disappear. What happened is that it took an extremely sharp turn back to the left where it now forms a series of switchbacks up the steeper slope of the mountain. If you aren’t paying attention, you’ll keep walking straight until realizing that you are no longer on the trail. When I was trying to find where the trail went, I noticed an interesting structure farther ahead, off of the trail. This turned out to be a wild hog pen. Wild hogs are not native to the area, having been introduced by the mountain settlers. For every deer born, ten hogs are born, and they eat up just about everything, so the National Park Service has instigated a program of capturing them.

Hog pen in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Coming up out of this valley, I felt like the devil climbing up out of hell. Thank goodness for the switchbacks, for the hike is strenuous enough with them; I’d hate to hike up without the help. The hardest part lasts for about .2 mile, and the difficulty is compounded by the fact that I had already hiked nine miles at this point. If I had to do it all over, I would hike the Goldmine Loop first while I was fresh, then tackle the rest of the hike. Also, I’d rather be hiking up the hill on the other side of the lake instead of hiking up this one.

There’s not much you can do about the climb, so might as well quit complaining and get it done. There is one other very strenuous section that lasts about a tenth of a mile, but the rest of the climb ranges from moderate to moderately strenuous. It also follows a narrow ridge, so you must be careful not to step wrong and tumble down the hill.

After one mile of uphill climbing that started at the hog-pen switchbacks is the intersection with the Tunnel Bypass Trail.

TUNNEL BYPASS TRAIL

Things get a little confusing because at this point the Goldmine Loop Trail nomenclature ends and the trail name changes to the Tunnel Bypass Trail. Follow the path to the Lakeshore Drive, which is just .4 miles away.

Trail sign at the junction of the Tunnel Bypass Trail and the Goldmine Loop Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

As I mentioned earlier, why would anyone want to bypass the tunnel? Is there a high rate of tunnel-phobia? You can form a shorter loop by using the Tunnel Bypass Trail instead of hiking all the way around on the Goldmine Trail, but the only thing of interest in this area is the lake at the bottom of the valley, so there’s no point in making the effort if you aren’t going to hike to the lake. If the water level was up, you could even go swimming (with the level down you’d have to trudge through muck to get to the water).

Another question I had was, if the Tunnel Bypass Trail leads back to the parking area, where is the trailhead? The only trail I saw was the one that led through the tunnel. Well, as it turns out, the Tunnel Bypass Trail trailhead is located before coming to the parking lot. To find it you must park and then walk back down the road. It is a little hard to see because trees have grown up and partially blocked the view of it from the road, but the trailhead is located on the right when walking from the parking lot.

Anyway, the Tunnel Bypass Trail continues on the same terrain as the Goldmine Loop Trail, though in this case after a short climb you are actually traveling downhill to the parking lot, which is about half mile away.

Typical terrain of the Tunnel Bypass Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

CONCLUSION

It took me about 6.5 hours to hike the 10.5-mile double loop. There’s really not much worth seeing for the amount of time and effort put into this hike, though for those who just want some exercise or to spend time in nature, you could do worse. Only the Goldmine Loop Trail has strenuous sections, while the rest of the hike is easy to moderate. There are no views of mountains or any waterfalls here, but you do get to see Fontana Lake, and the hike along Forney Creek is pleasant. Other than that, this is just a hike in the woods.

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