Curry Mountain Trail

Park at the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area, roughly 9.5 miles from Sugarlands Visitor Center. If you are coming from the Townsend "Y," the trailhead is about 8 miles up the Little River Road. Cross the Little River Road and hike 100 yards toward Sugarlands until you see the trailhead on your right. Your trail starts climbing immediately as it follows an old logging road up the sides of Curry He and Curry She Mountains. You'll pass through rhododendron groves as you parallel the road. The trail gets grassy and rocky until you enter a forest of eastern hemlock trees. Even though the forest is thick at this point, the trail opens up and wildflowers, specifically crested dwarf iris, line the trail. As you start to enter the hemlocks again, keep an eye open for piles of stone that indicate early settler homesites or fields. At about 1.9 miles, you'll cross Curry Gap between the two Curry mountains. After you pass through the gap, the trail climbs steeply for about 1/3 of a mile before it finally levels out. The grass on the trail changes into pine needles as you move through a pine forest. Downed trees in this area have opened up views of Sugarland Mountain and Mount LeConte to the east. The road in this area was used for a long time, and the original road bank can rise to about your shoulders due to erosion and poor drainage. As the trail reaches the junction with the Meigs Mountain Trail, the trail widens a bit. Once you've reached the trail junction, you can either return to your car or explore the area a little bit. If you turn left, you can head toward Element and Jakes Creek. If you turn right, there is a cemetery up the trail about 50 yards as the trail follows the Meigs Creek Trail as it leads to the Lumber Ridge Trail.