Twentymile - Gregory Bald - Wolf Ridge Loop

Hike Name: Twentymile - Gregory Bald - Wolf Ridge Loop Location: west NC Length: 16 Submitted by: Kristin Date Submitted: 9/2/08 Rating:	more North Carolina trail reviews North Carolina national parks North Carolina state parks
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Description
Several books describe all or part of this loop as it is one of the more famous in the Great Smoky Mountains park. The trails included are Twentymile, Long Hungry Ridge, Gregory Ridge, and Wolf Ridge.

The trail begins at the Twentymile Ranger Station, and forks about .5 miles into the hike. We took the right fork up the Twentymile Trail toward the Long Hungry Ridge Trail, stopped at the Twentymile Cascades for a moment, and hiked up to backcountry campsite #92 (about 2.5 miles into the hike, I believe). The backcountry campsites are described as having water, which means that they are located next to a creek and you'll need to filter the water, not that there is drinkable water available.

The next day we hiked up the Long Hungry Ridge Trail to Gregory Bald. The hike up was fairly strenuous in the heat and humidity with a full pack - it just keeps going up, but isn't too bad. As you approach something that looks like the top, you get to a small, level clearing that is a good spot for a little sit-down. The trail levels out from here for a while and then meets up with the Gregory Ridge Trail, which takes you up to the Bald in another 1.7 miles or so.

The bald is a great place for lunch and a longer rest and has nice views off the north and south sides; although was not quite as 'mountainy' as I had expected. I did find a couple rocks up there, but it was mostly just field. There are some nice trees to rest under, though... and blueberries. I guess that's why it's called "Gregory Bald" and not "Gregory Peak".

Continue traveling west across the bald and start heading down through some brush until you come to backcountry campsite 13 (this one requires reservations). The Wolf Ridge Trail meets up with the Gregory Ridge Trail here, which we took all the way down to campsite #95.

It's a good way down before you get to the campsite. You know you're starting to get close when you can hear Wolf Creek. The last major switchback of the trail before campsite 95 runs parallel to the creek. As it makes a hairpin turn, you continue straight up a small path to the campsite. This makes for a long day if you enjoy that sort of thing (about 11 miles), otherwise you might want to stop at 13 instead and do Wolf Ridge the following day.

The next morning we hiked the last 2.5 miles down the Wolf Ridge Trail back to the Twentymile trail and out.

I think I enjoyed the Wolf Ridge Trail the most. The trail crosses the creek several times via footbridges that look like they were put up in the last year or so.

Directions to Hike
We came up from the south taking interstate 85N out of Atlanta to 441N/23N to 28N. You just keep going on 28 a few miles past Fontana until you see a small wooden sign on the right pointing to the Twentymile Ranger Station. Parking is available near the ranger station.

Contact Information
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/
(865) 436-1200

Park entrance, parking, and camp reservations/registrations are free.

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