Hiking/Camping in Panthertown Valley

On Saturday we'll meet at the west entrance to the valley and take a short hike on the Panthertown Valley trail to a side trail that will take us to the overlook at Salt Rock. Next, we'll take the Wilderness Trail down to Wilderness Falls, then cut around to the Frolictown Falls.  Then it's on the Granny Burrell Trail  to cap off the waterfall viewing at the Granny Burrell Falls. All of these falls are supposed to be beautiful in their own way.

After that we will continue on Mac's Gap Trail to where it meets up with the Green Valley Trail. Panthertown Creek is very nearby. I think the hike described so far is a little over 3 miles. Day hikers could choose to turn back at this point, if desired. For those that want to stay, I think we will find a nice place to camp in this general area, not too far from the creek. After  we shed our camping items, we can do a side trip of about a mile and back via the Little Green Trail up to Green Valley Summit, which is supposed to be one of the nicest views in the Valley. This hike will be steeper than the hikes leading up to it, but should not be horribly bad, espcially with our heavier stuff back at camp.

Sunday morning, the group that wants to return can take the Green Valley Trail back up to the Panthertown Valley trail, back to the west trailhead, if they like. For those that want to stay another day, I figure we can continue on to Little Green Trail again (going beyond turn off for the summit) and end up at Schoolhouse Falls, one of the most popular in the area. Then, we can head up toward Devils Elbow, possibly visiting several other waterfalls, the most likely being Riding Ford Falls. We can camp some where in that area, and explore Devils Elbow more in depth, if desired. On Monday, we'll make our way back down to Panthertown Valley trail and head back west toward the trailhead. The hiking the 2nd and 3d day shouldn't be more than 5 miles each day, give or take.

As mentioned above, I've more or less picked places to camp both nights that would allow anyone to return back to the trailhead with only at most 4 or 5 miles of walking. That way, you're not committed to staying both (or any) nights if you don't want to.

Notes: This area has lots of trails, many of which are side trails and are not marked. Print out and bring your own map/compass: http://www.stayandplayinthesmokies.com/lib/file/manager/pdf-download-library/pvmap.pdf

Some great info on the various paths and areas in the valley we will be visiting: http://www.stayandplayinthesmokies.com/explore/places-of-interest/panthertown-valley/

There are bears in the valley so you need to come "bear-prepared". I do not belive there are any pulleys set up for us, so you need to make arrangements to get your food and smelly items hoisted in a safe spot. I will personally be trying out my new Ursack.

Being a National Forest, we can camp pretty much anywhere we like. Several of the trails have backcountry camping nearby,with fire-rings. I don't know if there will be fire rings specifically at the places where we will set up camp, so you should probably not plan on a fire for cooking. In fact, for bear-safety, it's probably better to not plan on cooking where we camp anyway.

Rain is not predicted now, but if lots of rain shows up in the forecast, I won't be there :) although others might still go. I plan on staying two nights.

This is my first visit to this location, although I have done lots of reading and planning using several maps. This area is called the "Yosemite of the East", not necessarily because of its size but because of all the diveristy it offers in such a relatively small area.  There will be swimming holes along the way, so bring shorts if you want a chilly dip!

Many people I've talked to return to Pathertown over and over. I'm looking very forward to visiting it for the first time!