by Danny Bernstein
I love the last hike of the Friends of the Smokies Trails Forever season. It attracts a group of people from far and wide eager to connect with each other one last time before the holiday season.
This time, we had Friends hikers who drove in from Nashville, Tenn. They came in the day before and stayed locally to participate in this hike. Several hikers from the Gatlinburg and Knoxville area came, including Missy Kane, host of the TV program Fit & Fun with Missy Kane, and Dana Soehn, CEO of Friends. Outreach coordinator Olivia Wright always attends the hikes. Amy Marshall, special events manager, and Jim Matheny, communications director, were also here.
(Staff note: See video recap of the hike with Missy Kane putting the spotlight on Danny Bernstein.)
I wonder what attracted all these folks. Was it the perfect weather, the promise of an easy hike, or the lunch spread afterwards?
Though the Smokies is an all-year round hiking park, the last hike of the program is scheduled for just before Thanksgiving. It’s meant not to be too challenging – in this case a 5.5-mile loop. Olivia circled us up for introductions and to remind us that there would be a potluck lunch at the Visitor Center in Bryson City after the hike. Yeah!
About 15 hikers met in the Deep Creek parking lot, a trailhead outside of Bryson City, N.C.
Hikers climbed up the Juney Whank Trail, short but steep, staying between me, the leader for this excursion, and Karen Schultz, the sweep. Juney Whank, according to the book, “Hiking Trails of the Smokies”, can refer to either the warrior, Chief Junaluska, or “a place where the bear passes.” Historians still disagree over this bit of mountain and Cherokee history. We did not see any bears.
The waterfall, Juney Whank, is two tiers with a combined length of 90 feet.
We crossed the long and sturdy bridge which spans the waterfall where Jim Matheny took the obligatory group photo. This is when I discovered that Jim was carrying tons of photographic equipment on the hike, including a tripod. The rest of us, needless to say, made do with our phones.
We then started down the trail to meet Deep Creek Trail. This is a wide and flat throughfare, which attracts many casual hikers. But not this Wednesday morning. We seemed to have the trail to ourselves.
We are in Horace Kephart country, a writer and former librarian, who was a strong park advocate. Kephart moved to Western North Carolina in 1904 from the Midwest. He spent time in a cabin in the woods but also lived in Bryson City. His most famous book is “Our Southern Highlanders”, a book still highly recommended. Kephart is buried in the Bryson City Cemetery.
Tom Branch Falls, a tall, narrow fall on Deep Creek Trail, is the easiest falls to reach. At this point, we had walked less than a mile and had admired two waterfalls. We got our hiking rewards early.
The loop continued quite flat, crossing Deep Creek again. This was the upper end of the tubing area. No one was tubing on this November day, but it never hurts to have a reason to come back to the area.
We continued up Deep Creek Trail. At an intersection, we turned right to stay on the Loop Trail while the Deep Creek Trail went straight up.
Then conversation slowly petered out as the climb started. The trail was in fine condition, but it was still a challenging uphill. At the end of the climb, the Sunkota Ridge Trail starts on the left. We took a long snack break and rested. Then the loop trail continued down, down, down to Indian Creek Trail.
We waited at the trail intersection to go down to Indian Creek Falls. This fall is a few feet off the main trail and should not be missed. We continued the loop back to the Deep Creek Trail which would take us back to the parking lot.
Usually by this time on most hikes, people go at their own pace and leave when they reach their cars. But this time, everyone was reminded to stop at the Bryson City Visitor Center and Smokies Life store (both in one building) for our potluck lunch. Some grabbed a cup of coffee and a cookie and quickly got on the road. But most of us stayed for the wonderful spread and a chance to exchange information and wish each other a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I will be back in the park very soon. The Friends of the Smokies Trails Forever Hikes program resumes in March. See you on the trail in 2026.
