Best Day Hikes in the Smokies (Alum Cave Trail to the LeConte Lodge)

[Music] Benny Braden here plugs in hikes and today we start out a new series day hikes of the Smoky Mountains National Park so we are out here at Allen cave there's going to be our first trail that we are going to be and I couldn't think of a better one to start out with alum cave will take you up to the most visited spot or the most coveted spot in the park the leconte lodge so we're going to try to probably end up going kind of fast on this trail because there's a ton of people here you can see the leaves are starting to change colors and that draws in the masses the park is definitely living up to its name or his title as the most visited Park in the nation so we have roughly five point one miles up to the lodge you can see here's the trailhead and here we go this is a great trail that it starts off with a lot of diversity get some hardwoods and hemlocks beautiful screen absolutely beautiful from this point up to alum cave is going to be very congested a lot of tourists come up to that point some of Mexico past that but for the most part most of them will stop at the cave thinking that is the final destination it's not well you can see we're still here on Allen Kate just come to cross one of the foot bridges leading up in this point roughly about a mile back to the parking lot give or take a little bit but definitely on this bottom stretch you see a lot more foot traffic it's a beautiful trail probably one of the clouds i guessing the flagship trail of the Smokies a lot of people come here to hike it Scott incredible views that you're about to see and some unique features pretty diverse and pretty freakin awesome here is one of the foot bridges actually foot logs here on alum cave the Smokies has bought a few of these probably 3040 probably even more scattered throughout the park not every water crossing has one better be mighty nice if they did okay you can say we've reached a little cut through the rock here like the tunnel this is very very very very popular with everyone so many people that little passageway is very narrow so I'm kind of giving these folks that come up they're coming down shot and do he wants to photobomb let's see that's very I think we're gonna go ahead and push forward this is one of the coolest features here in the park so just up just a short distance from the little past Thursday of the tunnel you have another another foot logs these streams are a great source for water drinking water you can filter it if you want I mean the waters gonna stray off the mountain you can see we're still climbing climbing up you can see the leaves are changing just a little bit more up here the higher in elevation you get the more you'll see more color good morning how you doing good well you can see we've made it here to Inspiration Point just a really cool opening clearing with little rock outcrop look at that be right there just absolutely love this show you another spot up here the cartridge and way out there you can see the very edge of the chimney tops this little cool spot this is uh almost 2 miles in basically we're almost alum cave get that speed right here how incredible is that wow that's beautiful well you know you're getting close to Ellen cave when you start coming up on all these steps you'll have a few spots for your house and good locations for some pretty decent views [Applause] beautiful day today we have some temperatures there down in the 60s be around 50 and 40 down in on top of the mountain looking forward to getting up there once we get to own cave which is just around the corner here we will basically be at the halfway point so we're making really good time as usual coming up here but for the average hiker you know expect to you know make several stops and take some breaks if you're not used to the elevation climb which is about 2,500 feet from the base to the top within five miles 5.1 miles then it can be kind of straining sometimes and this is a location over gets very busy and very noisy this okay okay you can see we've made it up a little bit further up here on Allen you can see the chimney tops right in front of me they appear to be recovering quite well you can see a lot of green on there so maybe one of these days folks would be allowed to go back on top of chimneys I doubt it but but we're still climbing alum this is cool a section here that they've carved out some steps and this stone once again you have a cable here in case you need it me and ooh he's been catching up a little bit we used to hike together a whole lot and kind of catching up I haven't got the hawk together in the while and it's been pretty awesome hike good to be on the trail with them again there's no little cool part on the trail usually in the wintertime it's iced over you need your micro spikes if you're gonna attempt this in the winter time we're actually getting to part of a trail that ices up a lot that just being one of the locations okay we're still pushing up the mountain and you guessed it come to some more steps this is part of the renovation that the park did on this trail quite a few years ago and I guess the solution is steps okay up here about a mile and a quarter from the parking lot you'll get to these stairs these are the 180 stairs once you pass the 180 stairs you can feel the temperature is just a little bit on the cooler side you're starting to climb the elevation for be good no other time this little section here is usually iced over about six to eight inches of ice just because the natural wet Springs that flow out of the ground constantly like you know applying layers and layers of ice on top of one another so if you're doing this drill in the wintertime make sure you bring micro spikes they will be very useful this is another section the trail that will ice up really bad in the winter time definitely need your micro spikes for this little piece but definitely getting closer to the top probably miss area falling up is my favorite part of this trail you have some openings where you can just see some unbelievable views they're just beautiful parks a little bit humid humid but that view rot straight ahead that mountain those claimants down that is the tallest peak in the park so that's cool it also is a toast peak on the whole Appalachian Trail which is cool and there's my boy Dewey just taking a break on the edge of a slide that's all just hanging like literally look at this this is absolutely beautiful Wow amazing alright you can see we're still continuing that Balam got these cool little cables and now boats for those that feel like they need some assistance but it's really not that bad of a drop-off here it just looks that way but if you look straight up on the heal up on the mountain that is the edge of cliff tops we will be going through that spot shortly before we leave the mountain but as far as this trail goes this little spot right here is probably my favorite section of the whole trail these are a lot cooler in temperature okay we finally made it to really the end of our climb I believe some folks call this shangri-la not really sure it's really nice though I love it it's marvelous yeah you're done mister climb on alum cave once you get to this point and at this point just a short maybe point one point two mile out to Boulevard fail we'll be hanging a little right on the boulevard to go up to the lodge you'll also have access to Myrtle Point and the lodge and the shelter more importantly cliff tops if you take the left-hand turn at this intersection coming up I'll take you down Rainbow Falls trail down off of Cherokee Orchard Road okay we just come back from that direction that is alum cave I'm here at the intersection with Rainbow Falls and Boulevard you're trying to get up here quick enough to catch the llamas on Fridays they bring the llamas up which carries the supplies for the lodge once you get up here right in front of the logs you'll see a trail that says cliff tops walk two miles down will take you up to cliff tops you can continue straight to go to Myrtle Point and the shelter or go to the lodge see that will take you right over to the office yep while you're here at the logs it's open all right well you can see we've left the lodge now we kind of hung out for a while but time to get moving so we've decided to come up here to the clifftops take a few pictures videos definitely if you come up here to the lodge you have to go to cliff tops if you can't um it out where you can do a sunset bring you a headlamp you can go back down alum afterwards actually catch your sunset because it'll be dark by time you get to your vehicle definitely a must this trail is only about point two miles up so not too bad but got to be prepared because this spot here gets a ton of wind because it's facing the west side you can see over here you can see that is the kimi tops and if you come right up that does Clingmans Dome and I could carve the dome sticking up and way over here is Newfound Gap crosses and that is the North Carolina border one of my favorite parts of the park hands down I love this let's show you the main part of cliff top since you'll probably see in pictures a lot because here's coffee few people up here to view a sunset in the park well there you have it folks that's alum cave up to LeConte it's a probably one of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park's most popular hikes you know here check these trails out a lot of day hike trails you can do variant from glance skill level been a good hike today me and do he's had a blast love hiking with my brother he's uh but yeah we've had fun this is probably my top two maybe top three trail in the park and it's not so much as the trail as it is the destination for me I really love LeConte the lodge but it's a beautiful place to check out make sure you check out the lodge murder point and cliff tops those are must and if you want to do in camping snow at the shelter make sure you get to camp the permit alum cave is a pretty neat trail a trail that you know anybody can do I've seen people on oxygen hiking this trail I've seen three year old kids 4 year old kids 8 year old kids hiking this trail I mean it's it's one that anybody can do you just got take your time it's not super narrow the few places that it is a little narrow there's a cable there like able to help you in case you need it but don't think that you just have to have that if you like what you've seen make sure you hit the like button and don't forget to make a comment tell us what you think tell us what we could do better whatever any questions you know you know the whole routine please seat y'all watching y'all have a great day and God bless

Channel: The Real Benny Braden

Views: 92,463

Rating: 4.9857078 out of 5

Keywords: Great Smoky Mountains, Smokies, Day Hiking, Mount LeConte, LeConte Lodge, Alum Cave, Day Hike, Hiking, GSMNP, Tennessee, National Parks, Hiking Trails in National Parks, Hiking Trails in the Smokies, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Best Day Hikes in The Smokies, Hiking Trails, Best Hiking Trails, Visit Gatlinburg, Gatlinburg Vacation, Visit the Smokies, ultralight backpacking, zpacks

Id: piTbs37qzco

Length: 24min 22sec (1462 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 22 2018