Albright Grove

Albright Grove is an old-growth cove hardwood forest in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, known for its towering trees and broad, buttressed trunks. It’s worth the effort if you want a real forest walk, but this isn’t a roadside stop: plan on nearly seven miles round trip.

Start at Maddron Bald Trailhead on Baxter Road. From Gatlinburg, the park’s directions take you east on US 321 for about 16 miles, then onto Baxter Road for about half a mile to the trailhead. Parking there is limited, and the grove itself is reached only on foot.

Hike 2.9 miles one way on Maddron Bald Trail to the 0.7-mile grove loop, which reconnects with the main trail. The full outing is about 6.5 miles round trip. The approach is steep, rough and narrow in places; the first stretch follows a wide gravel road beside a stream. Carry the food and water you’ll want for the whole hike rather than counting on services at the grove.

Tulip poplars, Fraser magnolias and hemlocks are among the trees that make this grove special. Some hemlocks and tulip poplars along the way are more than 200 years old, but the forest also has younger trees among the old giants. It’s the broad, varied stand that makes the place feel different from a single famous tree.

The grove is named for Horace Albright, the second director of the National Park Service and an advocate for creating the park. One large tulip poplar beside the loop was measured at 25 feet 3 inches around in a 2019 account; its crown had been damaged, possibly by lightning, and it had lost some height.

Take time with the wide bases and deep ridges on the oldest trunks, then look up through the layers of canopy. A path framed by the big trees gives a better sense of their scale than a tight bark close-up. Winter exposes the branching structure and can leave snow on the hemlocks; spring brings wildflowers along the walk.