Picnic area · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Highest picnic area in the park, with the overlook close by.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Smoky Mountains audio tourRecorded for this place
Heintooga Picnic Area and Overlook“You're nearing Heintooga Picnic Area, the park's highest picnic ground at more than fifty-three hundred feet.”
Plays as you drive up to Heintooga Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
At 5,326 feet, Heintooga Picnic Area is a 41-site day-use stop in the forest at the end of the paved Heintooga Spur Road. It’s the highest picnic area in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Make it a meal break if you’re exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway; just don’t expect much privacy. Sites are spaced through the trees, but most tables are visible from nearby ones.
Each site has a table and charcoal grill, usually on a mostly level gravel pad. The forest mixes deciduous and evergreen trees, so the setting changes with the seasons.
For a mountain view, walk a short way down Flat Creek Trail to the separate Heintooga Overlook. It has two benches and a view across the Smokies. The overlook is a useful add-on after lunch, but the view is from that short trail walk, not from the picnic tables.
Wildlife
1,569 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
900 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
142 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
26 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
42 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Smoky Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyBalsam Mountain Nature Trail1.3 mi · 45 min · 0.5 mi awayA short nature walk through high-elevation campground woods.
ModerateHemphill Bald Trail9.4 mi · 6 hr · 1.2 mi awayA long out-and-back to a grassy bald with mountain views.
ModerateFlat Creek Trail5.2 mi · 3 hr · 1.6 mi awayCreek crossings lead through forest to a picnic-area finish.
ModerateSpruce Mountain Trail2.3 mi · 1.8 hr · 2.6 mi awayMoss, spruce and a backcountry campsite after a short climb.
ChallengingHemphill Bald Loop Trail13.6 mi · 8 hr · 3 mi awayLong loop to Hemphill Bald, back through old logging grades.
ChallengingEnloe Creek Trail5.4 mi · 5.5 hr · 3.5 mi awaySteel bridge and creek cascades reward a demanding backcountry traverse.
ChallengingHyatt Ridge Trail4.4 mi · 4 hr · 3.5 mi awayA steep forest climb ends at a remote backcountry camp.
ChallengingBeech Gap I Trail5 mi · 4 hr · 3.9 mi awayA five-mile climb to the Balsam Mountain Trail junction.
Campground · 0.6 mi awayBalsam Mountain CampgroundA cool, high-country stay at 5,310 feet.
Campground · 3.4 mi awayRound Bottom Horse CampFive horse-camp sites at the end of a 3.5-mile gravel approach.
Sight · 3.8 mi awaySteve Woody HouseA streamside walk ends at Cataloochee's historic farmstead.
Sight · 4.9 mi awayCaldwell PlaceOld newspaper still lines the walls of this mountain home.Parkwolf’s Great Smoky Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
