Sight · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A rare cantilever barn, a mile up Porter’s Creek Trail.
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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
Porters Creek and Fern Branch Falls“You're nearing the Porters Creek trailhead, where an old farm road passes stone walls and Ownby Cemetery. For a shorter history walk, take the spur near the one-mile mark to the Messer barn, with its overhanging hayloft.”
Plays as you drive up to John Messer Barn in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
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“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
John Messer Barn is a historic double-cantilever barn in Greenbrier, reached by a short spur off Porter’s Creek Trail. It’s a worthwhile side trip if you’re interested in Appalachian farm history or timber construction, but it isn’t a roadside stop: the barn sits about a mile from the trailhead, making this roughly a two-mile out-and-back. At the small loop in the trail, keep right for the spur. The main trail is steep and rocky in places, and the barn path is narrow and uneven.
The barn is about 54 feet long, 34 feet wide and 26 feet high. Two corn cribs sit under a central runway, while the hayloft projects over them on both sides. That double-cantilever design is unusual in East Tennessee, and the barn is one of the Smokies’ strongest examples. From the front, frame the full width so the paired cribs and open center read clearly; then look up at the overhanging lofts.
Built around 1869 by Pinkney Whaley, the barn later passed to John Messer, his cousin’s husband. Its roof collapsed in a 2023 windstorm, and the barn was rebuilt in 2026 using traditional methods and some salvaged original material. Behind it, the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin stands on the site of the Messer family house, so take in the barn and cabin together as a small farmstead story.
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
ModeratePorters Creek Trail7.2 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.9 mi awayCreekside miles lead past old farms to Fern Branch Falls.
ChallengingBrushy Mountain Trail from Greenbrier11.7 mi · 9 hr · 0.9 mi awayA hard Greenbrier climb to two open summit views
ModerateGrapeyard Ridge Trail7.5 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayFive creek crossings and a rusting engine tucked in the woods.
ChallengingOld Settlers Trail15.8 mi · 10 hr · 1.8 mi awayA long traverse through stone walls, creek hollows and Smokies history.
ChallengingRamsey Cascades Trail8 mi · 6 hr · 2.5 mi awayFour miles uphill to the Smokies' tallest waterfall
EasyMyrtle Point Trail0.7 mi · 45 min · 3.1 mi awayA sunrise detour reached only after the climb to Mount Le Conte
ChallengingBrushy Mountain via Trillium Gap Trail6.8 mi · 4.5 hr · 3.6 mi awayA waterfall walk climbs to a heath bald with two views.
ChallengingTrillium Gap Trail to Mount Le Conte13 mi · 9 hr · 3.6 mi awayA long climb to Le Conte, with Grotto Falls along the way.
Sight · 0.7 mi awayFern Branch FallsWaterfall, old homesteads and spring flowers make the four miles count.
Picnic area · 1.9 mi awayGreenbrier Picnic AreaShady picnic tables and charcoal grills beside the Little Pigeon River.Sight · 3 mi awayMyrtle PointA serious hike earns one of Le Conte's best signed views.Sight · 3 mi awayGrotto FallsWalk behind a 25-foot waterfall on a shaded stream-crossing hike.
Lodging · 3.3 mi awayLeConte LodgeA historic hike-in lodge on Mount LeConte with family-style meals.
Sight · 3.4 mi awayCliff Tops ViewpointA wide LeConte panorama, best saved for sunset.
Sight · 3.6 mi awayCharlies BunionEight miles through forest to a raw, rocky mountain perch.
Sight · 3.7 mi awayThe JumpoffA rugged ridge walk ends at a cliff-edge panorama.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.
