Sight · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A short wooded walk to Sugarlands' last standing home.
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
Sugarlands Visitor Center“You're coming up on Sugarlands Visitor Center, a useful stop if you want help choosing a walk that fits your day.”
Plays as you drive up to John Ownby Cabin 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 Ownby Cabin is a small, single-story log home in the Sugarlands. Reach it on Fighting Creek Nature Trail, which starts behind Sugarlands Visitor Center; the cabin is 1.4 miles round trip from there. This is a short history stop with a wooded walk built into the visit. The route may be muddy and has some steeper sections, and the cabin is not ADA accessible.
The walls are hand-hewn white pine and tulip poplar, fitted together at the corners with dovetail notches. Split-oak shingles cover the roof, and the chimney combines locally gathered rock with clay mortar. Pause at the corners to see how the logs interlock.
Built in the 1860s, the cabin is the last standing home from the former Sugarlands community. Its modest size makes that history tangible: a single surviving home set in a valley that once held a community. From the clearing, include the surrounding trees in a wide photo; they show the cabin in its Sugarlands setting.
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
EasyBig White Oak Quiet Walkway0.7 mi · 30 min · 0.4 mi awayA quiet woods loop with four creek crossings and a long footbridge.EasyFighting Creek Nature Trail1 mi · 30 min · 0.4 mi awayA short creek loop passes an 1860s mountain cabin.
ChallengingCove Mountain Trail17 mi · 10.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayA long wooded ascent ends at the summit’s closed fire tower.
EasyGatlinburg Trail4 mi · 1.8 hr · 0.5 mi awayA gentle river walk where dogs and bikes are allowed.
EasyCataract Falls Trail1.1 mi · 45 min · 0.5 mi awayA quick creekside walk leads to a narrow, 40-foot waterfall.
ModerateOld Sugarlands Trail7.7 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.6 mi awayFollow an old road past CCC ruins and a pioneer cemetery.
EasyHickory Flats Quiet Walkway0.8 mi · 36 min · 0.8 mi awayA cemetery loop and an old roadbed toward Hickory Flats Branch.
EasySugarlands Valley Nature Trail0.5 mi · 15 min · 0.9 mi awayA flat forest loop with chimneys, streamside views, and an easy pace.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayCataract FallsA small waterfall after a short creekside walk from Sugarlands.
Visitor center · 0.5 mi awaySugarlands Visitor CenterGet your bearings with a bear exhibit, ranger advice, and trail map.
Sight · 0.9 mi awaySugarlands Riding StablesGuided rides on wooded trails, streams, and mountain terrain.
Scenic pullout · 1.8 mi awayMaloney PointA quick Little River Road stop for layered ridges and spring trillium.
Scenic pullout · 2.1 mi awayGatlinburg Scenic OverlookGatlinburg below, Le Conte and the Smokies behind it.
Scenic pullout · 2.2 mi awayCarlos Campbell OverlookA quick ridge view with a visible story of forest recovery.
Picnic area · 2.4 mi awayTwin Creeks Picnic PavilionA wooded group pavilion for gatherings of up to 150.
Sight · 2.7 mi awayLaurel FallsA two-tier waterfall rewards a popular 2.6-mile forest walk.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.
