Parking
Use Lakeview Drive's terminus access. Walk 3.1 miles on Lakeshore Trail, then 0.4 mile on Forney Creek Trail to Bear Creek's lower junction; Bear Creek itself has no road-accessible trailhead.
Overview
About Bear Creek Trail
Why go
- A long ridge traverse climbs from Forney Creek into Northshore backcountry.
Heads up
- The 5.9-mile route is one way and ends at a backcountry junction.
- Reaching it from Lakeview Drive adds 3.5 miles on other trails.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation1,926–4,810 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
7 active Great Smoky Mountains alerts
- ClosureHurricane Helene backcountry trail closures and hazardsHurricane Helene damage has closed backcountry trails and left hazardous crossings; avoid closed routes and heed trail-specific restrictions.Official details
- CautionBear-related trail, road, shelter, and campsite restrictionsBear activity has closed trails, a shelter, and campsites and restricted pedestrian access on Cherokee Orchard Road; follow the vehicle restrictions and avoid closed areas.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Your drive to Bear Creek Trail, narrated.
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 area
Lakeview Drive Tunnel0:00 / 0:37
“You're nearing Lakeview Drive Tunnel, where the Road to Nowhere ends for cars and continues on foot. The twelve-hundred-foot passage is unlit, so take a flashlight or use your phone light.”
Plays on the road 1.9 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Noland Creek Trailhead
- Room for the Next Rain
- Fontana's Wartime Power
- Flowers Across the Lake
- 188 audio storiesacross Great Smoky Mountains’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, Bald Eagle, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 197 trails, 100 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Bear Creek Trail
A backcountry traverseBear Creek Trail is a 5.
Bear Creek Trail is a 5.9-mile one-way route from the Forney Creek junction to the Welch Ridge and Cold Spring Gap junction. It climbs out of the Fontana-side Northshore into remote ridge country. This is a connection between backcountry routes, not a loop or a road-side hike.
The approach and exitFrom Lakeview Drive's terminus, reach Bear Creek by following Lakeshore Trail for 3.
From Lakeview Drive's terminus, reach Bear Creek by following Lakeshore Trail for 3.1 miles, then Forney Creek Trail for 0.4 mile. That 3.5-mile approach is outside Bear Creek's 5.9-mile distance. Neither end is at a road, so plan an onward route or return before starting. Retracing the same way from Lakeview Drive would make the day about 18.8 miles. Dogs are allowed on only two other trails in the park, so leave them off this one; horses are permitted.
From old grade to ridgeThe first mile follows a broad old grade.
The first mile follows a broad old grade. Beyond Poplar Flats and campsite 75, the tread gets rougher and much steeper as it follows Jumpup Ridge toward Welch Ridge. The trail climbs about 2,900 feet from the lower junction to the upper one. Allow around five hours for Bear Creek itself; that estimate excludes the approach and your exit or return. Hikers share the corridor with horses.
Bear Creek Falls is not a side trailThe falls are mostly screened by trees, and there is no formal path down to them.
The falls are mostly screened by trees, and there is no formal path down to them. If you hear the water, stay on the trail rather than trying to reach it off tread. High Rocks is beyond the Welch Ridge and Cold Spring Gap junction on a separate continuation; its views are not part of this 5.9-mile segment.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Smoky Mountains
1,566 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
899 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.
