Parking
Use the small hiker lot at the far end of Smokemont Campground’s D loop. A parking tag is required. A restroom is available in the campground.
Overview
About Cabin Flats Trail
Why go
- A long creekside walk to a quiet backcountry destination
- Spring wildflowers on the Cabin Flats climb
Heads up
- Four miles of Bradley Fork before the named spur begins
- The route is shared with horse traffic
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation2,293–3,350 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 Cabin Flats 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 trailhead
Smokemont and Chasteen Creek Cascade0:00 / 0:28
“You're nearing Smokemont, the starting point for the walk to Chasteen Creek Cascade. The creek slides over quartz-streaked sandstone in a broad, fifteen-foot cascade, a modest waterfall after a wooded creek walk.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Smokemont Baptist Church
- Smokemont Riding Stables
- Reading the White Blazes
- Collins Creek Picnic Area
- 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 Cabin Flats Trail
What the hike includesCabin Flats Trail is the last mile of a roughly 10-mile out-and-back from the hiker lot at…
Cabin Flats Trail is the last mile of a roughly 10-mile out-and-back from the hiker lot at Smokemont Campground’s D loop. The first four miles follow Bradley Fork Trail; Cabin Flats then climbs to backcountry campsite #49, and you return the same way. Allow about five to six hours. Come for a long creek walk through the forest, not a summit overlook.
Along Bradley ForkMost of the approach follows a wide old roadbed beside the creek, with a gentle climb.
Most of the approach follows a wide old roadbed beside the creek, with a gentle climb. Horses use this trail too, and the creek crossings are bridged. At about four miles, leave Bradley Fork for Cabin Flats.
The Cabin Flats climbThe named spur starts beside the creek on old roadbed, crosses Bradley Fork on an old trestle…
The named spur starts beside the creek on old roadbed, crosses Bradley Fork on an old trestle bridge, then narrows to single track. Its steepest climb comes early; a log bridge crosses a side stream. Keep straight at the Dry Sluice Gap junction, then descend toward the flats. In spring, the climb can show phlox, trillium, trout lilies and other woodland flowers.
At Campsite #49The route ends at the creekside backcountry campsite.
The route ends at the creekside backcountry campsite. Turn around there and retrace the full approach. Overnight camping requires a backcountry permit, and pets aren’t allowed on park trails.
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.
