Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN · NC
An old-road climb from Cooper Road toward Gold Mine Gap.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
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 area
George Masa’s Camera and Bicycle Wheel“George Masa helped protect these mountains with a camera and part of a bicycle. A Japanese immigrant based in Asheville, he photographed the Smokies during the campaign to create the national park.”
Plays on the road 1.6 mi from the trailhead 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Gold Mine Trail is a forested out-and-back branch from Cooper Road to the park boundary near Gold Mine Gap. The mapped trail is just under a mile each way, so allow about 2 miles to go out and back to the junction. It follows an old roadbed and climbs steadily, with rough rocky patches alternating with smoother sandy ground. A section passes under a rhododendron canopy. This is a short add-on if you are already on Cooper Road; the trail alone is not a roadside stop. Allow about 1.5 hours from the junction.
The branch is about 2.5 miles along Cooper Road from Abrams Creek Campground. From the campground, the complete outing comes to roughly 7 miles: 2.5 miles in on Cooper Road, 2 miles on Gold Mine Trail, and 2.5 miles back. Plan a half day for that full approach. The campground has flush toilets and seasonal drinking water when open; no services were verified along the spur.
Distance records differ, so treat the 2-mile trail figure as an estimate. The mapped in-park route reaches the park boundary; a continuation into the nearby community is mentioned, but public access beyond the boundary is not confirmed. Turn back there and retrace your route. Dogs are not allowed on this trail.
Wildlife
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.
Keep exploring
ModerateHatcher Mountain Trail2.8 mi · 1.8 hr · 1.4 mi awayA pine-lined connector with May blooms and winter ridge glimpses.
ModerateLittle Bottoms Trail2.3 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.6 mi awayA rough backcountry link from Cooper Road to Hatcher Mountain.
EasyLook Rock Tower Trail1 mi · 36 min · 2.1 mi awayA short, paved climb to a tower with Smoky Mountain views.
ModerateCane Creek Trail10.5 mi · 6 hr · 2.3 mi awayCreek crossings, reclaimed farmland, and a cemetery above the path.
ModerateCooper Road Trail10.9 mi · 7 hr · 2.3 mi awayA long old road linking Abrams Creek with Cades Cove.
ModerateRabbit Creek Trail7.7 mi · 5 hr · 2.6 mi awayCreek fords and a wooded ridge link two remote park ends.
ModerateAbrams Falls Trail5 mi · 3 hr · 4.2 mi awayFive forest miles to a 25-foot waterfall over sandstone.ChallengingAbrams Falls, Hannah Mountain and Rabbit Creek Loop11.1 mi · 8 hr · 4.2 mi awayA demanding 11-mile loop pairs Abrams Falls with three creek fords.
Campground · 1.8 mi awayLook Rock CampgroundWooded campsites with a short trail to the Look Rock tower.
Picnic area · 2.1 mi awayLook Rock Picnic AreaA 51-site picnic stop beneath the trees along Foothills Parkway West.
Sight · 2.2 mi awayLook Rock TowerA 1967 tower at a mountain lookout with 19th-century history.Sight · 2.3 mi awayAbrams FallsA 25-foot cascade makes the long Cades Cove hike pay off.
Campground · 2.3 mi awayAbrams Creek CampgroundA quiet creekside base for camping and longer trail days.
Sight · 4 mi awayElijah Oliver PlaceA short walk to a farmstead with Cades Cove’s only surviving springhouse.
Sight · 4.8 mi awayCades Cove Missionary Baptist ChurchA quiet church stop with a story dating to 1839.
Sight · 4.9 mi awayCable Mill Historic AreaSee an 1870s mill where water powered a working cove.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.
