Parking
Use the public Deep Creek trailhead parking. The western junction is several hiking miles from the lot; the three-mile figure covers Martins Gap only. A parking tag is required for vehicles parked longer than 15 minutes.
Overview
About Martins Gap Trail
Why go
- Connects the Deep Creek and Indian Creek trail networks
- Passes historic Bryson Place at Backcountry Campsite 57
Heads up
- Point-to-point route with no parking at either end
- Long walk-in from the Deep Creek parking area
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation2,477–3,399 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 Martins Gap 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 tourMore stories near here in the app
- Deep Creek Waterfalls and Picnic Area
- A Stone Case That Walks
- Cones That Come Apart
- Kuwohi Observation Tower
- 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 Martins Gap Trail
A point-to-point climbThis roughly three-mile connector links the Deep Creek and Indian Creek trail systems.
This roughly three-mile connector links the Deep Creek and Indian Creek trail systems. From the western Deep Creek Trail junction it climbs about 920 feet to its high point near Campsite 57, then drops toward Indian Creek. Allow about three hours for Martins Gap itself; that time and distance exclude the backcountry approaches from parking and the return route.
Plan the exitThere is no parking at either end.
There is no parking at either end. Reach the western junction on foot from the Deep Creek trailhead, then decide how you will return from the Indian Creek end before setting out. Retracing Martins Gap doubles its distance and still leaves the walk between the parking area and the western junction. A parking tag is required for vehicles parked longer than 15 minutes.
Bryson Place at Campsite 57Near the middle, the trail passes the junction at Backcountry Campsite 57, at historic Bryson…
Near the middle, the trail passes the junction at Backcountry Campsite 57, at historic Bryson Place. A marker there commemorates the site: Horace Kephart stayed with the Barnett family near Deep Creek in 1910 and later camped at the old Bryson Place. Overnight stays at the campsite require a backcountry permit and advance reservation.
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.
