Parking
Roadside pull-offs on both sides of Laurel Creek Road, about 5.6 miles from Townsend’s Y; the trail starts on the west side. A park parking tag is required for parking longer than 15 minutes.
Overview
About Turkeypen Ridge Trail
Why go
- Former Big Spring Cove fields and an old homesite
- A clear shift from dry ridge to cool, moist hollows
Heads up
- Point-to-point route needs a return plan
- Unbridged crossings can be awkward after rain
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Smoky Mountains map
Full mapElevation1,814–2,159 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 Turkeypen Ridge 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
Lead Cove and Finley Cane Trailheads0:00 / 0:29
“You're approaching the Lead Cove and Finley Cane trailheads on Laurel Creek Road. For a half-day forest hike, I'd choose the six point nine-mile loop through Finley Cane's rhododendron tunnel and across Bote Mountain.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Mayfly's Longer Life
- Cades Cove Picnic Area
- Schoolhouse Gap Trailhead
- Cades Cove Campground Store and Riding Stables
- 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 Turkeypen Ridge Trail
The route and its returnTurkeypen Ridge Trail is a 3.
Turkeypen Ridge Trail is a 3.6-mile one-way point-to-point walk from Laurel Creek Road to Dorsey Gap, where it meets Schoolhouse Gap Trail. Allow about 2½ hours one way. Retracing the same trail makes 7.2 miles total; you can also follow Schoolhouse Gap Trail toward Laurel Creek Road for a longer loop, but those extra miles are outside the Turkeypen distance. The 8.5-mile White Oak Sinks hike is a longer linked route.
Up to Big Spring CoveWithin 0.25 mile, the trail reaches Crib Gap Trail.
Within 0.25 mile, the trail reaches Crib Gap Trail. Continue straight, passing an old homesite and a branch of Laurel Creek; then climb through former Big Spring Cove fields to a gap. Beyond it, the grade eases as the path follows the ridge, shifting between drier slopes and cooler, moist hollows.
Water crossings and Dorsey GapThe trail crosses Pinkroot Branch about 1.75 miles from Laurel Creek Road; the last 0.
The trail crosses Pinkroot Branch about 1.75 miles from Laurel Creek Road; the last 0.75 mile descends to Dorsey Gap and the Schoolhouse Gap junction. Several stream crossings are unbridged. The larger ones near Crib Gap can be awkward after rain, so take care on wet rocks and avoid waterlogged branches.
Old fields and flowersThe fields and former homesite recall settlement in Big Spring Cove.
The fields and former homesite recall settlement in Big Spring Cove. Flame azalea, galax, trillium, and crested dwarf iris grow just off the trail; cooler hollows support rhododendron and mountain laurel.
Access and rulesUse the roadside pull-offs on Laurel Creek Road, about 5.
Use the roadside pull-offs on Laurel Creek Road, about 5.6 miles from Townsend’s Y; the trail entrance is on the west side, with parking also reported across the road. A park parking tag is required for stays longer than 15 minutes. Dogs are not allowed on this trail.
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.
