HURRICANE HELENE UPDATE: Flat Creek Trail, which is part of the Balsam Mountain area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is currently closed because of damage from Hurricane Helene.
Flat Creek Trail is an amazingly beautiful 5.2 mile round-trip hike located just off The Blue Ridge Parkway, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trail follows alongside two different creeks, and is full of lush moss, grass and trees, making for an absolutely gorgeous and beautiful hike that ends at the Heintooga Picnic area for some amazing views.
Updated: 1/8/2025 - Information on Hurrican Helene, revisions to formatting and new information and photos.
Need to Know |
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Location: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, near Cherokee and Maggie Valley, NC |
Accessible: No |
Dog Friendly: No |
Features: Waterfall, swimming, restrooms and a large parking lot. |
Difficulty: Moderate |
Distance: 5.2 miles round-trip (out and back) |
Directions: The trailhead begins off Heintooga Road, located at Milepost 458 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. At Milepost 458, turn onto Heintooga Ridge Road, and follow it down about 5 miles. You'll cross into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the way. The small parking lot and trailhead will be located on your left. |
Flat Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
To say that Flat Creek Trail is a beautiful hike, just isn't doing it justice. There aren't any gorgeous high elevation views for most of the trail, and even though you're hiking creek-side, the creek is only about 5 foot wide in most places.
But what makes this trail beautiful is all the lush vegetation, trees, grass, and crystal clear water. Walking on this trail is like hiking through one of those magical forests you see in movies like the Lord of the Rings.
Two Different Trailheads
Flat Creek Trail isn't a loop hike and thus has two trailheads you can start from. The first is just past the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entry gate, on the left. There will be a small parking area here at the trailhead. We'll refer to this as the first trailhead.
The other is at the end of Heintooga Ridge Road/Balsam Mountain Road near the entrance to Heintooga Round Bottom Road. There is a larger parking area here, and restrooms. We'll refer to this one as the second trailhead.
We've hiked this trail several times over the years, and it's an easier hike to start from the 2nd trailhead, because of a decline in elevation. Starting from the first trailhead is an upward climb the whole way.
For a shorter hike, park a car at the first trailhead, drive to the second, and hike one way to your car.
Hiking From the First Trailhead
First crossing of Bunches Creek just after the trailhead and steep decline
Our very first hike on Flat Creek Trail was from the 1st trailhead just past the Great Smoky Mountains National Park gate. We hiked up and back the full 5.2 miles. This guide will walk you through the trail from that perspective.
The first trailhead begins at the small parking area and descends steeply into the forest. The Park was kind enough to put some wood logs in the trail here to form dirt steps, as you can see in the photo above.
First Crossing of Bunches Creek
The photo above shows the first crossing of Bunches Creek. After crossing, the trail gradually climbs upward, but you'll climb up and down often as you slowly rise in elevation to the second trailhead.
After your first creek crossing, you'll soon reach another crossing for Bunches creek, this one is larger and you'll need to rock hop to cross it.
Spend some time here, as this area is absolutely gorgeous. A little further up the trail, past the creek crossing is what remains of an old and hollowed out tree. A great photo opportunity.
After this last crossing of Bunches creek, you'll begin a more steep climb, and you'll soon see Flat Creek to your left. It's not huge, only about 5 foot wide, but the sounds make for beautiful background sound as you hike, and the water is crystal clear and ice cold.
Grassy Forest Area
As you continue to climb the winding trail, you'll see grass growing trail side. The grass becomes more heavy as you continue your climb up up. You'll soon reach an area of the forest covered in this tall, thin grass. It blows back and forth as the wind blows.
Grass like this is fairly rare in the park, especially in heavily wooded area like this. Turns out, the grass took hold in this area because of the heavy logging that occurred prior to it becoming part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Service.
Many of the trees in this area were completely cleared. In fact, if you stop and look around, you'll notice only a few larger trees remain, and most of the forest is covered in new growth and very young trees.
As you approach the peak of the trail, and the crest of the ridge you've been hiking, you'll join a nature trail that surrounds the Heintooga picnic area and the Balsam Mountain campground. Both of these are also accessible by continuing on down Heintooga Ridge Road past the second trailhead. Flat Creek trail basically goes from the first trailhead to the end of the road.
Heintooga Picnic Area
The Heintooga picnic area is a beautiful and historic area, that offers not only some benches to rest on, but beautiful views of the Great Smoky Mountains. Hiking up just a little further, you'll find the picnic area with picnic tables. A great place to pause, rest, get some water and eat.
When you're ready, it's time to head back along the same path you travelled up on. Fortunately, most of it is downhill. You can walk back down the road as well, but it's a longer hike.
