Benton MacKaye Trail

The Benton MacKaye Trail runs 287.6 miles through the southern Appalachians, from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Big Creek in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That is the Benton MacKaye Trail Association's figure. Georgia has 81.8 miles and Tennessee and North Carolina have 205.8. The association says most thru-hikers take three to four weeks. Most walk northbound from Springer, and southbound also works. The trail is generally open year-round. The association calls spring and fall the most pleasant for temperature, and warns of extreme weather at higher elevations. Most of the trail needs no permit. The Smokies are the exception. Great Smoky Mountains National Park requires a permit and advance reservations for all backcountry camping, and 93 miles of the trail are inside the park. New permits are issued through Recreation.gov, or by calling the park's Backcountry Office at Sugarlands. Permits are site and date specific, so you sleep at designated campsites and shelters. You can get one up to a month before your first night, and one permit covers at most seven nights. To change the start date, cancel and rebook. The Appalachian Trail thru-hiker permit is for people who travel only on the AT in the park, so Benton MacKaye hikers should get the general backcountry permit. Party size is eight at most, with special permits for a few larger sites. Leave your dog at home for this stretch. The association welcomes leashed dogs on the rest of the trail, but the Smokies have prohibited dogs in the backcountry since the 1930s, and only the Gatlinburg and Oconaluftee River trails there allow leashed pets. The Cohutta and Big Frog areas need no permit. Group size is capped in the wildernesses: 12 in Big Frog, Little Frog Mountain and Citico Creek, and 10 in Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock. In Georgia, no more than 12 hikers may travel together in the wilderness. Part of each year the Beech Bottom and Jacks River Falls area of the Cohutta is day use only, with a year-round campfire and alcohol ban. Call the Conasauga Ranger District for a map of the restricted area. On the Tellico Ranger District, a Forest Service order bans camping within 300 feet of the Cherohala Skyway. Dispersed camping anywhere on the Cherokee National Forest is limited to 14 consecutive days in one place. The trail follows high ridges, then drops to cross seven rivers and many creeks. The association rates the difficulty as similar to the Appalachian Trail. The low point is the Hiwassee River crossing in Reliance, Tennessee. The high point is Mount Sterling in the Smokies. There are no deep fords, but the park says not to cross a rain-swollen stream. The park warns of washouts and downed trees. The Forest Service warns that Hurricane Helene, other storms and the 2016 Rough Ridge fire have left the Cohutta Wilderness with deadfall, hazard trees and thick brush. Trails there can be hard to follow, delays are likely, and the conditions also limit emergency services, so call the Conasauga Ranger District before you go. Bear activity in the Smokies is highest from May through August, and sites and shelters can close without warning. The trail has only one shelter, the Cherry Log Shelter at mile 50.3 near Blue Ridge. Everywhere else you sleep at designated campsites or camp where dispersed camping is permitted. Some segments follow local trails that were already open to horses or bikes. The blaze is a white diamond, and none are allowed in wilderness. In Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock there are only signs at junctions, so the Forest Service says to carry a map and compass and know how to use them. It warns that even very experienced hikers get confused in the creek area, where real, unofficial and old logging trails cross. Water is generally not a problem, with a few limited stretches. One stream, at the southern Georgia Highway 60 crossing, is not drinkable. In Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock, backpackers camp at Naked Ground, while the area near the Hangover has views but an unreliable water source, and long stretches lack good campsites. The Smokies permit rules say to filter your drinking water. There, every smelly item, including food, trash and toothpaste, goes on the bear cable at each campsite or shelter. The Cherokee National Forest has food storage restrictions that apply everywhere in the forest. Food goes in an approved bear-proof container, a locked vehicle or a hard-sided camper. Resupply points are farther apart than on the Appalachian Trail, so expect longer carries. The association names Cherry Log (mile 50), Ducktown (92), Unicoi Gap (130), Fontana Village Resort (190), and Bryson City (230) or Cherokee (255) as the best stops. It says to build in buffer days and carry extra food for emergencies. It also keeps a list of services along the trail and says to call each business ahead, because some are seasonal. Write your name and "Please hold for BMT Hiker" on every mail drop, add your estimated arrival date, and carry photo ID to collect it. Reliance Fly and Tackle, 0.6 mile west on Childers Creek Road at mile 110, holds mail drops with no stay required. The Webb Brothers store at the Hiwassee River bridge is open March through October. The Coker Creek Welcome Center and Post Office, 3 miles off the trail, will hold mail drops if you call first, but its gift shop has only very limited snacks. The association notes there is no cell service in the Tellico River area. Tapoco Lodge takes mail only if you have a reservation. Fontana Village Resort holds packages for hikers. Do not mail anything to the Fontana Dam post office, because its hours are extremely limited. In the Smokies, Smokemont Campground has a lock box for thru-hikers. Leave a drop there yourself; mailed ones are not accepted. Cherokee, North Carolina, is six miles from Smokemont on US 441. At the start, Springer Mountain is a 0.9-mile hike south from the Appalachian Trail crossing on Forest Service Road 42, where there is a parking area. You can also walk the 8.5-mile approach trail from Amicalola Falls State Park. At the north end, Standing Bear Farm Hikers' Hostel offers shuttles and mail drops, three miles up the Appalachian Trail from Davenport Gap. The association lists shuttle providers and says to call for quotes. The Hike Inn near Fontana Dam shuttles to trailheads, transit terminals and rental car agencies between Atlanta and the northern end. If you leave a car in the Smokies, the park requires a parking tag for any vehicle parked longer than 15 minutes. The association says to carry a good compass, maps and guidebooks as a backup to a phone. It sells its data book, section guides and thru-hikers' guide, and recommends Trails Illustrated #777 (Springer to Big Frog) and #781 (mile 44 to the Smokies). The BMT meets the Pinhoti Trail at about mile 70 (69.8 in the association's section log, 71 in its overview) and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail between miles 242 and 251. At the north end, the Chestnut Branch Trail links Big Creek to the Appalachian Trail, which closes the 500-mile BMT/AT Loop. When you finish, send the association its Completion Report Form. It lists everyone who has walked the whole trail and gives thru-hikers a free patch and rocker. For current conditions, use the association's alerts and advisories page and the park's Trail Cautions and Closures page.