Devils Creek Trail to Lost Cove Trail

This trail requires advanced navigation skills and some bushwacking. Devil’s Creek Trail is a challenging trail. Not so much in terms of length or in terms of elevation gain, however, the trail is very, very narrow, rocky underfoot in many places, and due to the lush growth of greenery all around, you often cannot even SEE the trail, having to just wade through undergrowth that is knee to thigh high in places.  Another disadvantage is the 1.6 miles (each way … 3.2 miles round trip) that have to be walked along FS 5506 to reach Devil’s Creek Trailhead. Yet another disadvantage is that the trail just sort of peters out near the top of a ridge at about the 1.9 mile point (3.5 mile point if you include the 1.6 miles hiked along FS 5506). Yet this is an amazing trail!  Its lush, thick greenery is reminiscent of a tropical rain forest. The topo map shows just how steep the north face of FlatTop Mountain is, where this trail traverses.  Many times you’ll look straight down off the trail, to see the landscape fall away below you hundreds of feet in elevation down. If you’re looking for a remote trail, you’ll probably never run into another person along here.  You get some wonderful long range views of the Nolichucky River gorge (although you never see the river itself).  The train track that follows the river though this gorge is still active, and several trains run every day along it, and you’ll hear their whistle from the trail as they are going through this area. The northeastern end of this trail (that peters out into nothing along the ridge) is tantalizingly close to the Lost Cove Trail, the trail that goes from the eastern side of Flattop Mountain down to the abandoned community of Lost Cove. Heading down the ridge from where the trail peters out, within 0.3 miles you will find the Lost Cove Trail.  As this GPS track shows, you go down into Lost Cove (making the entire day’s hike just over 11 miles). Use the track or your GPS to easily find your way back up the ridge to where Devil’s Creek Trail once again becomes visible.