Hiking Newfound Gap to Cosby in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

In this video, we day hike over 25 miles from Newfound Gap to Cosby in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our route follows the Appalachian Trail for around 19 miles, and then descends into Cosby Campground via the Snake Den Ridge trail. This was a long but very rewarding hike through some of the most beautiful scenery in the park.

Our day began with sunrise at Newfound Gap, which is always quite popular. Once we got on trail though, the crowd dwindled quite fast. Our first stop of the day was the ever popular Charlies Bunion (aka the Tourist Bunion). The views have never disappointed here; today was absolutely no exception. The fall colors were poppin', Kephart and LeConte were both in clear view (they are often in the clouds from this view), and we were early enough to miss most of the other day hikers that frequent here.

As our hike continued, so did the amazing views! Just past Charlies Bunion there is a fantastic view of North Carolina that I would guess most who venture only to the Bunion have no idea that just a few more steps would grant them a really nice view that only accentuates the efforts they have made thus far. As amazing as everything had been so far, I could have never guessed that one of, if not THE, most amazing view I had ever seen of the Smokies awaited me just a few miles down the trail. I would guess it isn't talked about too much because of the remote location and the effort to get here, but the area just past the summit of Laurel Top is absolutely spectacular! The view of the North Carolina mountains from here... just simply amazing.

We continued hiking and eventually made it to Mt Guyot. Mt Guyot is the 2nd highest peak in the Smokies and the 4th highest in the Eastern US. There are no views from its summit (there isn't even an official trail to its summit) and is no small feat to reach it. Hiking at that elevation (over 6000') always amazes me... the shear beauty of the trail and the surrounding forest is just lovely.

More wonderful views lay ahead on the trail until our eventual turn off of the AT and onto Snake Den Ridge trail. Snake Den Ridge trail was a vastly different experience than the AT had been. More loose rocks, more overgrown (it wasn't too bad though), limited views... this was our route though. Just over five miles later we arrived back at Cosby Campground. We were very tired but very satisfied that we had accomplished such a long hike. We sat around the campfire eating our dinner. We often talk about the day's hike in these moments, highlighting the best and the worst parts of the day. On this day, neither of us had anything at all remotely negative to say.

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