Welcome to CoveBear.com! - Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains

Just as you are entering the Park coming from Townsend toward Little River Road, there will be the Park sign on the right, and then a parking lot on the left for the Wye. Park there and walk directly across the road. You will find a hidden trail that climbs and hugs the hillside. Make this a must-do trail in early spring. Here you will find gorgeous wildflowers in the first half mile, including the beautiful purple phacelia. Since most of the wildflower display is in the beginning of the trail (first half-mile), this is an easy wildflower destination.

Chimney Tops Trail Picnic Area - Park and walk to roadside

Mid-April is this time to visit this extravaganza of white fringed phacelia with yellow trillium mixed in. It is an awesome sight, and the best photo op you will find for this flower. This is a very easy place to see wildflowers - they are right in front of your car where you park. The slopes are covered with flowers and photographers.

Note: Black bears are often seen behind this picnic area. Always be cautious when on foot.

Tremont Road - Drive the road, hike the trails

The gravel road past the Tremont Institute in April will give the patient observer a treat: just past the second pullout to the left, walk on the river side in the trees, and you will find the largest colony of purple showy orchis we have ever seen. Some of the clumps yielded 15 stalks of the beautiful orchids. They are nestled there in the trees, like little purple treasures. There are so many here that you have to be careful where you put your tripod legs.

Caution: A very aggressive bear followed a hiker on this road in fall 2004, resulting in the road being closed for a while. The bear's behavior included charging, swatting the ground, standing up, stalking from a low position, and scratching on nearby tree trunks. Always be aware of your surroundings. If you are taking photos or walking or jogging, look behind you frequently. Black bears can be very fast and very quiet. They have been known to attack and feed on humans. Never forget to look and listen.

Spruce-Fir Trail - Park on Clingman's Dome Road and hike the trail

These are photos of blue-bead (Clinton's) lily on the spruce-fir trail in 2007-2008. Most of the plants were in bud, but I found two that were blooming. By August the brilliant blue berries have replaced the delicate yellow-green flowers. Animals, such as raccoons, eat the berries.

The leaf

The bud

The flower

The bead

(berry)

To find the beautiful Yellow Bead (Clinton's) Lily in huge colonies,

hike the short Spruce-Fir Nature Trail.

Drive to Newfound Gap, take the road to Clingman's Dome,

and look carefully for the trail sign on the left.

These beauties are in the first quarter-mile of the trail,

so this is an easy walk for anyone.

In June / July, see them in bloom (yellow-green).

In July / August, see them in berry (brilliant blue).

Heintooga Round Bottom Road - Drive the road, but few hiking trails

If you are looking for the road less traveled, you will leave people behind here, on this 14-mile unpaved one-way dirt road. As you approach the Park, coming from Cherokee on the North Carolina side, you will see a sign on the right leading you to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Take that road until you see a sign for Balsam Mountain on the left, about 2 miles up the Parkway, near Milepost 458. Take that road. It will lead to a privately owned campground, the Park campground, a nature trail, and the road to Heintooga. This is inside the boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was constructed on top of an old railroad bed.

Described as one of the most isolated drives you can possibly take in a vehicle in this Park, Heintooga Round Bottom Road is unimproved, and has often been described as a place to avoid, due to its bumpy conditions and the creek that must be forded. However, we have made this drive in a front-wheel drive van, and have seen others on the road in cars. It is very slow going, however, so expect to stay on this road a good 2 hours or more, if you are getting out to take pictures of wildflowers. We have spent over 4 hours on this road. Do not block the road - find a small pullout to park in. Go slow - there are holes and rocks and curves, with no guardrails.

UPDATE SPRING 2008: There is now a bridge crossing the stream on this road, so you don't have to worry about fording it in your car!

So why go to all this trouble to drive on this isolated remote dirt road? Wildflowers! Long after the flowers have finished at other prime locations in the Park, we have found them just blooming here. Since the road goes through so many elevations, you may see many different types of habitats and flowers.

In spring, white fringed phacelia blooms here after it is finished at Chimney's Picnic Area, and covers both sides of the road in some places. It looks like snow on the ground. Mixed in are different types of trillium. In the late spring in mid-late May you will find the long-sought-after painted trillium here, and the beautiful rare pink lady's slipper. Large umbrella leaf plants are seen with huge white flower clusters, and whole slopes of may apple. The very end of July brings a procession of yellow coneflowers, red bee balm, and more. For sheer flower power, this road earns a gold star.

Warning: Black bears are often present in this remote area, both near the campgrounds and on this road. Always be aware of your surroundings, and escape routes. Carry a big stick and be alert.

- SPRING -

HEINTOOGA ROUND BOTTOM ROAD

OFF THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY,

ENTRANCE AT BALSAM MOUNTAIN ROAD

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, NC

White fringed phacelia covering a hillside in spring

Copyright Kate Marshall Graphics, Inc. for CoveBear.com

- SAME ROAD IN SUMMER -

HEINTOOGA ROUND BOTTOM ROAD

Yellow coneflowers and red bee balm on the roadside in summer

Copyright Kate Marshall Graphics, Inc. for CoveBear.com

Blue Ridge Parkway - Drive the road, park on shoulder or at overlooks

The Blue Ridge Parkway is so very close to GSMNP that we wanted to include it here. The part of the parkway that is in the Southern Appalachians is wonderful. We are just beginning to explore this fantastic road (also a national park) and its trails and views.

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY SIGN

Copyright Kate Marshall Graphics, Inc. for CoveBear.com

On the last day in July we visited the parkway and found something we had looked for and never found: the gorgeous Turk's Cap Lily. In one spot it grew in profusion along the road. Photography that day was difficult due to rain and fog, but we managed to get a few shots before the clouds really opened up. Here is what this beautiful flower looks like:

Turk's Cap Lily, Late July - southern Blue Ridge Parkway

Copyright Kate Marshall Graphics, Inc. for CoveBear.com

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