Naked Ground Trail
Jun 2nd, 2008 by admin
If it seems like I’m partial to this area, its probably because I am. The Joyce Kilmer area is one of my favorite spots for outdoor activities in the southeast . It offers hiking, backpacking, and camping in addition to the many other activities and water sports that you can enjoy with the nearby Lake Santeetlah and Nantahala River.
The Naked Ground Trail trailhead is located at the end of the Memorial Forest parking lot. It heads 4.3 miles up to Naked Ground named for the lack of trees back in the day. Along the way you can see some pretty interesting plant life like Indian Pipe which is a fungi like plant the does not get its energy from the sun, rather it is a mycorrhizal and feeds off of the area trees. From there you can head left for 1.3 miles towards Bob Stratton Bald which is a mile-high meadow with views of the surrounding Smokies and Nantahala forest. This is a great spot to camp when backpacking especially after the seemingly endless switchbacks near the top of the Naked Ground Trail.
You can also head right for 1.4 miles following the ridge line until you come to the Hangover Lead and the Hangover made up of several rock outcroppings which rise above the rhododendron thicket that canopies the trail that leads you out to it.
From here you can head down multiple ways if you plan right. You can take Deep Creek Trail to Big Fat Gap, Jenkins Meadows which leads to the beginning of the short road to the Memorial Forest parking lot, or you can return to take Naked Ground back down and a couple more but these are the main routes and I recommend only hiking this area with a map. this is not the place to wing it.
The picture below is actually a good spot that can be found on Naked Ground Alt. #55A which branches off to your right when coming down the Naked Ground Trail. This can be useful if you’ve just had enough already or ran out of daylight but if you can push a little further its not far to the parking lot.
For those of you who know the way around the area, the portion of the Jenkins Meadow that traverses back over to the Naked Ground trail is pretty rough right now. Needs to see some more action. It hasn’t gotten to the point of bushwacking but its rough. Another thing to keep in mind is that it seems the snakes indiginous to the area are out in full force. We ended up seeing 4-5 this last weekend
- Location: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest - Slickrock Wilderness
- Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
- Distance: 4.3 Miles to Naked Ground then 1.3 to Bob Stratton Bald and 1.4 to Hangover Lead
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