Hiking 2 Days in the Nantahala National Forest - May 2026
In May of 2026, we spent the bachelor party for one of our friends in the backpacking group in the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. We stayed in an AirBnB, but spent 2 days exploring the area and really got to enjoy a “hidden gem” to us. The area offered a lot of great views, hiking opportunities, and most of all, a break from the tourism in the area.
Where
The Nantahala National Forest is in the western portion of North Carolina between Tennessee and Georgia. It is on the south-side of the Smoky Mountain National Park, and is a rainforest! The area is not heavily populated, but is about 2.5 hours from either Knoxville, TN or Atlanta, GA.
Logistics
Given this trip was a bachelor party and our backpacking group is spread across the country, we ended up taking two different cars with different logistics. Some of us came from Michigan and drove down. For us, this was about a 10 hour drive. For others, they met in Atlanta and made the 2.5 hour drive. Our AirBnB was just outside of Robbsinville, NC, but Franklin is the center of the National Forest.
One interesting aspect to logistics is coming from the north, most routes will take you on the Dragon’s Tail. This is an interesting 11 mile route with over 300 turns crossing from Tennessee into North Carolina. It is not for the faint of heart, nor for those that might get car sick easily!
Day 1 - Hiking along the Appalachian Trail (12.5 miles, 3,300ft elevation gain )
AllTrails - we used two different trails to make up our hike, so. instead of a direct link to the hike, I will list the two hike names here: Stecoah Gap Loop and Brown Fork Gap via the Appalachian Trail.
The combination of these two trails created a “lollipop” day hike where we could do the loop first, then do a quick out and back. This made food planning, water carrying, and everything related to logistics pretty straightforward.
We set out to do the Stecoah Gap loop first. This was quite a fun loop, that is 50% on the Appalachian Trail. I really enjoyed the AT side of the hike, as you got into the Forest with some nice climbs and descents along and on the ridges of the mountains nearby. The other half of this loop is mostly on an old forest road, so we cruised through this section. I will say, that although this section was not as technical, it did offer some of the day’s best views as there were some sections with unobstructed views of the surrounding mountain range!
After taking a quick break, we set out on the out-and-back style hike to Brown Fork Gap. This entire section was on the AT. We had a lot of fun on this side of the trail, as there was quite a bit of climbing in a short amount of distance. We also got to benefit from hanging out in one of the many AT Shelters. This whole trip was really about taking it easy and enjoying time with friends compared to some of the past adventures we had been on together and this day really checked all of the boxes we were looking for.
All in all, this hike took us about 5 hours, but we were really taking it easy and having fun. The vertical gain relative to the distance was a tough challenge for a day hike, and great training for me personally as I prepare for another ultra marathon adventure later in the year!
After finishing up the day hike, we went back to our cabin in the woods we rented via AirBnB and enjoyed some chill time in the hot tub and resting alongside the creek flowing on the property! We concluded the day by heading into Andrews and enjoying great pizza and craft beer at Hoppy Trout Brewing! I’d definitely recommend stopping there if you’re ever in the area.
Day 2 - Summiting Cheoah Bald on the Bartam Trail (10.5 miles, 2,800ft elevation gain)
All Trails - again we combined two hikes to make a wishbone style hiking experience to avoid duplicating miles and benefiting from having 2 cars to help with logistics. The two trails we did this day were the Bear Creek Trail #62 and the Beechertown to Cheoah Bald via Bartram Trail.
This day required a bit more logistics as we used both cars to have different start and end locations. Thankfully, we all agreed to do this with trails that were within 15 minutes of our cabin to make things easy.
I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t recommend the Bear Creek Trail to anyone. It was overgrown and mostly a forest road for much longer than anyone of us would like. In addition to that, it was the only area we really felt heavy tick pressure as well. Had we not planned around this hike being part of our ability to see more, unique miles, we probably would have bailed on the trail and done something else. The trail wasn’t all bad, especially the last 2 miles where we were able to get out of the overgrowth area, but all-in-all, it wasn’t quite what we were hoping for.
Thankfully, the Cheoah Bald and Bartram Trail sections really made up for the experience. Once we connected with the Bartram Trail and the AT, things really improved dramatically. We enjoyed a lunch on the Cheoah Bald, visiting and sharing stories with very accomplished thru hikers! It was great to learn from both their experience hiking, but also as people living and thriving in an “atypical” lifestyle. After about 30 minutes, we finally let them leave us and get on with their day, meanwhile we were ready to head back down getting some more miles on the Bartram Trail.
The last few miles of our hiking was what I was hoping for. We got to see some waterfalls, rivers, and really get an AT / North Carolina terrain experience. I was really enjoying my time finishing up hiking on Day 2, especially knowing the hot tub and creek would be waiting for us one last time!
Upon completing our second day, we decided to change things up and go to El Pacifico in Robbinsville for dinner. It was a great final dinner together as a group, enjoying authentic Mexican dishes. Closing out the long weekend, we all agreed we made the best use of the location, purpose of the trip, and nature out at our disposal!
