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One Day Wilderness: Greenbrier Pinnacle Waytrail

Posted by eriksoltan on Jul 8, 2017 in One Day Wilderness SE, Trail Reports | No Comments

View into the Greenbrier Valley

When I was training for my current position, I had another guide tell me about the Pinnacle Tr. and some of the other notable “manways” in the Park. Then I became acquainted with a primitive artist here in Gatlinburg and he told me about how he missed hiking in that area. Then completely unrelated, another guide gave me an old map with the trail on it. I decided that it was time to check it out for my self, I am glad I did. Since it is highly unlikely that you can find one of these old maps about, I will help guide you on your trip. It should be noted that these manways are not maintained by the Park Service, so make sure you let someone know where you are headed because you will be the only one out there. I figure that this trail is probably around 8 miles round trip, but count on extra time for the light bushwacking that will be taking place. Start out on the Ramseys Cascades TH and head up the old roadbed that is the beginning of both trails. In about a mile where the Ramsey Tr. becomes a “real” singletrack trail, look for the Pinnacle Tr. on your left at the roundabout.

The start of the trail

Old growth Tulip Poplar

Take this trail as it follow a pleasant forest route to a nice small stream. After that, the tread makes more a more aggressive switchbacking approach up the side of the Greenbrier Canyon. There is the occasional snag to climb over, but the trail is always easy to fallow for the most part early on. After about a 1000 feet of climbing is achieved, expect some good views of the Canyon as the trail now gets slightly chocked out by mountain laurels and rhododendron. The last good viewpoint lies on a old tree that has been staked down long ago to prevent anyone from falling from this precarious perch. Look to the right to see the amazing Cat Stairs that contour the cliffside. The last 3/4 of a mile climb back directly from this spot up to a site of an old tower with a weird old well and no views that some old history buffs will be excited to see. This trail is a good choice for people that want to test their route finding skills or for the folks that want to see a different side of this amazing Canyon, enjoy.