Kanati Fork Trail

Easy to pass up trail head due to small sign, just uphill from Kephart trail head(0.1 mile). Moderate to steep constant uphill. Snow on north slopes. Saw just one other hiker.

Fun ridge run, nobody on trail, winter views

nice trail with big trees

This was not a bad hike, but there are certainly many better in GSMNP. Our kids are doing the junior ranger program so we mainly did this hike so they could find some of the trees they needed to id for their books. We are a full time RV family of 9 (FindYourCrazy). Today we had my wife and I plus our 8, 9, 11, and 11 year old special needs twins. It was a pretty steep start to this one so everyone was ready to turn around pretty fast.

1.8 miles to the gap of which was a grassy beautiful trail intersection. From that pint we walked down 2.8 miles to Newfound Gap rd. May 31, 2020 and still saw beautiful wildflowers such as Vasey Trillium, Bowman’s Root, Blue Cohosh, Indian Cucumber and in higher elevations Bellwort.

The only good thing about this trail is it is an excellent training climb. It is one of the steepest/longest slopes in the park (13+%). It has several crossings that are often muddy with not much in the way of stepping stones, so don't take new running shoes. For a thrilling workout, lock up your bicycle (to the out of sight discarded boar trap cage) at Thomas Divide TH (upgrade on US 441) and then drive down to the Kanati Fork TH. Hike the 2.9 mi trail uphill trail as fast as possible, and take the Thomas Divide trail (toward Newfound Gap) to the TH on US 441. Then hang on for a 5 mile 40mph Tour d France descent! (back down to the Kanati Fork TH parking).

Just in case anyone wonders what the heck was going on with my recording, I was fishing Kanati Fork and using AllTrails to figure out if there was any decent access points farther up the creek (there are not!). Scrambled up from the creek to the trail and hiked back down. As a Smokies hiking trail it’s mediocre, as others have already said. Lots of continuous climbing with no great scenery or views.

I hiked this trail in late June. maybe it is better in the spring with flowers. you can tell there is not a lot of traffic, some overgrowth has occurred and some pretty big trees on the trail to get around. I didn't go all the way up the trail because it was very narrow/overgrown and part of the trail gave way and I almost slipped off the trail. I would consider it dangerous after about 2.3/2.4 miles. if you need a workout it would be good, but doesn't offer much else.

We hiked down from Thomas Divide Trailhead in an easy 3 hours on April 11 in beautiful warm weather. The trillium were spectacular.

Do this trail in late April or early May when the wildflowers are blooming. I saw some trillium during my hike and a few other flowers. I think I only hiked maybe 2 or 3 miles in and turned around since there was only elevation and no actual views.

Hiked the Thomas Divide Trail from Newfound Gap Road turning down the Kanati Fork Trail back to Newfound Gap Road and back. The "and back" part was an elevation gain of 2200 feet. I hiked this one as an alternate because Clingman's Dome Road had not yet opened for the season. You have to love hiking in the Smokies to appreciate this trail. Happy to check it off but probably wouldn't repeat.

Much easier going downhill.

Covered in wildflowers in April!

Did the trail point to point. Challenging ascent, buggy but really nice. Great wildflowers even in July. Parts of the trail were very narrow and unstable. Several substantial logs across the trail. There is no view or vista at the top, but the workout was challenging and pleasant. 2 hours up, 1.5 down.

Did this last fall and it was very slippery with a lot of side hills. Could use some work on some of the side ridges. Overall good hike and I did it down from Thomas it would have been better hiking up!